Slow developing demersal embryos and larvae of the antarctic sea star Odontaster validus
Pearse, J.S. (1969). Slow developing demersal embryos and larvae of the antarctic sea star Odontaster validus. Mar. Biol. (Berl.) 3(2): 110-116
In: Marine Biology: International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters. Springer: Heidelberg; Berlin. ISSN 0025-3162; e-ISSN 1432-1793, more
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| Keywords |
Odontaster validus Koehler, 1906 [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract |
The early development of Odontaster validus at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is indirect and includes equal cleavage, a convoluted blastula, a free-swimming coeloblastula, a gastrula, and a feeding bipinnaria larva. Development differs from that of other asteroids in two respects: (1) The developmental rate is extremely slow; blastulae form nearly 2 days after fertilization, gastrulation begins after 7 days, and the bipinnaria develops in about 40 to 55 days. The slow developmental rate appears to be only partly related to the low environmental temperature (-1.5°C). (2) The embryos and larvae are largely demersal. Such behavior may be an adaptation to keep the larvae out of antarctic surface waters, as does brooding in many other polar echinoderms. |
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