Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University , St John's (Newfoundland and Labrador), Canada.
Society for the Exploration and Valuing of the Environment , St Philips (Newfoundland and Labrador), Canada.
Biol Lett. 2024 May;20(5):20240015. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0015. Epub 2024 May 29.
Autotomy refers to self-amputation where the loss of a limb or organ is generally said to be (1) in response to stressful external stimuli; (2) voluntary and nervously mediated; (3) supported by adaptive features that increase efficiency and simultaneously mediate the cost; and (4) morphologically delineated by a predictable breakage plane. It is estimated that this phenomenon has evolved independently nine different times across the animal kingdom, appearing in many different taxa, including vertebrate and invertebrate as well as aquatic and terrestrial animals. Marine invertebrates use this behaviour in a diversity of manners that have yet to be globally reviewed and critically examined. Here, published data from marine invertebrate taxa were used to explore instances of injury as an evolutionary driver of autotomy. Findings suggest that phyla (e.g. Echinodermata and Arthropoda) possibly experiencing high rates of injury (tissue damage or loss) are more likely to be able to perform autotomy. Additionally, this review looks at various morphological, physiological and environmental conditions that have either driven the evolution or maintained the behaviour of autotomy in marine invertebrates. Finally, the use of autotomic abilities in the development of more sustainable and less ecologically invasive fisheries is explored.
自割是指肢体或器官的自行切断，通常认为是（1）对外界应激刺激的反应；（2）自愿且受神经调节；（3）通过增加效率同时调节成本的适应性特征来支持；（4）通过可预测的断裂面在形态上进行划分。据估计，这种现象在动物王国中独立进化了九次，出现在许多不同的分类群中，包括脊椎动物和无脊椎动物以及水生动物和陆生动物。海洋无脊椎动物以多种尚未在全球范围内进行综述和批判性检查的方式使用这种行为。在这里，使用来自海洋无脊椎动物类群的已发表数据来探讨损伤作为自割进化驱动力的实例。研究结果表明，可能经历高损伤率（组织损伤或损失）的门（例如棘皮动物和节肢动物）更有可能能够进行自割。此外，本综述还探讨了各种形态、生理和环境条件，这些条件要么推动了海洋无脊椎动物自割行为的进化，要么维持了这种行为。最后，探讨了在开发更可持续和对生态影响更小的渔业方面使用自割能力的问题。
