Defecation by the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi occurs with an ultradian rhythm through a single transient anal pore

Abstract Defecation in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi is a stereotyped sequence of effector responses that occur with a regular ultradian rhythm. Time intervals between repeated defecations of individual animals depend on body size, ranging from ~10 min in small larvae to ~1 hr in large adults. New features and corrections of previous reports of the gastrovascular system during and between defecations are described in detail by video microscopy. Contrary to the scientific literature, the defecating organ of the excretory complex is just one of the two anal canals which possesses the animal’s only anal pore. The anal pore is not visible as a permanent structure as depicted in textbooks, but appears at defecation and disappears afterward. DIC microscopy reveals that opening and closing of the anal pore resemble a reversible ring of tissue fusion between apposed endodermal and ectodermal layers at the aboral end. Mnemiopsis thus appears to have an intermittent anus and therefore an intermittent through-gut that reoccur at regular intervals. The temporality of a visible anal pore in Mnemiopsis is novel, and may shed light on the evolution of a permanent anus and through-gut in animals. In addition, mirror image dimorphism of the diagonal anal complex occurs in larval ctenophores but not in adults, indicating developmental flexibility in diagonal symmetry of the anal complex.