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Induction of metamorphosis of two species of sea urchin from Sea of Japan

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Abstract

The induction of metamorphosis in mature larvae by selected chemical compounds and natural substrata was investigated in two species of sea urchins from the Sea of Japan, Strongylocentrotus intermedius and Scaphechinus mirabilis. Glutamine in crystalline form was added directly to water containing mature larvae, and this compound, at a final concentration of 10 μg ml-1, was an inducer of metamorphosis in S. intermedius (100% activity) and S. mirabilis (50% activity). Gutamine, or its natural mimetic molecules, may be an active component of the exogenous cue that induces metamorphosis of S. intermedius larvae. This exogenous cue was produced by the epiphytic calcareous algae, Melobesia spp. that colonized the older sea grass Zostera marina. Glutamic acid was also used as an inducer of metamorphosis for S. intermedius and S. mirabilis larvae (50 to 60% activity), but it was toxic to the larvae.

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Author notes

  1. T. Kh. Naidenko

    Present address: , Wern Hall, Wern-y-Wyland, LL58 8TR, Beaumaris, Gwynedd, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041, Vladivostok, Russia

    T. Kh. Naidenko

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  1. T. Kh. Naidenko
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe

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Naidenko, T.K. Induction of metamorphosis of two species of sea urchin from Sea of Japan. Marine Biology 126, 685–692 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351335

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351335

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