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Reproductive biology and early life history of the hermaphroditic feather star Dorometra sesokonis (Echinodermata: Crinoidea)

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Abstract

Reproduction and larval/post-larval development of the one of the smallest known comatulid Dorometra sesokonis were studied on the coral reefs of Sesoko-jima Island, Okinawa, Japan. Breeding individuals were found every month from May 2003 to April 2004 indicating continuous reproduction. Individuals possessed both mature ovaries and testes, and were therefore characterized as simultaneous hermaphrodites. This species was observed to be an external brooder in which the embryos developed on the surface of parental genital pinnules until the doliolaria larval stage, and subsequently released doliolariae settled on substrata within 4 days after hatching. Larvae then metamorphosed into the post-larval cystidean stage, which lasted for more than a month. The reproductive features of this species are unique among crinoids, and, together with juvenile morphological features observed in adults, can be interpreted as adaptations to their cryptic habitat, which is subject to frequent natural disturbances.

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Acknowledgments

We thank I. Kogo and H. Kotsuka for their invaluable advice on this study and Dr. J. D. Reimer of the Rising Star Program at the University of the Ryukyus and the Japan Agency for Marine-earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) for reading the manuscript and making constructive comments. The staff and students of the Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, and the University of the Ryukyus are thanked for their help. This study was supported by the Mikimoto Fund for Marine Ecology (first author), the Research Institute of Marine Invertebrates (first and second authors), and the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (second author).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, W3-42, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo, 152-8551, Japan

    Masami Obuchi & Tatsuo Motokawa

  2. Rising Star Program, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Masami Obuchi

  3. University Education Center, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Yoshihisa Fujita

  4. Marine Learning Center, 2-95-101 Miyagi, Chatan, Okinawa, 901-0113, Japan

    Yoshihisa Fujita

  5. Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, 3422 Sesoko, Motobu, Okinawa, 905-0227, Japan

    Yoshikatsu Nakano

  6. Department of Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Tsuyoshi Uehara

Authors
  1. Masami Obuchi
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  2. Yoshihisa Fujita
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  3. Yoshikatsu Nakano
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  4. Tsuyoshi Uehara
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  5. Tatsuo Motokawa
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Correspondence to Masami Obuchi.

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Communicated by M. Byrne.

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Obuchi, M., Fujita, Y., Nakano, Y. et al. Reproductive biology and early life history of the hermaphroditic feather star Dorometra sesokonis (Echinodermata: Crinoidea). Mar Biol 157, 1191–1201 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1399-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1399-3

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