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Asexual reproduction by oceanic planktotrophic echinoderm larvae

Nature volume 337, pages 169–170 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

Cloning among metazoan larvae is rare and generally restricted to a few phyla with parasitic or colonial life-histories. Echinoderms are all non-colonial animals, and although cloning is well docu-mented for some adults, its occurrence in larval stages has not been previously observed1–3. Here we describe a novel mode of cloning by fission in planktotrophic bipinnaria larvae of the sea star Luidia sp. from the Sargasso Sea and the Gulf Stream. Reproductive larvae were widely distributed, comprising about 30% of sample populations. This represents an extensive multi-plicative potential whereby the pelagic life of the genet is prolonged and the potential of recruitment into benthic adult populations can be enhanced.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Isidro Bosch

    Present address: Department of Larval Ecology, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 Old Dixie Highway, Ft Pierce, Florida, 33450, USA

  2. Stephen P. Alexander

    Present address: Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research, Empire State Plaza, PO Box 509, Albany, New York, 12201-0509, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA

    Isidro Bosch

  2. Horn Point Environmental Laboratories, University of Maryland, Cambridge, Maryland, 21613, USA

    Richard B. Rivkin

  3. Marine Biology Research Division, A-002, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Stephen P. Alexander

Authors
  1. Isidro Bosch
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  2. Richard B. Rivkin
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  3. Stephen P. Alexander
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Bosch, I., Rivkin, R. & Alexander, S. Asexual reproduction by oceanic planktotrophic echinoderm larvae. Nature 337, 169–170 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/337169a0

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