Abstract
Planktonic larvae of the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri were collected in the western part of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, in order to document their seasonal occurrence, recruitment, and growth patterns. The larvae appeared from mid-July to early October and their size ranged from 0.6 to 5.5 mm. Three distinct cohorts were observed during the summers, indicating multiple, synchronous spawning within the population. The length increment pattern of a cohort demonstrates slow growth for at least a week during the early larval stage. July 10, 20, and 30 are the inferred dates when spawnings started to produce the three cohorts in 2001. Favorable temperature range for spawning was 21–23°C. Bias in population structure due to advection can be assumed to be negligible; therefore the length increment of the cohort, about 0.05 mm day−1, is regarded as the larval growth rate after the initial slow-growth stage. The planktonic stage of the first cohort in 2001 is estimated to have lasted around 55 days. The relative proportions of the second and third cohorts in samples from surface and mid-depth waters suggest downward migration of the planktonic larvae, as they age.
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Acknowledgements
We thank T. Nishikawa (Nagoya University) and K. Kubokawa (Tokyo University) for providing us valuable information on amphioxi and comments on the manuscript. Our thanks are also offered to M. J. Grygier (Lake Biwa Museum) and A. N. Subramanian (Ehime University) for revising and in improvement of the manuscript, and to students of our laboratory for their help in field work. This study was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from JSPS to HU (#12308027).
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Communicated by S. Nishida, Tokyo
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Ueda, H., Kamakura, H. Synchronous recruitment and growth pattern of planktonic larvae of the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Marine Biology 148, 1263–1271 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0176-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0176-1