Cell proliferation and morphological patterns in the hydroids Tubularia and Hydractinia
Morphogenesis has been extensively studied in many hydroids, both during normal growth (Kühn, 1914; Berrill, 1961) and during regeneration (Tardent, 1963). Less is known about the patterns of cell proliferation underlying changes in tissue form. In several cases where cell division has been studied, surprisingly little direct correlation was found between areas of apparent morphological growth and patterns of cell proliferation (Overton, 1963; Crowell, Wyttenbach & Suddith, 1965; Shostak, Patel & Burnett, 1965; Wyttenbach, 1965; Campbell, 1967a, b). To explore further the relations between tissue growth and body form, I have examined histologically hydroids of two genera, Tubularia and Hydractinia, each of which has morphological pecularities. Tubularia possesses two whorls of tentacles and one whorl of gonophores, and thus has as many distinct hydranth regions as any hydroid. In the Hydractinia colony, four morphologically distinct polyp types are present.