Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization and 5-Ethynyl-2'-Deoxyuridine Labeling for Stem-Like Cells in the Hydrozoan Jellyfish Cladonema pacificum
Published on: August 3, 2022
Catecholamines induce metamorphosis in the hydrozoan Halocordyle disticha but not in Hydractinia echinata
Nancy Claire Edwards1, Mary Beth Thomas1, Bert Alan Long1
1Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 28223, Charlotte, NC, USA.
Abstract:
Planula larvae of the marine hydroids Halocordyle disticha and Hydractinia echinata were treated with the catecholamines epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine, as well as with certain of their precursors and agonists. Norepinephrine, L-dopa, dopamine and the dopamine agonist ADTN at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 0.001 mM induced metamorphosis within 24 h in Halocordyle disticha, with no observable morphogenetic abnormalities. Epinephrine, the adrenergic agonists phenylephrine, isoproterenol and methoxyamine, and the catecholamine precursors phenylalanine and tyrosine were found not to induce metamorphosis at the concentrations employed. None of the compounds was effective in inducing metamorphosis in Hydractinia echinata. A model is presented for neural control of metamorphosis in Halocordyle disticha.
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists IV
Red Algae
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Hybrid Zones
Diversity of Protists II

