A new pattern of hermaphroditism (inducible hermaphroditism) in populations ofOphryotrocha labronica (Annelida Polychaeta)

Summary A new kind of hermaphroditism, which is called inducible hermaphroditism, has been discovered in the otherwise gonochoristic populations ofOphryotrocha labronica of the Gulf of Naples and of the Lagune of Venice. Inducible hermaphrodites, which are fertile in both the male and female phases, represent 25.8% and 31.8% of the Naples and Venice strains respectively. Inducible hermaphrodites are obtained when pairs between adult females — or female phase hermaphrodites — and juveniles are formed. Crosses between inducible hermaphrodites, in different sex phases, pure male and female individuals give progenies whose sex ratios are clearly correlated with the sex genotypes of the parents.