On the Artificial Culture of Marine Plankton Organisms

Abstract

The observations to be recorded in this Paper were commenced in March, 1905. They originated in an attempt to find a general method for rearing marine larval forms. Several investigators had previously succeeded in rearing Echinoderms, Molluscs, and Polychætes from artificially fertilized eggs under laboratory conditions, but the process was generally difficult and the results more or less uncertain. The most promising method seemed to be that adopted by Caswell Grave (26), who was able to rear his larvæ by feeding them on diatoms. Grave obtained his diatoms by placing sand, collected from the sea bottom, in aquaria and using such diatoms as developed from this material. All the methods, however, suffered from the uncertainty of not knowing what organisms were introduced into the aquaria in which the larvse were to be reared, either in the original sea-water or along with the food-supply.