bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.04.425292; this version posted January 4, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. How to build a sea star V9 The development and neuronal complexity of bipinnaria larvae of the sea star Asterias rubens Hugh F. Carter*, †, Jeffrey R. Thompson*, ‡, Maurice R. Elphick§, Paola Oliveri*, ‡, 1 The first two authors contributed equally to this work *Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom †Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom ‡UCL Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE), University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom §School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom 1Corresponding Author:
[email protected], Office: (+44) 020-767 93719, Fax: (+44) 020 7679 7193 Keywords: indirect development, neuropeptides, muscle, echinoderms, neurogenesis 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.04.425292; this version posted January 4, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. How to build a sea star V9 Abstract Free-swimming planktonic larvae are a key stage in the development of many marine phyla, and studies of these organisms have contributed to our understanding of major genetic and evolutionary processes.