Pygospio elegans (Annelida: Spionidae) — an annelid model for regeneration studies

Abstract

Pygospio elegans Claparède, 1863 is a sedentary tube-dwelling annelid belonging to Spionidae family. Its prominent regeneration abilities, as well as its small size, widespread distribution and environmental tolerance make P. elegans a perfect annelid model for studying cellular and molecular mechanisms of regeneration, larval and postlar-val growth. Here we performed staging of P. elegans regeneration, which will be useful for future molecular studies of the reparation process. We also described some morphological aspects of anterior and posterior post-traumatic regeneration of P. elegans collected on the Barents Sea, including muscle and catecholaminergic nervous system regeneration.