Diurnal behavioral and neural rhythms in a solitary ascidian (Chordata, Ascidiacea) Styela plicata

Diurnal behavioral and neural rhythms in a solitary ascidian (Chordata, Ascidiacea) Styela plicata | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Diurnal behavioral and neural rhythms in a solitary ascidian (Chordata, Ascidiacea) Styela plicata Guy Zer Eshel, Bar Gabso, Liraz Attia, Yomiran Nisan, Yossi Yovel, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Biological rhythms enable organisms to anticipate and adapt to regular environmental fluctuations, yet their presence and neural basis in invertebrate chordates remain poorly understood. The solitary ascidian Styela plicata , a sessile marine invertebrate represents an early divergent chordate, offers a valuable system to explore rhythmicity in a phylogenetically significant lineage. We monitored contractile frequency under a 12:12 light-dark cycle and then delivered a tactile stimulation at 2-hour intervals, while simultaneously acquiring extracellular recordings were acquired its cerebral ganglion over a continuous 24-hour period. Behavioral analyses revealed consistent day-night differences, with more frequent siphon contractions during the night. Neural recordings identified four distinct spike types, one of which showed higher activity during the day. These findings suggest the existence of: a high-activity and a low-activity diurnal phases in a sessile ascidian, providing a foundation for investigating the emergence and organization of rhythmic behavior and neural dynamics in sessile marine chordates. Tunicata Rhythmicity Behavior Neurophysiology Central Nervous System Sessile invertebrates Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5971694","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":573563703,"identity":"7008d91e-f6db-49b4-bc60-a674a1f97175","order_by":0,"name":"Guy Zer Eshel","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACCR5+/uYDIIYMsVosZCRnHEsA6yVWS4WNwYEcAxCLsBb5iBzjDx/3AA0/cObzqxs1FjwM7IePbsCnxfBGjoHhjGcSPIzNvdusc44B9fKkpd3Aq2VGjkEyzwEJHmaGs9uMc9iAWiR4zAhqOfwHqIWNIeeZcc4/IrTIS+QYNjMAtfAw5DA/zm0jQosBz7Nixh6gFgmJY2bMuX1A6wj5Rb49efOHHwfq7O3PNz/+nPOtTo6f/fAx/LYc4DCAsdkkwCQ+5WBbGtgfwNjMHwipHgWjYBSMgpEJAB8uRibWn0AOAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guy","middleName":"Zer","lastName":"Eshel","suffix":""},{"id":573563704,"identity":"9c5c6d0a-6c95-4067-8174-d22c794de6d1","order_by":1,"name":"Bar Gabso","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bar","middleName":"","lastName":"Gabso","suffix":""},{"id":573563705,"identity":"982fbf6e-ad1b-4095-8407-c0fd0970f445","order_by":2,"name":"Liraz Attia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liraz","middleName":"","lastName":"Attia","suffix":""},{"id":573563706,"identity":"7ba563f6-0b45-482f-a645-8bb38acc6948","order_by":3,"name":"Yomiran Nisan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yomiran","middleName":"","lastName":"Nisan","suffix":""},{"id":573563707,"identity":"eeac1782-2feb-4587-8634-b41799365f6d","order_by":4,"name":"Yossi Yovel","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yossi","middleName":"","lastName":"Yovel","suffix":""},{"id":573563708,"identity":"0374167b-151c-43f8-901f-132e7a94cc55","order_by":5,"name":"Noa Shenkar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Noa","middleName":"","lastName":"Shenkar","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-06 08:53:38","currentVersionCode":3,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106960797,"identity":"a00c4043-e09c-4d6e-b269-98c21c1854db","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-15 09:23:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":637096,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"v3.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5971694/v3_covered_18270e7b-496e-4302-a1c0-d7b5807219bd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDiurnal behavioral and neural rhythms in a solitary ascidian (Chordata, Ascidiacea) \u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStyela plicata\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Tunicata, Rhythmicity, Behavior, Neurophysiology, Central Nervous System, Sessile invertebrates","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBiological rhythms enable organisms to anticipate and adapt to regular environmental fluctuations, yet their presence and neural basis in invertebrate chordates\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eremain poorly understood. The solitary ascidian \u003cem\u003eStyela plicata\u003c/em\u003e, a sessile marine invertebrate represents an early divergent chordate, offers a valuable system to explore rhythmicity in a phylogenetically significant lineage. We monitored contractile frequency under a 12:12 light-dark cycle and then delivered a tactile stimulation at 2-hour intervals, while simultaneously acquiring extracellular recordings were acquired its cerebral ganglion over a continuous 24-hour period. Behavioral analyses revealed consistent day-night differences, with more frequent siphon contractions during the night. Neural recordings identified four distinct spike types, one of which showed higher activity during the day. These findings suggest the existence of: a high-activity and a low-activity diurnal phases in a sessile ascidian, providing a foundation for investigating the emergence and organization of rhythmic behavior and neural dynamics in sessile marine chordates.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Diurnal behavioral and neural rhythms in a solitary ascidian (Chordata, Ascidiacea) Styela plicata","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":3,"date":"2026-04-14 17:33:05","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v3","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":2,"date":"2026-01-13 00:28:58","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-30 17:16:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5971694/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c4b894cc-6fde-4233-a23d-704c59625bb1","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 14th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-30T17:16:49+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-14 17:33:05","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v3","identity":"rs-5971694","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5971694","identity":"rs-5971694","version":["v3"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}