Müller's larva or Mulleria is a

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

of some

Polycladida The Polycladida represents a highly diverse clade of free-living marine flatworms. They are known from the littoral to the Sublittoral zone, sublittoral zone (extending to the deep hot vents), and many species are common from coral reefs. Only a ...

. It has 8-fold symmetry and is somewhat like a ctenophore. Müller’s larva is ciliated and has several paired and unpaired lobes. The cilia on the lobes are longer than cilia on the rest of the body. At the anterior and posterior ends of the larva are tufts of longer cilia (apical and caudal). The apical tuft originates from the apical organ, a sensory structure associated with the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

. It is named after

Johannes Peter Müller Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist, ichthyology, ichthyologist, and herpetology, herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability ...

(1801-1858), a German physiologist who invented the

plankton net A plankton net is equipment used for collecting samples of plankton in standing bodies of water. It consists of a towing line and bridles, nylon mesh net, and a cod end. Plankton nets are considered one of the oldest, simplest and least expensi ...

, and first described larval forms of many phyla.

References

Larvae {{flatworm-stub