ABSTRACT
A taxonomic survey on the modes of reproduction in aquatic invertebrates reveals that the hemocoelomates namely Arthropoda and Mollusca do not reproduce asexually. A new hypothesis was proposed by Pandian (2016) that these hemocoelomates may not have retained Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) to agametically clone the whole animal and reproduce asexually. However, Clio pyramidata, a pteropod is claimed to reproduce asexually (van der Spoel, 1979). With ongoing differentiation during early embryonic development, the stemness of stem cells progressively decreases from totipotency to pluripotency, multipotency, oligopotency and finally to unipotency (Pandian, 2016, p 122). This account attempts to explain that the claim of asexual reproduction in the pteropod is more an exceptional regeneration involving Multipotent Stem Cells (MSCs).
