Developmental Flexibility in the Cuticular Pattern of a Cell-Constant Organism, Lepidodermella squammata (Gastrotricha)

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Abstract
The common fresh-water gastrotrich L. squammata displays an elaborately sculptured cuticle that consists mainly of overlapping, spineless scales arranged in longitudinal rows. Although this species is cell-constant, the cuticular pattern varies considerably. To learn the extent of variability and to determine whether it reflects genetic differences between individuals or developmental flexibility, parthenogenetic lineages presumed to be isogenic clones were established. Within clones, the cuticular pattern varied in both number of longitudinal rows and number of scales per row. Despite the organism''s fundamental bilaterl symmetry, the pattern usually exhibited asymmetry of variable extent and direction. Because genotype presumably was held constant, the observed variations were attributed to developmental flexibility during pattern formation.

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