Introduction to the Symposium: Larval Forms

The following comments were given by Alan Kohn as an introduction to “Evolutionary Paths Among Developmental Possibilities: A Symposium Marking the Contributions and Influence of Richard Strathmann” on January 4, 2010, at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle. Alan’s introduction in verse helps to link the symposium to a long and rich history of poetry in the study of marine larvae, going back to Walter Garstang (Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford), a late 19th century pioneer in the study of the biology of larvae and author of the posthumous “Larval Forms with Other Zoological Verses” (Garstang 1962; all quotes within the present poem are from this source). Richard Strathmann has made some of his own published contributions to this rhyming tradition (Strathmann and Eernisse 1994), and poetry readings have been an important part of many of Richard’s courses at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. Alan (who was Richard’s PhD advisor) generously offered his poem as a preface to the published symposium articles that follow. Like Garstang’s verse, Alan’s can be read for word play, historical context, and scientific commentary. We hope it will also be read as a poetic expression of gratitude from the diverse larval forms that Richard reared and mentored over the years. A BALLAD FOR RICHARD AND MEGUMI The Strathmanns are a lively pair, ashore or on a boat Amidst a whirl of flasks and tanks, and larvae all afloat. They’ve weathered many changes in the labs they’ve overseen, And fostered new directions in research and academe. When Richard, then a veliger, sought out a graduate school, He entered U of Washington, thought oceanography cool, Mastered it expeditiously for his first grad degree, Then settled in Zoology to earn his PhD. He showed how ciliary bands both feed and manage swimming, “A constant pattern underlies their circumoral trimming.” And Megumi produced a book, but after “Hello, Cynthia,” A girl, of course, no tunicate and not a Nemertinea; Grew up to be a PhD, and anthropologist. Then Alan came along, wave reader and sound sculpturist. Her Fusitriton “fry turned out one day, eventful in the sequel,” Their swimming feats establishing new records not to equal! For four long years they swam and grew, deprived of teleplany, Awaiting for the cue to sink and transform in a cranny. Young archi-students flocked to Dick, still wet behind the velum To learn the mysteries of larval life, from cilia to coelom. And working hard they one by one acquired parental features Outstanding in research results, and expertise as teachers. The nurse egg-embryo ratio of Searlesia ranges wide, So Brian Rivest wondered how does the mom decide? With no nurse eggs the embryos would starve and be aborted Too many and development is seriously thwarted. In the capsules of each female, all evidence supported That chance rules nurse egg ratios: They’re randomly assorted. Richard Emlet traced larval supply side economics Of Eastsound’s Dendraster plutei, lives filled with promise; If out the fjord they swim at the surface, Then some waft back on currents to join the benthic circus. Then larval marvel Larry McEdward, now long lamented His legacy lives on in approaches he fomented. ‘Twas Drew Harvell who showed that Membraniporas Repel their predators with stout induced defenses. She now tracks ills of corals likewise fissiparous, And how they cope with climate’s influences. When Alcyonium coral colonies go fission, Then Cathy McFadden embarks upon her mission. Post-fission, higher capture rates ensue, ensuring more repast; The smallest colonies’ polyps enjoy a real cnidoblast! The burrowing sea cucumber seems safe in her deep hole, While she broods internally, like an underwater mole. But Helen Hess showed that sexy Ms. Leptosynapta Locates sperm from far distant suitors to capture. “Gill-slits, Tongue bars, Synapticulae, Endostyle and Notochord, all these you will agree Mark the protochordate from the fishes in the sea, And tell alike for them and us our lowly pedigree.” Sarah Cohen examined Corella’s sexual fates: In two of these hermaphroditic tunicates, Internal fertilizers self ok, But broadcast selfers lose their way. “Admittedly odd families some episodes must hide.” Then there’s Mike Hart to seek them out. The asteroids confide About their risky sex and disparate life history. Some send their gametes packing across the great wide sea; While earthbound cousins do siblicide, or viviparity. They’ve several devious ways by which to propagate, But not by bestiality with Don Williamson’s tunicate! Bob Podolsky: He became the laboratory’s Sid Viscous Scottie Henderson: Her Bugula shape up if mom’s nutritious Jennie Hoffman: She was to many invertebrates the ultraviolator Molly Jacobs: Showed precocial adult organs offset ascidians settling later Katie McDonald: Echinoid blastulas sink or swim, depending on size and temperature Dawn Vaughn: Plutei split and downsize if predators cause discomfiture Fernanda Oyarzun: With Boccardia’s poecilogony revealed, Richard’s doctorate legacy is now mature. ‘Tis known from countless students that their maturational change Was oft achieved through Richard’s broad advising range; But how or why has not been clear, so it seemed worthwhile to try If the explanation might be found in th’accomplishments of the fry, As well as Richard’s mentoring, as if with a third eye. Alan J. Kohn

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