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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Communicated by G. L. Voss, Miami
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Pearse, J.S. Slow developing demersal embryos and larvae of the antarctic sea star Odontaster validus . Marine Biology 3, 110–116 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353429
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353429