Figure 3.

Life cycle of V. carteri (after [6]). When synchronized, V. carteri completes one asexual life cycle in 48 h. Colonies hatch 2 h into the light period and germ cells continue to grow until they begin multiple divisions towards the end of the light period. The divisions take approximately 7 h, and are followed by the inversion process that forms the daughter colonies inside the mother colony before the beginning of the next light period. The daughter colonies grow inside the mother colony for 24 h and hatch the next day.