Mshigeni, Keto E.2020-07-212020-07-211977Mshigeni, K.E. and Lorri, W.S.M., 1977. Spore germination and early stages of development in Hypnea musciformis (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales). Marine Biology, 42(2), pp.161-164.doi.org/10.1007/BF00391567http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/560The early stages of development of the carpospores and tetraspores of Hypnea muscilormis (Wulfen) Lamouroux have been investigated. Both types of spores germinated immediately after liberation. The spores segmented repeatedly into, 2, 3, 4 cells, etc. until a multicellular ball of cells was produced. The germination pattern was thus of the discal type, i.e., Typus discalis mediatus (Inoh, 1947) or the “Dumontia-type” in the terminology of Chemin (1937). Subsequently, a relatively expansive attachment holdfast was produced from each sporeling. This was followed by the development of up to 4 or more shoot axes arising from the basal disc. These findings are discussed with reference to an earlier study by the senior author on the developmental biology of other species of Hypnea Lamouroux.enGerminateDevelopmental BiologySpore GerminationArticle