Abstract
The reproductive biology of 5 species of echinothuriid (Phormosoma placenta, Calveriosoma hystrix, Araeosoma fenestrum, Sperosoma grimaldii and Hygrosoma petersii) and 2 species of cidarid (Cidaris cidaris and Poriocidaris purpurata) sea urchins from the deep sea (Rockall Trough) has been examined from samples collected during 1973–1983. In all species the gonads lie within the interambulacrum attached to aboral gonopores and when fully developed occupy most of the test not occupied by the gut or Aristotle's lantern. In all the species, initial oocyte development takes place along the germinal epithelium embedded in nutritive tissue. In all the echinothuriids and in Poriocidaris purpurata, the oocyte grows to ca. 200 to 450 μm, at which stage vitellogenesis begins. Oocyte growth continues until a maximum egg size of 1 100 to 1 500 μm is attained. In the echinothuriids, two types of nutritive tissue are found. In the carly stages of gametogenesis the oocyte is surrounded by well-structured periodic acid Schiff (PAS)-positive tissue. As the oocyte grows this tissue becomes vacuolated, suggesting that there is a transfer of nutriment to the developing oocyte. In Phormosoma placenta, unspawned oocytes are phagocytosed. There is no evidence of seasonality in any of the echinothuriid species or in Poriocidaris purpurata. Extrapolation with shallow-water echinothuriids suggests that larval development is lecithotrophic, omitting any planktotrophic phase. Of the species examined, only Cidaris cidaris has a reproductive strategy which produces a known larva, although the limited samples did not permit any determination of seasonality in this deep-sea population.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Ahlfeld, T. E.: A disparate seasonal study of reproduction of eight deep-sea macroinvertebrate species from the N. W. Atlantic, 105 pp. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Florida State University 1977
Amemiya, S. and T. Tsuchiya: Development of the echinothurid sea urchin Asthenosoma ijimai Mar. Biol. 52, 93–96 (1979)
Cognetti, G. et R. Delavault: La sexualité des asterides. Cah. Biol. mar. 3, 157–182 (1962)
Dix, T. D.: Reproduction in Tasmanian populations of Heliocidaris erythrogramma (Echinodermata: Echinometridae). Aust. J. mar. Freshwat. Res. 28, 509–520 (1977)
Gage, J. D., M. Jensen, D. S. M. Billet and P. A. Tyler: Echinoderms of the Rockall Trough area. II. Echinoidea and Holothuroidea. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (In press)
Gage, J. D., R. H. Lightfoot, M. Pearson and P. A. Tyler: An introduction to a sample time-series of abyssal macrobenthos: methods and principal sources of variability. Oceanol. Acta 3, 109–176 (1980)
Gage, J. D. and P. A. Tyler: Growth and reproduction of the deep-sea brittle star Ophiomusium lymani Wyville Thomson. Oceanol. Acta 5, 73–83 (1982)
Grassle, F. J., H. L., Sanders, R. R. Hessler, G. T. Rowe and T. McLellan: Pattern and zonation: a study of the bathyal megafauna using the research submersible Alvin. Deep-Sea Res. 22, 457–481 (1975)
Holland, N. D.: Gametogenesis during the annual reproductive cycle of a cidaroid sea urchin (Stylocidaris affinis). Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 133, 578–590 (1967)
Mori, T., T. Tsuchiya and S. Amemiya: Annual gonadal variation in sea urchins of the orders Echinothuridea and Echinoidea. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 159, 728–736 (1980)
Mortensen, T.: Echinodermlarven. Nord. Plankt. III (a), 1–30 (1901)
Mortensen, T.: Handbook of the echinoderms of the British Isles, 471 pp. Oxford University Press 1927
Mortensen, T.: On the vegetarian diet of some deep-sea echinoids. Annotnes zool. jap. 17, 225–228 (1938)
Mortensen, T.: A monograph of the Echinoidea. III. I Aulodonta, 370 pp. Copenhagen: Reltzel 1940
Pawson, D.: Deep-sea echinoderms in the tongue of the ocean, Bahamas Islands: a survey, using the research submersible Alvin. Mem. Aust. Mus. 16, 129–145 (1982)
Prouho, H.: Recherches sur le Dorocidaris papillata et quelques autres échinides de la Mediterranée. Archs Zool. exp. gén. (Ser. 2). 5, 213–380 (1888)
Tyler, P. A. and J. D. Gage: Seasonal reproduction of Echinus affinis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in the Rockall Trough, N. E. Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. (In press)
Tyler, P. A., A. Grant, S. L. Pain and J. D. Gage: Is annual reproduction in deep-sea echinoderms a response to variability in their environment? Nature, Lond. 300, 747–750 (1982)
Williams, D. H. C. and D. T. Anderson: The reproductive system, embryonic development, larval development and metamorphosis of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma (Val.) (Echinoidea: Echinometridae). Aust. J. Zool. 23, 371–403 (1975)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. Mauchline, Oban
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tyler, P.A., Gage, J.D. The reproductive biology of echinothuriid and cidarid sea urchins from the deep sea (Rockall Trough, North-East Atlantic Ocean). Marine Biology 80, 63–74 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393129
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393129