Modification of development on the basis of differential susceptibility to radiation I. Fundulus heteroclitus and ultraviolet radiation

This paper reports experiments with Fundulus heteroclitus to modify larval development by means of ultraviolet radiation. Eggs were exposed to radiation at various intervals after fertilization for varying periods of time. The results accord with previous work on fish teratology, and the developmental types obtained are essentially similar to those produced by chemicals, cold, and hybridization. The deviations from normal development occur in the same body regions as do those in other vertebrates whose early development has been modified by the action of radiation (x‐rays, radium, etc.). The results of these experiments indicate that there is a non‐specificity in susceptibility relations with the production of similar types of monsters for widely different reagents. That these eggs are differentially susceptible to the action of ultraviolet radiation is indicated by the fact that those regions which have the highest metabolic activity when an inhibiting influence is active are the ones most generally affected. Thus modifications of the nervous system, sense organs, circulatory system, tail region, and body axis result, respectively, in the production of varying degrees of cyclopia, inadequate circulation, short, stubby or bent, non‐motile tails (some bifid), and anterior twinning. As these modifications may be produced by applying inhibiting influences during the first few minutes after fertilization, it is evident that there is in the egg at this stage some constitutional or physiological basis which determines early differences in susceptibility of its various parts.