Abstract
The capacity for regeneration of lost body parts requiring organogenesis has never been described for metazoan larvae. Here we show for the first time, to our knowledge, the ability of sea star larvae to rapidly and completely regenerate to form fully functional individuals following surgical bisection of the larval body. This capacity leads us to extend the developmental stage at which echinoderm larval cell fates are irreversibly determined. As planktonic larval mortality is thought to be extremely high1, this may be an adaptation to enhance recruitment into adult populations.
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