Eutely
TL;DR: Fixed somatic cell count within a species; growth by hypertrophy (cells enlarge) rather than continued proliferation.
Overview
Eutely is a developmental pattern seen in several small metazoans where the adult reaches a near-constant number of somatic cells. After a species-typical cell count is achieved, further growth occurs mainly by cells getting larger and differentiating, with little or no somatic mitosis. The canonical example is Caenorhabditis elegans: adult hermaphrodites have 959 somatic nuclei (cells) and males have 1031, with the full lineage mapped cell-by-cell. Eutely is also reported across rotifers, gastrotrichs, many nematodes, and some tardigrades, though limited, tissue-specific exceptions can occur.
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