ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8902-9808
Current Organisation
University of Sydney
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Invertebrate Biology | Genetics | Evolutionary Biology | Marine Geoscience | Evolutionary Impacts of Climate Change | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Other Biological Sciences | Life Histories (Incl. Population Ecology) | Ecology | Geology | Environmental Science and Management | Global Change Biology | Ecology And Evolution Not Elsewhere Classified | Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing | Pattern Recognition and Data Mining | Biological Oceanography | Environmental Management And Rehabilitation | Image Processing | Global Change Biology | Developmental Genetics (incl. Sex Determination) | Evolution of Developmental Systems | Gene Expression (incl. Microarray and other genome-wide approaches) | Invertebrate Biology | Gene Expression | Genetic Development (Incl. Sex Determination) | Marine And Estuarine Ecology (Incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Environmental Monitoring | Biological Adaptation
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Biological sciences | Physical and chemical conditions | Coastal and Estuarine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Climate Change Adaptation Measures | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Climate change | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Marine Environments | Coastal and Estuarine Water Management |
Related Links
Publications
Metal levels in tissue granules of the freshwater bivalve Hyridella depressa (Unionida) for biomonitoring: the importance of cryopreparation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 26-01-1999
Biogenic acidification reduces sea urchin gonad growth and increases susceptibility of aquaculture to ocean acidification
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2015.11.001
Abstract: Decreasing oceanic pH (ocean acidification) has emphasised the influence of carbonate chemistry on growth of calcifying marine organisms. However, calcifiers can also change carbonate chemistry of surrounding seawater through respiration and calcification, a potential limitation for aquaculture. This study examined how seawater exchange rate and stocking density of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla that were reproductively mature affected carbonate system parameters of their culture water, which in turn influenced growth, gonad production and gonad condition. Growth, relative spine length, gonad production and consumption rates were reduced by up to 67% by increased density (9-43 in iduals.m(-2)) and reduced exchange rates (3.0-0.3 exchanges.hr(-1)), but survival and food conversion efficiency were unaffected. Analysis of the influence of seawater parameters indicated that reduced pH and calcite saturation state (ΩCa) were the primary factors limiting gonad production and growth. Uptake of bicarbonate and release of respiratory CO2 by T. gratilla changed the carbonate chemistry of surrounding water. Importantly total alkalinity (AT) was reduced, likely due to calcification by the urchins. Low AT limits the capacity of culture water to buffer against acidification. Direct management to counter biogenic acidification will be required to maintain productivity and reproductive output of marine calcifiers, especially as the ocean carbonate system is altered by climate driven ocean acidification.
Reproductive cycle of two populations of Ophionereis schayeri (Ophiuroidea) in New South Wales
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-1995
DOI: 10.1007/BF00349150
Patiriella pseudoexigua (Asteroidea: Asterinidae): A cryptic species complex revealed by molecular and embryological analyses
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 19-09-2003
DOI: 10.1017/S002531540300835XH
Abstract: Cryptic lineages were identified within a morphologically uniform group of sea stars distributed from Australia to Japan. Among eight populations, all of which have been referred to Patiriella pseudoexigua , we found seven unique mitochondrial DNA sequences clustered into four distinct lineages. These four lineages formed a monophyletic group in which sister clades were separated by small genetic distances but could be differentiated from each other on the basis of reproductive differences. The four lineages thus appear to be separate but very closely related species. Examination of reproduction in several Queensland populations revealed that one population (Statue Bay) consisted of hermaphroditic intragonadal brooders with live-born offspring while other populations (Townsville, Bowen, Airlie Beach) consisted of dioecious free-spawners with a planktonic larva. The brooded larvae from central Queensland populations closely resembled brooded embryos and larvae of a Japanese lineage, while the planktonic larvae from northern Queensland were similar to the original description of planktonic larvae from a Taiwan population. However, each of the viviparous lineages was more closely related to a lineage with planktonic larval development than the viviparous lineages were to each other. Patiriella pseudoexigua thus comprises at least four species with different reproductive phenotypes in which viviparous brooding appears to have evolved in parallel. Based on previous taxonomic work we propose the following names for these four lineages: the dioecious free-spawner from northern Queensland (including the P. pseudoexigua type locality) is P. pseudoexigua sensu stricto the viviparous brooder from central Queensland is undescribed and here referred to as Patiriella sp. nov the dioecious free-spawner from Taiwan is temporarily referred to as Patiriella sp. (a senior name for this species may be P. pentagonus ) and the hermaphrodite brooder from Japan should be raised to specific status and referred to by the new combination P. pacifica .
Morphological response of the larvae of Arbacia lixula to near-future ocean warming and acidification
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 19-04-2017
Abstract: The distribution of the sea urchin Arbacia lixula, a warm affinity species, has been expanding in the Mediterranean Sea. To address questions on potential for future success of this species in the region, the thermotolerance of larval development was investigated in context of regional warming. The larvae were reared in present day spawning period (20 °C) and warming conditions (+4 = 24 and +6 = 26 °C). As the calcifying larvae of sea urchins are vulnerable to stunted growth caused by ocean acidification, the impact of lower pH (−0.3 pH units) on larval development was also investigated in combination with warming. Morphological traits of the larvae, post-oral length arms, overall length of larvae and body length, were affected by increased temperature across pH treatments, indicating that for the larvae of southern Mediterranean population here, 24 °C appears to approximate the optimal temperature for development. A slightly negative effect of pH was evident. Increased temperature ameliorated the stunting effect of acidification on growth. The thermal tolerance of A. lixula development overlaps with projections for warming in the region by 2100 and also indicates that this species has acclimatized or adapted its reproductive biology to the broad environmental conditions of the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the broad thermal range (∼10 °C) of development of A. lixula across its distribution, this species is likely to be a winner in the climate change stakes. The broad thermal tolerance of the larvae is likely to assure population connectivity between Mediterranean sub-basins populations. The continued success of A. lixula can have a strong consequences for the ecological structure of Mediterranean rocky habitat.
Effects of marine heatwave conditions across the metamorphic transition to the juvenile sea urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
The Link between Autotomy and CNS Regeneration: Echinoderms as Non-Model Species for Regenerative Biology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2020
Abstract: Achieving regeneration of the central nervous system (CNS) is a major challenge for regenerative medicine. The inability of mammals to regrow a severed CNS contrasts with the amazing regenerative powers of their deuterostome kin, the echinoderms. Rapid CNS regeneration from a specialized autotomy plane in echinoderms presents a highly tractable and suitable non‐model system for regenerative biology and evolution. Starfish arm autotomy triggers mass cell migration and local proliferation, facilitating rapid CNS regeneration. Many regeneration events in nature are preceded by autotomy and there are striking parallels between autotomy and regeneration in starfish and lizards. Comparison of these systems holds promise to provide insight into regeneration deficiency in higher vertebrates and to uncover evolutionarily conserved deuterostome‐chordate regenerative processes. This will help identify mechanisms that may be present but inactive in higher vertebrates to address the problem of their poor regenerative capacities and the challenge to achieve CNS repair and regrowth.
Can prior exposure to stress enhance resilience to ocean warming in two oyster species?
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-04-2020
Reproduction of sympatric populations of Heliocidaris erythrogramma and H. tuberculata (Echinoidea) in New South Wales
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-1991
DOI: 10.1007/BF01344355
The impact of small and large impoundments on freshwater mussel distribution in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, southeastern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2008
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1087
From pole to pole: the potential for the Arctic seastar Asterias amurensis to invade a warming Southern Ocean
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13304
Abstract: Due to climatic warming, Asterias amurensis, a keystone boreal predatory seastar that has established extensive invasive populations in southern Australia, is a potential high-risk invader of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic. To assess the potential range expansion of A. amurensis to the Southern Ocean as it warms, we investigated the bioclimatic envelope of the adult and larval life stages. We analysed the distribution of adult A. amurensis with respect to present-day and future climate scenarios using habitat temperature data to construct species distribution models (SDMs). To integrate the physiological response of the dispersive phase, we determined the thermal envelope of larval development to assess their performance in present-day and future thermal regimes and the potential for success of A. amurensis in poleward latitudes. The SDM indicated that the thermal 'niche' of the adult stage correlates with a 0-17 °C and 1-22.5 °C range, in winter and summer, respectively. As the ocean warms, the range of A. amurensis in Australia will contract, while more southern latitudes will have conditions favourable for range expansion. Successful fertilization occurred from 3 to 23.8 °C. By day 12, development to the early larval stage was successful from 5.5 to 18 °C. Although embryos were able to reach the blastula stage at 2 °C, they had arrested development and high mortality. The optimal thermal range for survival of pelagic stages was 3.5-19.2 °C with a lower and upper critical limit of 2.6 and 20.3 °C, respectively. Our data predict that A. amurensis faces demise in its current invasive range while more favourable conditions at higher latitudes would facilitate invasion of both larval and adult stages to the Southern Ocean. Our results show that vigilance is needed to reduce the risk that this ecologically important Arctic carnivore may invade the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
The population genetic structure of the urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii in New Zealand with links to Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-08-2021
The strengthening East Australian Current, its eddies and biological effects - an introduction and overview
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2011
Dissolved histamine: a potential habitat marker promoting settlement and metamorphosis in sea urchin larvae
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-01-2012
The role of geomorphology in substratum patch selection by freshwater mussels in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River (New South Wales) Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.949
A boom-bust phylum? Ecological and evolutionary consequences of density variations in echinoderms
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2009
DOI: 10.1890/07-2136.1
Diet-induced shifts in the crown-of-thorns (Acanthaster sp.) larval microbiome
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-09-2018
Brooding brittle-star is a global hybrid polyploid swarm
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 02-07-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.29.547001
Abstract: The widespread and abundant brooding brittle-star ( Amphipholis squamata ) is a simultaneous hermaphrodite with a complex mitochondrial phylogeography of multiple ergent overlapping mtDNA lineages and can exhibit high levels of inbreeding or clonality and unusual sperm morphology. We use exon-capture and transcriptome data to show that the nuclear genome comprises multiple ( ) ergent (π 6%) expressed components spread across the mitochondrial lineages, and encompassing several other genera, including diploid dioecious dimorphic species. We also report a massive sperm genome size in A. squamata , an order of magnitude larger than in the sperm of other brittle-star species, consistent with our genetic measures of elevated and variable ploidy ( ). We propose that A. squamata (and related taxa) is a hybrid polyploid complex with many independent hybrid origins, variable ploidy, and complex patterns of parental subgenomes. We hypothesize that A. squamata has facultative sperm-dependent asexual reproduction, where sperm is required for embryogenesis but the egg and sperm only occasionally undergo fertilisation, a process that has been associated with the formation of polyploid hybrid swarms in other taxa [1]. Unique amongst known marine allopolyploids, the A. squamata complex inhabits an extensive bathymetric as well as geographic range. A. squamata is a much-studied animal amenable to laboratory culture: appreciating it as a hybrid polyploid complex makes it even more interesting to the study of evolutionary biology.
Thermotolerance and the effects of hypercapnia on the metabolic rate of the ophiuroid Ophionereis schayeri: Inferences for survivorship in a changing ocean
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2011
Centrostephanus rodgersii
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2013
The influence of population density on fission and growth of Holothuria atra in natural mesocosms
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2008
Incorporating in situ habitat patchiness in site selection models reveals that site fidelity is not always a consequence of animal choice
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-04-2017
Abstract: Understanding site fidelity is important in animal ecology, but evidence is lacking that this behaviour is due to an animal choosing a specific location. To discern site selection behaviour, it is necessary to consider the spatial distribution of habitats that animals can occupy within a landscape. Tracking animals and defining clear habitat boundaries, however, is often difficult. We use in situ habitat distribution data and animal movement simulations to investigate behavioural choice in site fidelity patterns. We resolved the difficulty of gathering data by working with intertidal rock pool systems, which are of manageable size and where boundaries are easy to define. Movements of the intertidal starfish Parvulastra exigua were quantified to test the hypotheses that (1) this species displays fidelity to a particular rock pool and that (2) rock pool fidelity is due to site selection behaviour. Observed patterns of in iduals (n = 10 starfish) returning to a previously occupied rock pool (n = 5 pools per location) were tested against an expected null distribution generated through simulations of random movements within their natural patchy environment. Starfish exhibited site selection behaviour at only one location even though site fidelity was high (av. 7·4 starfish out of 10 found in test pools) in two of the three locations. The random chance of a starfish returning to a pool increased 67% for each metre further a rock pool was from the original pool, and 120% for each square metre increase in surface area of an original pool. The decision of returning to an original rock pool was influenced by food availability. When microalgal cover was >60%, there was a c. 50% chance of animals staying faithful to that pool. Our results show the importance to consider spatial distribution of habitats in understanding patterns of animal movement associated with animal choices and site fidelity. Returning to a particular place does not necessarily mean that an animal is homing it may be the only place to go.
Molecular taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution in the family Stichopodidae (Aspidochirotida: Holothuroidea) based on COI and 16S mitochondrial DNA
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2010.04.013
Abstract: The Stichopodidae comprise a erse assemblage of holothuroids most of which occur in the Indo-Pacific. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial gene (COI, 16S rRNA) sequence for 111 in iduals (7 genera, 17 species) clarified taxonomic uncertainties, species relationships, biogeography and evolution of the family. A monophyly of the genus Stichopus was supported with the exception of Stichopus ellipes. Molecular analyses confirmed genus level taxonomy based on morphology. Most specimens harvested as S. horrens fell in the S. monotuberculatus clade, a morphologically variable assemblage with others from the S. naso clade. Taxonomic clarification of species fished as S. horrens will assist conservation measures. Evolutionary rates based on comparison of sequence from trans-ithmian Isostichopus species estimated that Stichopus and Isostichopus erged ca. 5.5-10.7Ma (Miocene). More recent splits were estimated to be younger than 1Ma.
Early benthic juvenile Parvulastra exigua (Asteroidea) are tolerant to extreme acidification and warming in its intertidal habitat
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
Priority species to support the functional integrity of coral reefs
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 15-11-2020
Diet flexibility and growth of the early herbivorous juvenile crown-of-thorns sea star, implications for its boom-bust population dynamics
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-07-2020
Larval cloning in the crown-of-thorns sea star, a keystone coral predator
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 17-01-2019
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12843
Larval thermal windows in native and hybrid Pseudoboletia progeny (Echinoidea) as potential drivers of the hybridization zone
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 28-06-2018
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12601
Nonspecific expression of fertilization genes in the crown-of-thorns Acanthaster cf. solaris: Unexpected evidence of hermaphroditism in a coral reef predator
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.15332
Abstract: The characterization of gene expression in gametes has advanced our understanding of the molecular basis for ecological variation in reproductive success and the evolution of reproductive isolation. These advances are especially significant for ecologically important keystone predators such as the coral-eating crown-of-thorns sea stars (COTS, Acanthaster) which are the most influential predator species in Indo-Pacific coral reef ecosystems and the focus of intensive management efforts. We used RNA-seq and transcriptome assemblies to characterize the expression of genes in mature COTS gonads. We described the sequence and domain organization of eight genes with sex-specific expression and well known functions in fertilization in other echinoderms. We found unexpected expression of genes in one ovary transcriptome that are characteristic of males and sperm, including genes that encode the sperm-specific guanylate cyclase receptor for an egg pheromone, and the sperm acrosomal protein bindin. In a reassembly of previously published RNA-seq data from COTS testes, we found a complementary pattern: strong expression of four genes that are otherwise well known to encode egg-specific fertilization proteins, including the egg receptor for bindin (EBR1) and the acrosome reaction-inducing substance in the egg coat (ARIS1, ARIS2, ARIS3). We also found histological evidence of both eggs and sperm developing in the same gonad in several COTS in iduals from a parallel study. These results suggest the occurrence of hermaphrodites, and the potential for reproductive assurance via self-fertilization. Our findings have implications for management of COTS populations, especially in consideration of the large size and massive fecundity of these sea stars.
Timing of mass spawning in corals: potential influence of the coincidence of lunar factors and associated changes in atmospheric pressure from northern and southern hemisphere case studies
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-02-2018
Effects of ocean warming and acidification on fertilization in the Antarctic echinoid Sterechinus neumayeri across a range of sperm concentrations
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2013.07.007
Abstract: The gametes of marine invertebrates are being spawned into an ocean that is simultaneously warming and decreasing in pH. Predicting the potential for interactive effects of these stressors on fertilization is difficult, especially for stenothermal polar invertebrates adapted to fertilization in cold, viscous water and, when decreased sperm availability may be an additional stressor. The impact of increased temperature (2-4 °C above ambient) and decreased pH (0.2-0.4 pH units below ambient) on fertilization in the Antarctic echinoid Sterechinus neumayeri across a range of sperm concentrations was investigated in cross-factorial experiments in context with near future ocean change projections. The high temperature treatment (+4 °C) was also used to assess thermal tolerance. Gametes from multiple males and females in replicate experiments were used to reflect the multiple spawner scenario in nature. For fertilization at low sperm density we tested three hypotheses, 1) increased temperature enhances fertilization success, 2) low pH reduces fertilization and, 3) due to the cold stenothermal physiology of S. neumayeri, temperature would be the more significant stressor. Temperature and sperm levels had a significant effect on fertilization, but decreased pH did not affect fertilization. Warming enhanced fertilization at the lowest sperm concentration tested likely through stimulation of sperm motility and reduced water viscosity. Our results indicate that fertilization in S. neumayeri, even at low sperm levels potentially found in nature, is resilient to near-future ocean warming and acidification.
Developing in a warming intertidal, negative carry over effects of heatwave conditions in development to the pentameral starfish in Parvulastra exigua
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Effects of magnesium deprivation on development and biomineralization in the sea urchin Arbacia lixula
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-05-2019
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-10-2020
Accuracy and precision of habitat structural complexity metrics derived from underwater photogrammetry
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 15-12-2015
DOI: 10.3390/RS71215859
Larval starvation to satiation: Influence of nutrient regime on the success of Acanthaster planci
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 19-03-2015
Respiratory response of the intertidal seastar Parvulastra exigua to contemporary and near-future pulses of warming and hypercapnia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2012
How does embryonic and larval thermal tolerance contribute to the distribution of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii (Diadematidae) in New Zealand?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2013
Adult exposure to ocean acidification is maladaptive for larvae of the Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata in the presence of multiple stressors
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 02-2017
Abstract: Parental effects passed from adults to their offspring have been identified as a source of rapid acclimation that may allow marine populations to persist as our surface oceans continue to decrease in pH. Little is known, however, whether parental effects are beneficial for offspring in the presence of multiple stressors. We exposed adults of the oyster Saccostrea glomerata to elevated CO 2 and examined the impacts of elevated CO 2 (control = 392 856 µatm) combined with elevated temperature (control = 24 28°C), reduced salinity (control = 35 25) and reduced food concentration (control = full half diet) on their larvae. Adult exposure to elevated CO 2 had a positive impact on larvae reared at elevated CO 2 as a sole stressor, which were 8% larger and developed faster at elevated CO 2 compared with larvae from adults exposed to ambient CO 2 . These larvae, however, had significantly reduced survival in all multistressor treatments. This was particularly evident for larvae reared at elevated CO 2 combined with elevated temperature or reduced food concentration, with no larvae surviving in some treatment combinations. Larvae from CO 2 -exposed adults had a higher standard metabolic rate. Our results provide evidence that parental exposure to ocean acidification may be maladaptive when larvae experience multiple stressors.
Temporal variability in gametogenesis and spawning patterns of crown-of-thorns starfish within the outbreak initiation zone in the northern Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2021
Hybrid epigenomes reveal extensive local genetic changes to chromatin accessibility contribute to divergence in embryonic gene expression between species
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-10-2023
Skeletal characters for identification of juvenile Ophiactis resiliens and Amphiura constricta (Echinodermata): Cryptic ophiuroids in coralline turf habitat
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 25-08-2006
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315406014196
Abstract: Skeletal development of Ophiactis resiliens and Amphiura constricta was examined to determine characters that could be used to identify the juveniles of these species, which co-occur in algal turf habitat. Juvenile O. resiliens recruit to turf after a planktonic larval stage while A. constricta recruit through release from brooding adults. Skeletal development in O. resiliens and A. constricta is typical of most ophiuroids with diagnostic adult characters taking some time to appear. The main characters that can be used to distinguish the two species from an early stage are the number and arrangement of the oral papillae and the presence of disc spines. In O. resiliens diagnostic adult skeletal characters developed at 1.5 mm disc diameter. In A. constricta most identifying adult characters were evident at 700 μm disc diameter. Identification of juvenile O. resiliens is assisted by the presence of disc spines and thorny arm spines, features that disappear as the juveniles grow. Juvenile A. constricta did not develop disc spines or thorns on the arm spines.
Visualization of the developing serotonergic nervous system in the larvae of the sea star, patiriella regularis using confocal microscopy and computer generated 3-D reconstructions
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 1997
Refugia under threat: Mass bleaching of coral assemblages in high‐latitude eastern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-08-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14772
Abstract: Environmental anomalies that trigger adverse physiological responses and mortality are occurring with increasing frequency due to climate change. At species' range peripheries, environmental anomalies are particularly concerning because species often exist at their environmental tolerance limits and may not be able to migrate to escape unfavourable conditions. Here, we investigated the bleaching response and mortality of 14 coral genera across high-latitude eastern Australia during a global heat stress event in 2016. We evaluated whether the severity of assemblage-scale and genus-level bleaching responses was associated with cumulative heat stress and/or local environmental history, including long-term mean temperatures during the hottest month of each year (SST
DISTRIBUTION OF FROGS IN RICE BAYS WITHIN AN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL AREA: LINKS TO PESTICIDE USAGE AND FARM PRACTICES
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2009
DOI: 10.1897/08-388.1
Abstract: In the Coleambally irrigation area (NSW, Australia), the occurrence of four tadpole and frog species in rice bays on farms growing either rice only or both rice and corn was studied over two seasons. In addition to analysis of species occurrence, both gonadal histology and assessment of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection rates were performed. The rice acreage available as potential tadpole habitat was extensively distributed throughout the irrigation area, but more corn was grown in the northern region compared with the southern region. The mean abundance of Litoria raniformis tadpoles was significantly lower in the northern sites compared with the southern sites. In contrast, tadpoles of Limnodynastes fletcheri, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, and Crinia parinsignifera had a uniform distribution across all study sites. A principal components analysis showed a relationship between farm type and the rice herbicide applied when the crops were initially sown, with sites occupied by Litoria raniformis in the beginning being predominantly rice-only farms. A discriminant analysis showed that low concentrations of the corn herbicide metolachlor and increased pH were the main variables studied that determined site occupation by L. raniformis. This suggested that farms growing only rice (and not corn) with high algal production were the preferred sites. The rates of chytrid infection and gonadal malformations were low across both regions. Histology of the gonads of metamorphs showed that L. raniformis gonadal differentiation is slow compared to that of the two Limnodynastes species. We concluded that farm practices associated with increased corn cropping in the northern region, rather than any direct effect of corn herbicides, determine the reduced presence of Litoria raniformis in the northern region.
Evolution of development in the sea star genus Patiriella: Clade-specific alterations in cleavage
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-02-2004
DOI: 10.1111/J.1525-142X.2004.04015.X
Abstract: Examination of early development in five species of the Patiriella sea star species complex indicates that the ancestral-type radial holoblastic cleavage (Type I) is characteristic of P. regularis and P. exigua, whereas cleavage in species from the calcar clade followed multiple alternatives (Types II-IV) from holoblastic to meroblastic. Considering that invariant radial cleavage is thought to play a role in embryonic axis formation in echinoderms, we documented the details of blastomere formation in Patiriella sp. and followed development of the embryos. In Type II cleavage, the first and second cleavage planes appeared simultaneously at one pole of the embryo, iding it directly into four equally sized blastomeres. In Type III cleavage, the first and second cleavage planes appeared simultaneously, followed promptly by the third cleavage plane, iding the embryo directly into eight equally sized blastomeres. In Type IV cleavage, numerous furrows appeared simultaneously at one end of the embryo, iding it into 32-40 equally sized blastomeres. Confocal sections revealed that embryos with cleavage Types II-IV were initially syncytial. The timing of karyokinesis in embryos with Types II and III cleavage was similar to that seen in clutch mates with Type I cleavage. Karyokinesis in embryos with Type IV cleavage, however, differed in timing compared with Type I clutch mates. Alteration in cleavage was not associated with polarized distribution of maternally provided nutrients. For each cleavage type, development was normal to the competent larval stage. Although variable blastomere configuration in the calcar clade may be linked to possession of a lecithotrophic development, other Patiriella species with this mode of development have typical cleavage. The presence of variable cleavage in all calcar clade species indicates that phylogenetic history has played a role in the distribution of this embryonic trait in Patiriella. The plasticity in early cleavage in these sea stars indicates that this aspect of early development is not constrained against change and that there are many ways to achieve multicellularity.
Simultaneous Spawning of Six Species of Echinoderms in Barkley Sound, British Columbia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-1988
Movement dynamics, sediment turnover and sheltering behaviours of the nocturnal coral reef sea cucumber, Stichopus cf. monotuberculatus
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-10-2023
Acclimation to low pH does not affect the thermal tolerance of Arbacia lixula progeny
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 06-2022
Abstract: As the ocean warms, the thermal tolerance of marine invertebrates is key to determining their distributional change, where acclimation to low pH may impact the thermal range of optimal development. We compared thermal tolerance of progeny from a low pH-acclimated sea urchin ( Arbacia lixula ) population from the CO 2 vents of Ischia (Italy) and a nearby population living at ambient pH. The percentages of normally developing gastrulae and two-armed larvae were determined across 10 temperatures representing present and future temperature conditions (16–34°C). Vent-acclimated sea urchins showed a greater percentage of normal development at 24 h, with a larger optimal developmental temperature range than control sea urchins (12.3°C versus 5.4°C range, respectively). At 48 h, upper lethal temperatures for 50% survival with respect to ambient temperatures were similar between control (+6.8°C) and vent (+6.2°C) populations. Thus, acclimation to low pH did not impact the broad thermal tolerance of A. lixula progeny. With A. lixula 's barrens-forming abilities, its wide thermotolerance and its capacity to acclimate to low pH, this species will continue to be an important ecological engineer in Mediterranean macroalgal ecosystems in a changing ocean.
The active evolutionary lives of echinoderm larvae
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-07-2006
Abstract: Echinoderms represent a researchable subset of a dynamic larval evolutionary cosmos. Evolution of echinoderm larvae has taken place over widely varying time scales from the origins of larvae of living classes in the early Palaeozoic, approximately 500 million years ago, to recent, rapid and large-scale changes that have occurred within living genera within a span of less than a million years to a few million years. It is these recent evolutionary events that offer a window into processes of larval evolution operating at a micro-evolutionary level of evolution of discrete developmental mechanisms. We review the evolution of the erse larval forms of living echinoderms to outline the origins of echinoderm larval forms, their ersity among living echinoderms, molecular clocks and rates of larval evolution, and finally current studies on the roles of developmental regulatory mechanisms in the rapid and radical evolutionary changes observed between closely related congeneric species.
Evisceration behaviour and the seasonal incidence of evisceration in the holothurian eupentacta quinquesemita (Selenka)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-1985
Sea cucumber (Aspidochirotida) community, distribution and habitat utilization on the reefs of Mayotte, Western Indian Ocean
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 25-04-2012
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09665
The life history of the gastropod thyonicola americana tikasingh, endoparasitic in a seasonally eviscerating holothurian host
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-1985
The stunting effect of a high CO2ocean on calcification and development in sea urchin larvae, a synthesis from the tropics to the poles
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-10-2013
Abstract: The stunting effect of ocean acidification on development of calcifying invertebrate larvae has emerged as a significant effect of global change. We assessed the arm growth response of sea urchin echinoplutei, here used as a proxy of larval calcification, to increased seawater acidity/ p CO 2 and decreased carbonate mineral saturation in a global synthesis of data from 15 species. Phylogenetic relatedness did not influence the observed patterns. Regardless of habitat or latitude, ocean acidification impedes larval growth with a negative relationship between arm length and increased acidity/ p CO 2 and decreased carbonate mineral saturation. In multiple linear regression models incorporating these highly correlated parameters, p CO 2 exerted the greatest influence on decreased arm growth in the global dataset and also in the data subsets for polar and subtidal species. Thus, reduced growth appears largely driven by organism hypercapnia. For tropical species, decreased carbonate mineral saturation was most important. No single parameter played a dominant role in arm size reduction in the temperate species. For intertidal species, the models were equivocal. Levels of acidification causing a significant (approx. 10–20+%) reduction in arm growth varied between species. In 13 species, reduction in length of arms and supporting skeletal rods was evident in larvae reared in near-future ( p CO 2 800+ µatm) conditions, whereas greater acidification ( p CO 2 1000+ µatm) reduced growth in all species. Although multi-stressor studies are few, when temperature is added to the stressor mix, near-future warming can reduce the negative effect of acidification on larval growth. Broadly speaking, responses of larvae from across world regions showed similar trends despite disparate phylogeny, environments and ecology. Larval success may be the bottleneck for species success with flow-on effects for sea urchin populations and marine ecosystems.
Intragonadal incubation of progeny in three viviparous asterinid sea stars that differ in offspring provisioning, lecithotrophy vs matrotrophy
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-05-2019
The hidden army: corallivorous crown-of-thorns seastars can spend years as herbivorous juveniles
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 04-2020
Abstract: Crown-of-thorns seastar (COTS) outbreaks are a major threat to coral reefs. Although the herbivorous juveniles and their switch to corallivory are key to seeding outbreaks, they remain a black box in our understanding of COTS. We investigated the impact of a delay in diet transition due to coral scarcity in cohorts reared on crustose coralline algae for 10 months and 6.5 years before being offered coral. Both cohorts achieved an asymptotic size (16–18 mm diameter) on algae and had similar exponential growth on coral. After 6.5 years of herbivory, COTS were competent coral predators. This trophic and growth plasticity results in a marked age–size disconnect adding unappreciated complexity to COTS boom–bust dynamics. The potential that herbivorous juveniles accumulate in the reef infrastructure to seed outbreaks when favourable conditions arise has implications for management of COTS populations.
Impacts of near future sea surface pH and temperature conditions on fertilisation and embryonic development in Centrostephanus rodgersii from northern New Zealand and northern New South Wales, Austral
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2013
Effect of sublethal predation on reproductive output of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster sp., with an overview of arm damage
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 24-10-2019
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS13111
Limitations of cross- and multigenerational plasticity for marine invertebrates faced with global climate change
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-12-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14882
Abstract: Although cross generation (CGP) and multigenerational (MGP) plasticity have been identified as mechanisms of acclimation to global change, the weight of evidence indicates that parental conditioning over generations is not a panacea to rescue stress sensitivity in offspring. For many species, there were no benefits of parental conditioning. Even when improved performance was observed, this waned over time within a generation or across generations and fitness declined. CGP and MGP studies identified resilient species with stress tolerant genotypes in wild populations and selected family lines. Several bivalves possess favourable stress tolerance and phenotypically plastic traits potentially associated with genetic adaptation to life in habitats where they routinely experience temperature and/or acidification stress. These traits will be important to help ‘climate proof’ shellfish ventures. Species that are naturally stress tolerant and those that naturally experience a broad range of environmental conditions are good candidates to provide insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in CGP and MGP. It is challenging to conduct ecologically relevant global change experiments over the long times commensurate with the pace of changing climate. As a result, many studies present stressors in a shock‐type exposure at rates much faster than projected scenarios. With more gradual stressor introduction over longer experimental durations and in context with conditions species are currently acclimatized and/or adapted to, the outcomes for sensitive species might differ. We highlight the importance to understand primordial germ cell development and the timing of gametogenesis with respect to stressor exposure. Although multigenerational exposure to global change stressors currently appears limited as a universal tool to rescue species in the face of changing climate, natural proxies of future conditions (upwelling zones, CO 2 vents, naturally warm habitats) show that phenotypic adjustment and/or beneficial genetic selection is possible for some species, indicating complex plasticity–adaptation interactions.
Predator–prey behavioural interactions between the asterinid seastars Meridiastra calcar and Parvulastra exigua sympatric on the rocky shores of southeast Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-07-2021
Sea urchin fertilization in a warm, acidified and high pCO2 ocean across a range of sperm densities
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2009.10.014
Abstract: Marine invertebrate gametes are being spawned into an ocean simultaneously warming, acidifying and increasing in pCO(2). Decreased pH/increased pCO(2) narcotizes sperm indicating that acidification may impair fertilization, exacerbating problems of sperm limitation, with dire implications for marine life. In contrast, increased temperature may have a stimulatory effect, enhancing fertilization. We investigated effects of ocean change on sea urchin fertilization across a range of sperm densities. We address two predictions: (1) low pH/increased pCO(2) reduces fertilization at low sperm density and (2) increased temperature enhances fertilization, buffering negative effects of acidification and increased pCO(2). Neither prediction was supported. Fertilization was only affected by sperm density. Increased acidification and pCO(2) did not reduce fertilization even at low sperm density and increased temperature did not enhance fertilization. It is important to identify where vulnerabilities lie across life histories and our results indicate that sea urchin fertilization is robust to climate change stressors. However, developmental stages may be vulnerable to ocean change.
Evolution of maternal lipid provisioning strategies in echinoids with non-feeding larvae: Selection for high-quality juveniles
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 09-05-2019
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12938
Molluscs on acid: gastropod shell repair and strength in acidifying oceans
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 27-08-2014
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10887
Transcriptomic analysis of sea star development through metamorphosis to the highly derived pentameral body plan with a focus on neural transcription factors
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-2020
Abstract: The Echinodermata is characterized by a secondarily evolved pentameral body plan. While the evolutionary origin of this body plan has been the subject of debate, the molecular mechanisms underlying its development are poorly understood. We assembled a de novo developmental transcriptome from the embryo through metamorphosis in the sea star Parvulastra exigua. We use the asteroid model as it represents the basal-type echinoderm body architecture. Global variation in gene expression distinguished the gastrula profile and showed that metamorphic and juvenile stages were more similar to each other than to the pre-metamorphic stages, pointing to the marked changes that occur during metamorphosis. Differential expression and gene ontology (GO) analyses revealed dynamic changes in gene expression throughout development and the transition to pentamery. Many GO terms enriched during late metamorphosis were related to neurogenesis and signalling. Neural transcription factor genes exhibited clusters with distinct expression patterns. A suite of these genes was up-regulated during metamorphosis (e.g. Pax6, Eya, Hey, NeuroD, FoxD, Mbx, and Otp). In situ hybridization showed expression of neural genes in the CNS and sensory structures. Our results provide a foundation to understand the metamorphic transition in echinoderms and the genes involved in development and evolution of pentamery.
Temporal pattern of offspring release and degree of parental investment in two viviparous asterinid sea stars with an overview of matrotrophy and offspring size variation in echinoderms that care for
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-03-2014
Living in future ocean acidification, physiological adaptive responses of the immune system of sea urchins resident at a CO2 vent system
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.04.005
Abstract: The effects of ocean acidification, a major anthropogenic impact on marine life, have been mainly investigated in laboratory/mesocosm experiments. We used the CO
Ocean acidification narrows the acute thermal and salinity tolerance of the Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2017.06.052
Abstract: Coastal and estuarine environments are characterised by acute changes in temperature and salinity. Organisms living within these environments are adapted to withstand such changes, yet near-future ocean acidification (OA) may challenge their physiological capacity to respond. We tested the impact of CO
Adaptive capacity of the habitat modifying sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii to ocean warming and ocean acidification: Performance of early embryos
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 03-08-2012
Development and distribution of the peptidergic system in larval and adult Patiriella: Comparison of sea star bilateral and radial nervous systems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-08-2002
DOI: 10.1002/CNE.10315
Abstract: Development of the larval peptidergic system in the sea star Patiriella regularis and structure of the adult nervous system in Patiriella species were documented in an immunofluorescence investigation using antisera to the sea star neuropeptide GFNSALMFamide 1 (S1) and confocal microscopy. P. regularis has planktotrophic development through bipinnaria and brachiolaria larvae. In early bipinnaria, two groups of immunoreactive cells appeared on either side of the anterior region and proliferated to form a pair of dorsolateral ganglia. The ganglia gave rise to fine varicose fibres that innervated the preoral and adoral ciliated bands. Peptidergic cells also innervated the postoral ciliated band, and a nerve tract connected the pre- and postoral bands. Fully developed bipinnaria had a well-developed peptidergic system, the organisation of which reflected the bilateral larval body plan. As the brachiolar attachment complex differentiated at the anterior end, the ganglia became positioned on either side of the anterior projection, from which they innervated the complex. It is suggested, based on the distribution of S1-like immunoreactivity in association with ciliary and attachment structures, that the peptidergic system functions in modulation of feeding, swimming, and settlement. The larval peptidergic system degenerates as the larval body is resorbed during metamorphosis. In adults, S1-like immunoreactivity was intense in the axonal region of the ectoneural nervous system and in hyponeural perikarya. Immunoreactive cells in the neuroepithelium connected with the surface and may be sensory. Examination of immunoreactivity in several Patiriella species attests to the highly conserved organisation of the peptidergic system in adult asteroids.
Novel copulatory structures and reproductive functions in Amphiboloidea (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Pulmonata)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-04-2008
Optimising Sampling Strategies in Coral Reefs Using Large-Area Mosaics
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 05-12-2019
DOI: 10.3390/RS11242907
Abstract: Adequately s ling benthic cover in marine ecosystems is a challenge with most methods encompassing only a small portion of the area for which cover is estimated. Recent advances in photogrammetric techniques are providing opportunity to map expansive areas of reef. This study aimed to evaluate the adequate level of s ling for traditional quadrat-based designs at ecologically relevant scales. We used large-area (~250 m2), high-resolution (0.911 ± 0.143 mm ixel) mosaics to assess the precision and reproducibility of quadrat-based benthic s ling and identify the most efficient strategy (size and number of quadrats). There was a strong relationship between the percent cover of benthic classes and the level of s ling effort required to adequately s le them. As expected, larger quadrats were found to be more efficient when s ling effort was expressed in number of quadrats. This study aims to identify the optimal level of s ling (least effort that would result in a given target precision) to characterize coral reef benthic communities (whatever they are) within each site. As such, the sites selected were intentionally very different and together represented the broad scale of heterogeneity found in shallow coral reef communities. Abundance data can be used in combination with the relationships presented here to determine the optimal s ling protocols for management approaches to coral reef monitoring.
Characterisation of thirteen polymorphic microsatellite markers for the red sea urchin Heliocidaris tuberculata (Lamarck, 1816) developed using a 454-sequencing approach
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-10-2013
Reproductive periodicity of the tropical intertidal chiton Acanthopleura gemmata at One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, near its southern latitudinal limit
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 03-2009
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315408002877
Abstract: Reproduction in the pantropical chiton Acanthopleura gemmata was examined at One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, near the southern limit of its distribution, using gonad histology and gonad index (GI). Gonad growth was associated with the onset of gametogenesis in mid-spring. Fully mature gonads were present from early summer until late autumn. During these months gametes at various stages of development were present in the gonads indicating a continuous pattern of gamete development and release over the six month spawning season. Following the maximum GI (March/April) there was a sharp drop in the index marking the end of spawning. In winter, the gonads entered a rest period and remained small in size. The reproductive pattern of A. gemmata at its southern limit is similar and 6 months out of phase to that reported for populations in the Gulf of Suez, at the northern limit of its distribution. This suggests that photoperiod may be an important factor in modulating reproduction. Reproduction of A. gemmata at One Tree Island is also similar to that for populations in the northern Great Barrier Reef.
Forever fissiparous: asexual propagation and stable demography in a tropical and geographically isolated asterinid sea star
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-05-2019
The ecology of Centrostephanus rodgersii
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2001
Development of the hyaline layer around the planktonic embryos and larvae of the asteroidPatiriella calcarand the presence of associated bacteria
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 1997
Expression of genes and proteins of the pax‐six‐eya‐dach network in the metamorphic sea urchin: Insights into development of the enigmatic echinoderm body plan and sensory structures
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-11-2017
DOI: 10.1002/DVDY.24584
Abstract: Photoreception-associated genes of the Pax-Six-Eya-Dach network (PSEDN) are deployed for many roles in addition to photoreception development. In this first study of PSEDN genes during development of the pentameral body in sea urchins, we investigated their spatial expression in Heliocidaris erythrogramma. Expression of PSEDN genes in the hydrocoele of early (Dach, Eya, Six1/2) and/or late (Pax6, Six3/6) larvae, and the five hydrocoele lobes, the first morphological expression of pentamery, supports a role in body plan development. Pax6, Six1/2, and Six3/6 were localized to the primary and/or secondary podia and putative sensory/neuronal cells. Six1/2 and Six3/6 were expressed in the neuropil region in the terminal disc of the podia. Dach was localized to spines. Sequential up-regulation of gene expression as new podia and spines formed was evident. Rhabdomeric opsin and pax6 protein were localized to cells in the primary podia and spines. Our results support roles for PSEDN genes in development of the pentameral body plan, contributing to our understanding of how the most unusual body plan in the Bilateria may have evolved. Development of sensory cells within the Pax-Six expression field is consistent with the role of these genes in sensory cell development in erse species. Developmental Dynamics 247:239-249, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The coeloms in a late brachiolaria larva of the asterinid sea star Parvulastra exigua: deriving an asteroid coelomic model
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2011
Impacts of Acclimation in Warm-Low pH Conditions on the Physiology of the Sea Urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma and Carryover Effects for Juvenile Offspring
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 21-01-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2020.588938
Abstract: Ocean warming (OW) and acidification (OA) affects nearly all aspects of marine organism physiology and it is important to consider both stressors when predicting responses to climate change. We investigated the effects of long-term exposure to OW and OA on the physiology of adults of the sea urchin, Heliocidaris erythrogramma , a species resident in the southeast Australia warming hotspot. The urchins were slowly introduced to stressor conditions in the laboratory over a 7-week adjustment period to three temperature (ambient, +2°C, +3°C) and two pH (ambient: pH T 8.0 −0.4 units: pH T 7.6) treatments. They were then maintained in a natural pattern of seasonal temperature and photoperiod change, and fixed pH, for 22 weeks. Survival was monitored through week 22 and metabolic rate was measured at 4 and 12 weeks of acclimation, feeding rate and ammonia excretion rate at 12 weeks and assimilation efficiency at 13 weeks. Acclimation to +3°C was deleterious regardless of pH. Mortality from week 6 indicated that recent marine heatwaves are likely to have been deleterious to this species. Acclimation to +2°C did not affect survival. Increased temperature decreased feeding and increased excretion rates, with no effect of acidification. While metabolic rate increased additively with temperature and low pH at week 4, there was no difference between treatments at week 12, indicating physiological acclimation in surviving urchins to stressful conditions. Regardless of treatment, H. erythrogramma had a net positive energy budget indicating that the responses were not due to energy limitation. To test for the effect of parental acclimation on offspring responses, the offspring of acclimated urchins were reared to the juvenile stage in OW and OA conditions. Parental acclimation to warming, but not acidification altered juvenile physiology with an increase in metabolic rate. Our results show that incorporation of gradual seasonal environmental change in long-term acclimation can influence outcomes, an important consideration in predicting the consequences of changing climate for marine species.
A comparative analysis of egg provisioning using mass spectrometry during rapid life history evolution in sea urchins
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-05-2019
DOI: 10.1111/EDE.12289
Live‐fast‐die‐young: Carryover effects of heatwave‐exposed adult urchins on the development of the next generation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-08-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16339
Abstract: With rising ocean temperatures, extreme weather events such as marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in frequency and duration, pushing marine life beyond their physiological limits. The potential to respond to extreme conditions through physiological acclimatization, and pass on resistance to the next generation, fundamentally depends on the capacity of an organism to cope within their thermal tolerance limits. To elucidate whether heat conditioning of parents could benefit offspring development, we exposed adult sea urchins ( Heliocidaris erythrogramma ) to ambient summer (23°C), moderate (25°C) or strong (26°C) MHW conditions for 10 days. Offspring were then reared at constant temperature along a thermal gradient (22–28°C) and development was tracked to the 14‐day juvenile stage. Progeny from the MHW‐conditioned adults developed through to metamorphosis faster than those of ambient conditioned parents, with most in iduals from the moderate and strong heatwaves developing to the larval stage across all temperatures. In contrast, the majority of offspring from the control summer temperature died before metamorphosis at temperatures above 25°C (moderate MHW). Juveniles produced from the strong MHW‐conditioned adults were also larger across all temperatures, with the largest juveniles in the 26°C treatment. In contrast, the smallest juveniles were from control (current‐day summer) parents (and reared at 22 and 25°C). Surprisingly, initial survival was higher in the progeny of MHW exposed parents, even at temperatures hotter than predicted MHWs (28°C). Importantly, however, there was substantial mortality of juveniles from the strong MHW parents by day 14. Therefore, while carryover effects of parental conditioning to MHWs resulted in faster growing, larger progeny, this benefit will only persist beyond the more sensitive juvenile stage and enhance survival if conditions return promptly to normal seasonal temperatures within current thermal tolerance limits.
Transcriptomic Analysis of the Highly Derived Radial Body Plan of a Sea Urchin
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-2014
DOI: 10.1093/GBE/EVU070
Larvae of the coral eating crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci in a warmer-high CO2 ocean
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-02-2014
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12530
Abstract: Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), Acanthaster planci, contribute to major declines of coral reef ecosystems throughout the Indo-Pacific. As the oceans warm and decrease in pH due to increased anthropogenic CO2 production, coral reefs are also susceptible to bleaching, disease and reduced calcification. The impacts of ocean acidification and warming may be exacerbated by COTS predation, but it is not known how this major predator will fare in a changing ocean. Because larval success is a key driver of population outbreaks, we investigated the sensitivities of larval A. planci to increased temperature (2-4 °C above ambient) and acidification (0.3-0.5 pH units below ambient) in flow-through cross-factorial experiments (3 temperature × 3 pH CO2 levels). There was no effect of increased temperature or acidification on fertilization or very early development. Larvae reared in the optimal temperature (28 °C) were the largest across all pH treatments. Development to advanced larva was negatively affected by the high temperature treatment (30 °C) and by both experimental pH levels (pH 7.6, 7.8). Thus, planktonic life stages of A. planci may be negatively impacted by near-future global change. Increased temperature and reduced pH had an additive negative effect on reducing larval size. The 30 °C treatment exceeded larval tolerance regardless of pH. As 30 °C sea surface temperatures may become the norm in low latitude tropical regions, poleward migration of A. planci may be expected as they follow optimal isotherms. In the absence of acclimation or adaptation, declines in low latitude populations may occur. Poleward migration will be facilitated by strong western boundary currents, with possible negative flow-on effects on high latitude coral reefs. The contrasting responses of the larvae of A. planci and those of its coral prey to ocean acidification and warming are considered in context with potential future change in tropical reef ecosystems.
Centrostephanus rodgersii and Centrostephanus tenuispinus
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2020
Ocean acidification induces distinct transcriptomic responses across life history stages of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-11-2020
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.15664
Interactive effects of near-future temperature increase and ocean acidification on physiology and gonad development in adult Pacific sea urchin, Echinometra sp. A
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2014
Very fine-scale population genetic structure of sympatric asterinid sea stars with benthic and pelagic larvae: Influence of mating system and dispersal potential
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 28-02-2013
DOI: 10.1111/BIJ.12006
Transcriptomic analysis of Nodal – and BMP- associated genes during development to the juvenile seastar in Parvulastra exigua (Asterinidae)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Bioerosion caused by foraging of the tropical chiton Acanthopleura gemmata at One Tree Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-03-2008
Adaptive capacity of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma to ocean change stressors: responses from gamete performance to the juvenile
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 08-09-2016
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11841
Marine gametes in a changing ocean: Impacts of climate change stressors on fecundity and the egg
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2017.02.004
Abstract: In marine invertebrates, the environmental history of the mother can influence fecundity and egg size. Acclimation of females in climate change stressors, increased temperature and low pH, results in a decrease in egg number and size in many taxa, with the exception of cephalopods, where eggs increase in size. With respect to spawned eggs, near future levels of ocean acidification can interfere with the egg's block to polyspermy and intracellular pH. Reduction of the extracellular egg jelly coat seen in low pH conditions has implications for impaired egg function and fertilization. Some fast generation species (e.g. copepods, polychaetes) have shown restoration of female reproductive output after several generations in treatments. It will be important to determine if the changes to egg number and size induced by exposure to climate change stressors are heritable.
Effects of dredging on critical ecological processes for marine invertebrates, seagrasses and macroalgae, and the potential for management with environmental windows using Western Australia as a case study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
Comparative biochemical studies of carotenoids in sea urchins-III. Relationship between developmental mode and carotenoids in the Australian echinoids Heliocidaris erythrogramma and H. tuberculata and a comparison with Japanese species
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-1995
Evolution of the echinoderm Hox gene cluster
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2001
DOI: 10.1046/J.1525-142X.2001.01036.X
Abstract: Extant echinoderms are members of an ancient and highly derived deuterostome phylum. The composition and arrangement of their Hox gene clusters are consequently of interest not only from the perspective of evolution of development, but also in terms of metazoan phylogeny and body plan evolution. Over the last decade numerous workers have reported partial Hox gene sequences from a variety of echinoderms. In this paper we used a combined methods approach to analyze phylogenetic relationships between 68 echinoderm Hox homeodomain fragments, from species of five extant classes--two asteroids, one crinoid, one ophiuroid, one holothuroid, and three echinoids. This analysis strengthens Mito and Endo's (2000) proposition that the ancestral echinoderm's Hox gene cluster contained at least eleven genes, including at least four posterior paralogous group genes. However, representatives of all paralogous groups are not known from all echinoderm classes. In particular, these data suggest that echinoids may have lost a posterior group Hox gene subsequent to the ergence of the echinoderm classes. Evolution of the highly derived echinoderm body plan may have been accompanied by class-specific duplication, ersification and loss of Hox genes.
Gonad development and spawning of the Vulnerable commercial sea cucumber, Stichopus herrmanni, in the southern Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 12-03-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315418000061
Abstract: Despite the important ecological roles of commercial bêche-de-mer holothuroids in coral reef ecosystems their reproductive biology is poorly studied, including on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We investigated reproduction of Stichopus herrmanni , a commercially important species listed as Vulnerable, at One Tree Island, southern GBR. Gonad index, histology and spawning observations indicated an annual reproductive cycle with gamete release in the Austral spring and summer (November–February), as for populations of this species at a similar latitude in New Caledonia. Stichopus herrmanni releases gametes episodically, spawning multiple times during summer. Assimilation of spawning observations from OTI and elsewhere along the GBR and tropical Pacific revealed that gamete release by S. herrmanni is influenced by the lunar cycle, with spawning taking place around the new moon in summer. This species is an aggregative spawner with a behavioural change to attain elevated positions on the reef at dusk prior to spawning. After the spawning season, gametes remaining in the gonads are reabsorbed. Spent gonads completely lacked gametes. There was a quiescence in gonad development in winter with an absence of gonads in some specimens, indicating an aestivation-like period for reproduction. By late-winter (August) recovery stage gonads were distinguished by the initiation of gametogenesis, which coincided with increasing temperature and day length. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the reproductive biology of S. herrmanni , a consideration for future fisheries management in the protection of this Vulnerable species, especially with respect to the increasing global trade in bêche-de-mer.
Near-future ocean acidification enhances the feeding rate and development of the herbivorous juveniles of the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2016
Brooding of pelagic-type larvae in Ophiopeza spinosa: Reproduction and development in a tropical ophiodermatid brittlestar
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-12-2008
Cellular Events of Wrinkled Blastula Formation and the Influence of the Fertilization Envelope on Wrinkling in the Seastar Patiriella exigua
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-1995
Thirty Years of Research on Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (1986–2016): Scientific Advances and Emerging Opportunities
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-09-2017
DOI: 10.3390/D9040041
Variable responses of benthic communities to anomalously warm sea temperatures on a high-latitude coral reef
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 26-11-2014
Growth, development and sex ratios of Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) larvae exposed to atrazine and a herbicide mixture
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHEMOSPHERE.2009.11.048
Abstract: Exposures of Limnodynastes tasmaniensis tadpoles to atrazine (0.1, 1, 3 and 30microgL(-1)), metolachlor (0.1, 1 and 10microgL(-1)) and thiobencarb (90, 180 and 360microgL(-1)) from Gosner stage 28 to 42 under controlled laboratory conditions gave no significant effects on tadpole growth, development and sex ratios. A binary mixture of atrazine and thiobencarb as well as a ternary mixture of all three herbicides also had no significant effects on the developing larvae to show no evidence of interactive toxicity. Abnormal gonad morphology was observed on two occasions both from 0.1microgL(-1) atrazine treatments with one tadpole observed with testicular ovarian follicles. The low frequencies of abnormal gonadal morphology and testicular ovarian follicles did not indicate a concentration associated response to herbicide exposure. No significantly unbalanced sex ratios were observed to suggest any evidence of chemically induced feminisation. These observations suggest that environmentally relevant concentrations of atrazine, metolachlor and thiobencarb do not present a significant threat to the normal development of L. tasmaniensis larvae in surface waters of irrigated agricultural areas.
Selection on genes associated with the evolution of divergent life histories: Gamete recognition or something else?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/EDE.12392
Abstract: Gamete compatibility, and fertilization success, is mediated by gamete‐recognition genes (GRGs) that are expected to show genetic evidence of a response to sexual selection associated with mating system traits. Changes in the strength of sexual selection can arise from the resolution of sperm competition among males, sexual conflicts of interest between males and females, or other mechanisms of sexual selection. To assess these expectations, we compared patterns of episodic ersifying selection among genes expressed in the gonads of Cryptasterina pentagona and C. hystera , which recently speciated and have evolved different mating systems (gonochoric or hermaphroditic), modes of fertilization (outcrossing or selfing), and dispersal (planktonic larvae or internal brooding). Cryptasterina spp. inhabit the upper intertidal of the coast of Queensland and coral islands of the Great Barrier Reef. We found some evidence for positive selection on a GRG in the outcrossing C. pentagona , and we found evidence of loss of gene function in a GRG of the self‐fertilizing C. hystera . The modification or loss of gene functionality may be evidence of relaxed selection on some aspects of gamete interaction in C. hystera . In addition to these genes involved in gamete interactions, we also found genes under selection linked to abiotic stress, chromosomal regulation, polyspermy, and egg‐laying. We interpret those results as possible evidence that Cryptasterina spp. with different mating systems may have been adapting in ergent ways to oxidative stress or other factors associated with reproduction in the physiologically challenging environment of the high intertidal. Recent speciation between two sea stars was unlikely the result of selection on gamete‐recognition genes annotated in this study. Instead, our results point to selection on genes linked to the intertidal environment and reproduction.
Development of the five primary podia from the coeloms of a sea star larva: Homology with the echinoid echinoderms and other deuterostomes
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 06-01-2009
Abstract: Confocal laser scanning microscopy of larvae of the asteroid Parvulastra exigua was used to investigate the development of the five primary podia from the coeloms in the echinoderm phylum in an approach to the problem of morphological homology in the deuterostome phyla. The development is shown from an early brachiolaria larval stage to a pre-settlement late brachiolaria larval stage. In the early brachiolaria larva, a single enterocoele connected to the archenteron has formed into two lateral coeloms and an anterior coelom. The primary podia form from the coelomic regions on the left side of the brachiolaria larva, while on the right the coelomic regions connect with the exterior through the pore canal and hydropore. The anterior coelom forms the coelom of the brachia. Homology between the primary podia of the asteroid and the echinoid classes of echinoderms is described and extended to coeloms of other deuterostome phyla.
Indirect effects of ocean acidification drive feeding and growth of juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-06-2017
Abstract: The indirect effects of changing climate in modulating trophic interactions can be as important as the direct effects of climate stressors on consumers. The success of the herbivorous juvenile stage of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), Acanthaster planci, may be affected by the impacts of ocean conditions on its crustose coralline algal (CCA) food. To partition the direct effects of near future ocean acidification on juvenile COTS and indirect effects through changes in their CCA food, COTS were grown in three pH T levels (7.9, 7.8, 7.6) and fed CCA grown at similar pH levels. Consumption of CCA by COTS was bolstered when the COTS were grown in low pH and when they were fed CCA grown in low pH regardless of the pH in which the COTS were reared. COTS fed CCA grown at pH 7.6 grew fastest, but the pH/ p CO 2 that the COTS were reared in had no direct effect on growth. Ocean acidification conditions decreased the C : N ratio and carbonate levels in the CCA. Bolstered growth in COTS may be driven by enhanced palatability, increased nutritive state and reduced defences of their CCA food. These results indicate that near future acidification will increase the success of early juvenile COTS and boost recruitment into the coral-eating life stage.
Thermal tolerance in the amphipod Sunamphitoe parmerong from a global warming hotspot, acclimatory carryover effects within generation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Large-scale assessment of benthic communities across multiple marine protected areas using an autonomous underwater vehicle
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-03-2018
Species composition and molecular phylogeny of the Indo-Pacific teatfish (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) bêche-de-mer fishery
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1071/MF04226
Abstract: Using mtDNA sequences we found that the Indo-Pacific teatfish fishery comprises at least three species, clarifying confusion on the taxonomic status of these commercially important holothurians. Traditional taxonomic characters, including the morphology of skeletal structures, could not be used to differentiate the species. Sequences of the COI gene (529 bp) distinguished three haplotype clusters, corresponding to distinct colour forms and, to some extent, previously described species. The white teatfish, Holothuria fuscogilva, comprises a range of colour morphs and has a wide distribution over the tropical Indo-Pacific region. The large sequence ergence indicates potential for the presence of several cryptic species in the white teatfish complex. In contrast to current taxonomy, we identified two species of black teatfish that appear to be allopatric: H. whitmaei is entirely black and has a Pacific distribution whereas H. nobilis has white ventro-lateral dots and only occurs in the Indian Ocean. There is evidence for allopatric speciation between the black teatfish species, possibly driven by separation of the oceans and altered current patterns during the Pliocene, resulting in relatively young species with low intraspecific sequence ergence. These results provide insight into speciation in these tropical holothurians and are crucial for their conservation management.
Cherchez la femme - impact of ocean acidification on the egg jelly coat and attractants for sperm
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.177188
Abstract: The impact of ocean acidification on marine invertebrate eggs and consequences for sperm chemotaxis are unknown. In the sea urchins Heliocidaris tuberculata and H. erythrogramma, with small (93µm) and large (393µm) eggs, respectively, we documented the effect of decreased pH on the egg jelly coat, an extracellular matrix that increases target size for sperm and contains sperm attracting molecules. In near future conditions (pH 7.8, 7.6) the jelly coat of H. tuberculata decreased by 11 and 21%, reducing egg target size by 9 and 17%, respectively. In contrast, the egg jelly coat of H. erythrogramma was not affected. The reduction in the jelly coat has implications for sperm chemotaxis in H. tuberculata. In the presence of decreased pH and egg chemicals, the sperm of this species increased their velocity, motility and linearity, behaviour that was opposite to that seen for sperm exposed to egg chemicals in ambient conditions. Egg chemistry appears to cause a reduction in sperm velocity where attractants guide them in the direction of the egg. Investigation of the effects of decreased pH on sperm isolated from egg chemistry does not provide an integrative assessment of the effects of ocean acidification on sperm function. Differences in the sensitivity of the jelly coat of the two species is likely associated with egg evolution in H. erythrogramma. We highlight important unappreciated impacts of ocean acidification on marine gamete functionality, and insights into potential winners and losers in a changing ocean, pointing to the advantage conveyed by evolution of large eggs.
Gadolinium perturbs expression of skeletogenic genes, calcium uptake and larval development in phylogenetically distant sea urchin species
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.AQUATOX.2017.11.004
Abstract: Chelates of Gadolinium (Gd), a lanthanide metal, are employed as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and are released into the aquatic environment where they are an emerging contaminant. We studied the effects of environmentally relevant Gd concentrations on the development of two phylogenetically and geographically distant sea urchin species: the Mediterranean Paracentrotus lividus and the Australian Heliocidaris tuberculata. We found a general delay of embryo development at 24h post-fertilization, and a strong inhibition of skeleton growth at 48h. Total Gd and Ca content in the larvae showed a time- and concentration-dependent increase in Gd, in parallel with a reduction in Ca. To investigate the impact of Gd on the expression of genes involved in the regulation of skeletogenesis, we performed comparative RT-PCR analysis and found a misregulation of several genes involved in the skeletogenic and left-right axis specification gene regulatory networks. Species-specific differences in the biomineralization response were evident, likely due to differences in the skeletal framework of the larvae and the amount of biomineral produced. Our results highlight the hazard of Gd for marine organisms.
Echinodermata
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2011
The impact of catastrophic channel change on freshwater mussels in the hunter river system, Australia: A conservation assessment
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.1080
Complex Responses of Intertidal Molluscan Embryos to a Warming and Acidifying Ocean in the Presence of UV Radiation
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-02-2013
Marine infrastructure supports abundant, diverse fish assemblages at the expense of beta diversity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-06-2018
Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Early Life-History Stages and Settlement of the Coral-Eating Sea Star Acanthaster planci
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-12-2013
Reduced expression of the rate-limiting carbon fixation enzyme RuBisCO in the benthic foraminifer Baculogypsina sphaerulata holobiont in response to heat shock
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2012
Amelioration of ocean acidification and warming effects through physiological buffering of a macroalgae
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-07-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.6552
Reproduction and early development in haliotis coccoradiata (vetigastropoda: Haliotidae)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2010
The thermal tolerance of crown-of-thorns (Acanthaster planci) embryos and bipinnaria larvae: implications for spatial and temporal variation in adult populations
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-12-2013
Expression of the neuropeptide SALMFamide-1 during regeneration of the seastar radial nerve cord following arm autotomy
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 24-04-2019
Abstract: Arm loss through a separation at a specialized autotomy plane in echinoderms is inextricably linked to regeneration, but the link between these phenomena is poorly explored. We investigated nervous system regeneration post-autotomy in the asteriid seastar Coscinasterias muricata , focusing on the reorganization of the radial nerve cord (RNC) into the ectoneural neuroepithelium and neuropile, and the hyponeural region, using antibodies to the seastar-specific neuropeptide SALMFamide-1 (S1). Parallel changes in the associated haemal and coelomic vessels were also examined. A new arm bud appeared in 3–5 days with regeneration over three weeks. At the nerve stump and in the RNC immediately behind, the haemal sinus/hyponeural coelomic compartments enlarged into a hypertrophied space filled with migratory cells that appear to be involved in wound healing and regeneration. The haemal and coelomic compartments provided a conduit for these cells to gain rapid access to the regeneration site. An increase in the number of glia-like cells indicates the importance of these cells in regeneration. Proximal to the autotomy plane, the original RNC exhibited Wallerian-type degeneration, as seen in disorganized axons and enlarged S1-positive varicosities. The imperative to regrow lost arms quickly is reflected in the efficiency of regeneration from the autotomy plane facilitated by the rapid appearance of progenitor-like migratory cells. In parallel to its specialization for defensive arm detachment, the autotomy plane appears to be adapted to promote regeneration. This highlights the importance of examining autotomy-induced regeneration in seastars as a model system to study nervous system regeneration in deuterostomes and the mechanisms involved with the massive migration of stem-like cells to facilitate rapid recovery.
The Biogeography of Marine Invertebrate Life Histories
Publisher: Annual Reviews
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-ECOLSYS-102710-145004
Abstract: Biologists have long sought to identify and explain patterns in the erse array of marine life histories. The most famous speculation about such patterns is Gunnar Thorson's suggestion that species producing planktonic larvae are rarer at higher latitudes (Thorson's rule). Although some elements of Thorson's rule have proven incorrect, other elements remain untested. With a wealth of new life-history data, statistical approaches, and remote-sensing technology, new insights into marine reproduction can be generated. We gathered life-history data for more than 1,000 marine invertebrates and examined patterns in the prevalence of different life histories. Systematic patterns in marine life histories exist at a range of scales, some of which support Thorson, whereas others suggest previously unrecognized relationships between the marine environment and the life histories of marine invertebrates. Overall, marine life histories covary strongly with temperature and local ocean productivity, and different regions should be managed accordingly.
Civil disobedience movements such as School Strike for the Climate are raising public awareness of the climate change emergency
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-01-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14978
Evolutionary Changes in the Chromatin Landscape Contribute to Reorganization of a Developmental Gene Network During Rapid Life History Evolution in Sea Urchins
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-08-2022
Abstract: Chromatin configuration is highly dynamic during embryonic development in animals, exerting an important point of control in transcriptional regulation. Yet there exists remarkably little information about the role of evolutionary changes in chromatin configuration to the evolution of gene expression and organismal traits. Genome-wide assays of chromatin configuration, coupled with whole-genome alignments, can help address this gap in knowledge in several ways. In this study we present a comparative analysis of regulatory element sequences and accessibility throughout embryogenesis in three sea urchin species with ergent life histories: a lecithotroph Heliocidaris erythrogramma, a closely related planktotroph H. tuberculata, and a distantly related planktotroph Lytechinus variegatus. We identified distinct epigenetic and mutational signatures of evolutionary modifications to the function of putative cis-regulatory elements in H. erythrogramma that have accumulated nonuniformly throughout the genome, suggesting selection, rather than drift, underlies many modifications associated with the derived life history. Specifically, regulatory elements composing the sea urchin developmental gene regulatory network are enriched for signatures of positive selection and accessibility changes which may function to alter binding affinity and access of developmental transcription factors to these sites. Furthermore, regulatory element changes often correlate with ergent expression patterns of genes involved in cell type specification, morphogenesis, and development of other derived traits, suggesting these evolutionary modifications have been consequential for phenotypic evolution in H. erythrogramma. Collectively, our results demonstrate that selective pressures imposed by changes in developmental life history rapidly reshape the cis-regulatory landscape of core developmental genes to generate novel traits and embryonic programs.
Characterization of the sounds produced by temperate and tropical sea urchins during feeding (Diadematidae and echinometridae)
Publisher: Springer New York
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_133
Abstract: Despite the abundance and ecological importance of sea urchins in eastern Australia, it is not known how they may contribute to ambient noise. The sounds of feeding of two temperate and two tropical species were recorded in captivity. Most sound was produced between 2.3 and 9.2 kHz, but there were differences between species and substrate types.
Staying in place and moving in space: Contrasting larval thermal sensitivity explains distributional changes of sympatric sea urchin species to habitat warming.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-02-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16116
Abstract: For marine ectotherms, larval success, planktonic larval duration and dispersal trajectories are strongly influenced by temperature, and therefore, ocean warming and heatwaves have profound impacts on these sensitive stages. Warming, through increased poleward flow in regions with western boundary currents, such as the East Australia Current (EAC), provides opportunities for range extension as propagules track preferred conditions. Two sea urchin species, Centrostephanus rodgersii and Heliocidaris tuberculata, sympatric in the EAC warming hotspot, exhibit contrasting responses to warming. Over half a century, C. rodgersii has undergone marked poleward range extension, but the range of H. tuberculata has not changed. We constructed thermal performance curves (TPC) to determine if contrasting developmental thermal tolerance can explain this difference. The temperatures tested encompassed present-day distribution and forecast ocean warming/heatwave conditions. The broad and narrow thermal optimum (Topt) ranges for C. rodgersii and H. tuberculata larvae (7.2 and 4.7°C range, respectively) matched their realized (adult distribution) thermal niches. The cool and warm temperatures for 50% development to the feeding larva approximated temperatures at adult poleward range limits. Larval cool tolerances with respect to mean local temperature differed, 6.0 and 3.8°C respectively. Larval warm tolerances were similar for both species as are the adult warm range edges. The larvae of both species would be sensitive to heatwaves. Centrostephanus rodgersii has stayed in place and shifted in space, likely due to its broad cold-warm larval thermal tolerance and large thermal safety margins. Phenotypic plasticity of the planktonic stage of C. rodgersii facilitated its range extension. In contrast, larval cold intolerance of H. tuberculata explains its restricted range and will delay poleward extension as the region warms. In a warming ocean, we show that intrinsic thermal biology traits of the pelagic stage provide an integrative tool to explain species-specific variation in range shift patterns.
Acclimatization and Adaptive Capacity of Marine Species in a Changing Ocean
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/BS.AMB.2016.06.001
Abstract: To persist in an ocean changing in temperature, pH and other stressors related to climate change, many marine species will likely need to acclimatize or adapt to avoid extinction. If marine populations possess adequate genetic variation in tolerance to climate change stressors, species might be able to adapt to environmental change. Marine climate change research is moving away from single life stage studies where in iduals are directly placed into projected scenarios ('future shock' approach), to focus on the adaptive potential of populations in an ocean that will gradually change over coming decades. This review summarizes studies that consider the adaptive potential of marine invertebrates to climate change stressors and the methods that have been applied to this research, including quantitative genetics, laboratory selection studies and trans- and multigenerational experiments. Phenotypic plasticity is likely to contribute to population persistence providing time for genetic adaptation to occur. Transgenerational and epigenetic effects indicate that the environmental and physiological history of the parents can affect offspring performance. There is a need for long-term, multigenerational experiments to determine the influence of phenotypic plasticity, genetic variation and transgenerational effects on species' capacity to persist in a changing ocean. However, multigenerational studies are only practicable for short generation species. Consideration of multiple morphological and physiological traits, including changes in molecular processes (eg, DNA methylation) and long-term studies that facilitate acclimatization will be essential in making informed predictions of how the seascape and marine communities will be altered by climate change.
Genetic basis for divergence in developmental gene expression in two closely related sea urchins
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-04-2020
Technical note: Continuous fluorescence-based monitoring of seawater pH in situ
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 16-07-2018
Abstract: Abstract. Electrical conductivity (salinity), temperature and fluorescence-based measurements of pH were employed to examine diel fluctuations in seawater carbonate chemistry of surface waters in Sydney Harbour over two multiple-day periods. A proof-of-concept device employing the fluorescence-based technique provided a useful time series for pH. Alkalinity with pH and temperature were used to calculate the degree of calcite and aragonite saturation (ΩCa and ΩAr, respectively). Alkalinity was determined from a published alkalinity–salinity relationship. The fluctuations observed in pH over intervals of minutes to hours could be distinguished from background noise. While the stated phase angle resolution of the lifetime fluorometer translated into pH units was ±0.0028 pH units, the repeatability standard deviation of calculated pH was 0.007 to 0.009. Diel variability in pH, ΩAr and ΩCa showed a clear pattern that appeared to correlate with both salinity and temperature. Drift due to photodegradation of the fluorophore was minimized by reducing exposure to ambient light. The ΩCa and ΩAr fluctuated on a daily cycle. The net result of changes in pH, salinity and temperature combined to influence seawater carbonate chemistry. The fluorescence-based pH monitoring technique is simple, provides good resolution and is unaffected by moving parts or leaching of solutions over time. The use of optics is pressure insensitive, making this approach to ocean acidification monitoring well suited to deepwater applications.
Ocean acidification but not warming alters sex determination in the Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 14-02-2018
Abstract: Whether sex determination of marine organisms can be altered by ocean acidification and warming during this century remains a significant, unanswered question. Here, we show that exposure of the protandric hermaphrodite oyster, Saccostrea glomerata to ocean acidification, but not warming, alters sex determination resulting in changes in sex ratios. After just one reproductive cycle there were 16% more females than males. The rate of gametogenesis, gonad area, fecundity, shell length, extracellular pH and survival decreased in response to ocean acidification. Warming as a sole stressor slightly increased the rate of gametogenesis, gonad area and fecundity, but this increase was masked by the impact of ocean acidification at a level predicted for this century. Alterations to sex determination, sex ratios and reproductive capacity will have flow on effects to reduce larval supply and population size of oysters and potentially other marine organisms.
Habitat structural complexity metrics improve predictions of fish abundance and distribution
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-12-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.02580
Comparative Developmental Transcriptomics Reveals Rewiring of a Highly Conserved Gene Regulatory Network during a Major Life History Switch in the Sea Urchin Genus Heliocidaris
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-03-2016
Reproduction, development and population biology of the Caribbean ophiuroid Ophionereis olivacea, a protandric hermaphrodite that broods its young
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-1991
DOI: 10.1007/BF01319411
Evolution of echinoderms may not have required modification of the ancestral deuterostome HOX gene cluster: First report of PG4 and PG5 Hox orthologues in echinoderms
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2003
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-003-0355-3
Abstract: Is the extreme derivation of the echinoderm body plan reflected in a derived echinoderm Hox genotype? Building on previous work, we exploited the sequence conservation of the homeobox to isolate putative orthologues of several Hox genes from two asteroid echinoderms. The 5-peptide motif (LPNTK) diagnostic of PG4 Hox genes was identified immediately downstream of one of the partial homeodomains from Patiriella exigua. This constitutes the first unequivocal report of a PG4 Hox gene orthologue from an echinoderm. Subsequent screenings identified genes of both PG4 and PG4/5 in Asterias rubens. Although in echinoids only a single gene (PG4/5) occupies these two contiguous cluster positions, we conclude that the ancestral echinoderm must have had the complete deuterostome suite of medial Hox genes, including orthologues of both PG4 and PG4/5 (=PG5). The reported absence of PG4 in the HOX cluster of echinoids is therefore a derived state, and the ancestral echinoderm probably had a HOX cluster not dissimilar to that of other deuterostomes. Modification of the ancestral deuterostome Hox genotype may not have been required for evolution of the highly derived echinoderm body plan.
3D photogrammetry quantifies growth and external erosion of individual coral colonies and skeletons
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-16408-Z
Abstract: Growth and contraction of ecosystem engineers, such as trees, influence ecosystem structure and function. On coral reefs, methods to measure small changes in the structure of microhabitats, driven by growth of coral colonies and contraction of skeletons, are extremely limited. We used 3D reconstructions to quantify changes in the external structure of coral colonies of tabular Acropora spp., the dominant habitat-forming corals in shallow exposed reefs across the Pacific. The volume and surface area of live colonies increased by 21% and 22%, respectively, in 12 months, corresponding to a mean annual linear extension of 5.62 cm yr −1 (±1.81 SE). The volume and surface area of dead skeletons decreased by 52% and 47%, respectively, corresponding to a mean decline in linear extension of −29.56 cm yr −1 (±7.08 SE), which accounted for both erosion and fragmentation of dead colonies. This is the first study to use 3D photogrammetry to assess fine-scale structural changes of entire in idual colonies in situ , quantifying coral growth and contraction. The high-resolution of the technique allows for detection of changes on reef structure faster than other non-intrusive approaches. These results improve our capacity to measure the drivers underpinning ecosystem bio ersity, status and trajectory.
Effects of ocean warming and acidification on embryos and non-calcifying larvae of the invasive sea star Patiriella regularis
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 21-01-2013
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10058
Selfing in Parvulastra exigua: An asterinid sea star with benthic development
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-01-2012
Residing at low pH matters, resilience of the egg jelly coat of sea urchins living at a CO2 vent site
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-05-2018
Population metrics in protected commercial sea cucumber populations (curryfish: Stichopus herrmanni) on One Tree Reef, Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 21-01-2013
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10054
Impact of growing up in a warmer, lower pH future on offspring performance: transgenerational plasticity in a pan-tropical sea urchin
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-09-2019
The impact of environmental acidification on the microstructure and mechanical integrity of marine invertebrate skeletons
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2019
Abstract: Ocean acidification (OA), from seawater uptake of anthropogenic CO2, has a suite of negative effects on the ability of marine invertebrates to produce and maintain their skeletons. Increased organism pCO2 causes hypercapnia, an energetically costly physiological stress. OA alters seawater carbonate chemistry, limiting the carbonate available to form the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals used to build skeletons. The reduced saturation state of CaCO3 also causes corrosion of CaCO3 structures. Global change is also accelerating coastal acidification driven by land-run off (e.g. acid soil leachates, tannic acid). Building and maintaining marine biomaterials in the face of changing climate will depend on the balance between calcification and dissolution. Overall, in response to environmental acidification, many calcifiers produce less biomineral and so have smaller body size. Studies of skeleton development in echinoderms and molluscs across life stages show the stunting effect of OA. For corals, linear extension may be maintained, but at the expense of less dense biomineral. Conventional metrics used to quantify growth and calcification need to be augmented by characterisation of the changes to biomineral structure and mechanical integrity caused by environmental acidification. Scanning electron microscopy and microcomputed tomography of corals, tube worms and sea urchins exposed to experimental (laboratory) and natural (vents, coastal run off) acidification show a less dense biomineral with greater porosity and a larger void space. For bivalves, CaCO3 crystal deposition is more chaotic in response to both ocean and coastal acidification. Biomechanics tests reveal that these changes result in weaker, more fragile skeletons, compromising their vital protective roles. Vulnerabilities differ among taxa and depend on acidification level. Climate warming has the potential to ameliorate some of the negative effects of acidification but may also make matters worse. The integrative morphology-ecomechanics approach is key to understanding how marine biominerals will perform in the face of changing climate.
Transcriptomic analysis of Nodal- and BMP-associated genes during juvenile development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARGEN.2015.05.019
Abstract: Understanding the unusual radial body plan of echinoderms and its relationship to the bilateral plan of other deuterostomes remains a challenge. The molecular processes of embryonic and early larval development in sea urchins are well characterised, but those giving rise to the adult and its radial body remain poorly studied. We used the developmental transcriptome generated for Heliocidaris erythrogramma, a species that forms the juvenile soon after gastrulation, to investigate changes in gene expression underlying radial body development. As coelomogenesis is key to the development of pentamery and juvenile formation on the left side of the larva, we focussed on genes associated with the nodal and BMP2/4 network that pattern this asymmetry. We identified 46 genes associated with this Nodal and BMP2/4 signalling network, and determined their expression profiles from the gastrula, through to rudiment development, metamorphosis and the fully formed juvenile. Genes associated with Nodal signalling shared similar expression profiles, indicating that they may have a regulatory relationship in patterning morphogenesis of the juvenile sea urchin. Similarly, many genes associated with BMP2/4 signalling had similar expression profiles through juvenile development. Further examination of the roles of Nodal- and BMP2/4-associated genes is required to determine function and whether the gene expression profiles seen in H. erythrogramma are due to ongoing activity of gene networks established during early development, or to redeployment of regulatory cassettes to pattern the adult radial body plan.
Genetic barcoding of commercial Bêche-de-mer species (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-06-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1755-0998.2009.02826.X
Abstract: There are more than 47 species of holothurians used for bêche-de-mer production, many of which are locally overfished. With three exceptions, all bêche-de-mer species are Aspidochirotida and species identification of many of these is difficult. We analysed available genetic information and newly generated sequences to determine if genetic barcoding with the mitochondrial COI gene can be used to identify bêche-de-mer species. Although genetic data were available for ∼50% of bêche-de-mer species, sufficient information and within-species replication were only available for six species. We generated 96 new COI sequences extending the existing database to cover most common species. COI unambiguously identified most bêche-de-mer species providing a genetic barcode for the identification of known species. In addition, conspecific (1.3%) variation and congeneric (16.9%) ergence were well separated ('barcoding-gap') albeit with a small overlap, which may lead to some error if genetic s ling alone was applied for species discovery. In addition to identification of adults, COI sequences were useful to identify juveniles that are often morphologically different. Sequence data showed that large (deep) and small (shallow) morphotypes of Holothuria atra are the same species, but suggested potential cryptic species within this taxon. For bêche-de-mer, the COI barcode proved useful in species clarification and discovery, but further genetic and taxonomic work is essential for several species. Some bêche-de-mer clades were problematic with morphologically disparate specimens sharing the same barcode. Our study indicated the presence of undescribed species (Bohadschia sp.) and species that constitute separate species in the Indian and Pacific Ocean (e.g. Holothuria fuscogilva).
Quantifying the response of structural complexity and community composition to environmental change in marine communities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-02-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13197
Abstract: Habitat structural complexity is a key factor shaping marine communities. However, accurate methods for quantifying structural complexity underwater are currently lacking. Loss of structural complexity is linked to ecosystem declines in bio ersity and resilience. We developed new methods using underwater stereo-imagery spanning 4 years (2010-2013) to reconstruct 3D models of coral reef areas and quantified both structural complexity at two spatial resolutions (2.5 and 25 cm) and benthic community composition to characterize changes after an unprecedented thermal anomaly on the west coast of Australia in 2011. Structural complexity increased at both resolutions in quadrats (4 m(2)) that bleached, but not those that did not bleach. Changes in complexity were driven by species-specific responses to warming, highlighting the importance of identifying small-scale dynamics to disentangle ecological responses to disturbance. We demonstrate an effective, repeatable method for quantifying the relationship among community composition, structural complexity and ocean warming, improving predictions of the response of marine ecosystems to environmental change.
Correction: Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Early Life-History Stages and Settlement of the Coral-Eating Sea Star Acanthaster planci
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 07-01-2014
DOI: 10.1371/ANNOTATION/B03DC5D7-0CFD-4182-B39D-FB9299275D5C
Evolution of a pentameral body plan was not linked to translocation of anterior Hox genes: The echinoderm HOX cluster revisited
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-01-2016
DOI: 10.1111/EDE.12172
Abstract: Echinodermata is a large phylum of marine invertebrates characterized by an adult, pentameral body plan. This morphology is clearly derived as all members of Deuterostomia (the superphylum to which they belong) have a bilateral body plan. The origin of the pentameral plan has been the subject of intense debate. It is clear that the ancestor of Echinodermata had a bilateral plan but how this ancestor transformed its body "architecture" in such a drastic manner is not clear. Data from the fossil record and ontogeny are sparse and, so far, not very informative. The sequencing of the sea urchin genome a decade ago opened the possibility that the pentameral body plan was a consequence of a broken Hox cluster and a series of papers dwelt on the putative relationship between Hox gene arrangements in the chromosomes and the origin of pentamery. This relationship, sound as it was, is challenged by the revelation that the sea star HOX cluster is, in fact, intact, thus falsifying the hypothesis of a direct relationship between HOX cluster arrangement and the origin of the pentameral body plan. Here, we explore the relationship between Hox gene arrangements and echinoderm body "architecture," the expression of Hox genes in development and alternative scenarios for the origin of pentamery, with putative roles for signaling centers in generating multiple axes.
Evolution of egg size and fertilisation efficiency in sea stars: Large eggs are not fertilised more readily than small eggs in the genus Patiriella (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2005
Oceanography and Marine Biology
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 20-11-2017
DOI: 10.1201/B21944
Ocean warming will mitigate the effects of acidification on calcifying sea urchin larvae (Heliocidaris tuberculata) from the Australian global warming hot spot
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2013
Microbiome reduction and endosymbiont gain from a switch in sea urchin life history
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 14-04-2021
Abstract: Microbes have a strong impact on the biology of their host, with those living in the gut being essential to immunity, development, and metabolism. A functional gut, however, has been lost several times during animal evolution. Here, using sister sea urchin species, we report that the loss of a functional gut corresponds with a reduced microbial ersity and abundance. Gut loss also coincides with associating with an endosymbiont that complements host nutrition and potentially impacts host reproduction. Therefore, transitions in developmental life histories in animals can accompany shifts in the microbial community.
Limited nucleotide divergence over large spatial scales in the asterinid sea star Patiriella exigua
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-08-2004
Stability of coral reef islands and associated legal maritime zones in a changing ocean
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 09-2022
Abstract: Coral reef islands can support large legal maritime zones (i.e. ocean spaces where States have rights and responsibilities) and are of international and geopolitical importance. This review focuses on low-lying coral reef islands supplied with sediments derived from skeletons and shells of calcifying organisms. For coral islands, the outer ‘low-water line’ of the reef can be used as the legal ‘baseline’ to establish maritime zones. Coral islands and the reefs that support them are experiencing the effects of rising and warming seas, increased storminess and ocean acidification. Coral reefs, their islands and associated maritime zones support millions of people, including those in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). SIDS communities are arguably the least responsible for climate change but are at the forefront of its impacts so ensuring their continued wellbeing is a global responsibility. Securing the future of coral reefs and islands is dependent on reducing global climate threats and emissions, improving local management, and investing in restoration and adaption research. It is uncertain if coral islands will persist into the future, and on what timelines. This raises questions such as, where coral islands support maritime zones, what are the legal implications of island instability or loss? This review focuses on the bio-physical interactions of coral islands and associated reefs in the face of changing climates, and implications for legal maritime zones and SIDS.
Larval phenotypic plasticity in the boom-and-bust crown-of-thorns seastar, Acanthaster planci
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 12-11-2015
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11495
Phylogenomics, life history and morphological evolution of ophiocomid brittlestars
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2018.10.003
Abstract: Brittlestars in the family Ophiocomidae are large and colourful inhabitants of tropical shallow water habitats across the globe. Here we use targeted capture and next-generation sequencing to generate robust phylogenomic trees for 39 of the 43 species in order to test the monophyly of existing genera. The large genus Ophiocoma, as currently constituted, is paraphyletic on our trees and required revision. Four genera are recognised herein: an expanded Ophiomastix (now including Ophiocoma wendtii, O. occidentalis, O. endeani, O. macroplaca, and Ophiarthrum spp), Ophiocomella (now including the non-fissiparous Ophiocoma pumila, aethiops and valenciae) and Breviturma (now including Ophiocoma pica, O. pusilla, O. paucigranulata and O. longispina) and a restricted Ophiocoma. The resulting junior homonym Ophiomastix elegans is renamed O. brocki. The genus Ophiomastix exhibits relatively high rates of morphological disparity compared to other lineages. Ophiomastix flaccida and O. (formerly Ophiarthrum) pictum have ergent mitochondrial genomes, characterised by gene-order rearrangements, strand recoding, enriched GT base composition, and a corresponding ergence of nuclear mitochondrial protein genes. The new phylogeny indicates that larval and developmental transitions occurred rarely. Larval culture trials show that species with abbreviated lecithotrophic larval development occur only within Ophiomastix, although the possible monophyly of these species is obscured by the rapid early radiation within this genus. Asexual reproduction by fission is limited to one species-complex within Ophiocomella, also characterised by elevated levels of allelic heterozygosity, and which has achieved a relatively rapid global distribution. The crown ages of the new genera considerably predate the closure of the Tethyan seaway and all four are distributed in both the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans. Two species pairs appear to reflect the closure of the Panama Seaway, although their fossil-calibrated node ages (12-14 ± 6 my), derived from both concatenated sequence and multispecies coalescent analyses, considerably predate the terminal closure event. Ophiocoma erinaceus has crossed the East Pacific barrier and is recorded from Clipperton Island, SW of Mexico.
Involvement of two Hox genes and Otx in echinoderm body-plan morphogenesis in the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1002/JEZ.B.21065
Abstract: The expression of Hox11/13 and Hox5 orthologues in the adult echinoid rudiment in the vestibula larva of Holopneustes purpurescens is described from whole mounts and sections of whole mounts after mRNA in situ hybridization. The Hox5 orthologue is HpHox5, which was isolated here. The expression of HpHox11/13 in the epithelium of the vestibule is aboral to the expression of HpHox5. HpHox5 is expressed in the epithelium of the vestibule floor where the secondary podia develop. The expression of HpHox11/13 and HpHox5 contrasts with the expression of an Otx orthologue, HprOtx, in the circum-oral nerve ring, the radial nerves and the neuroepithelium around the bases of the primary podia. From the expression patterns, we conclude that the two Hox genes are involved in the growth of a metameric series of secondary podia from a growth zone aboral to each primary podium, with the older podia nearer the circum-oral nerve ring. With respect to echinoderm body-plan polarities, we conclude that the growth zone is posterior relative to the anterior circum-oral nerve ring. The metamerism generated in this echinoderm from a posterior growth zone thus might not be generated differently from the way it is generated in bilateral animals.
Microstructure of the paper nautilus (Argonauta nodosa) shell and the novel application of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to address effects of ocean acidification
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-08-2012
Transgenerational responses of molluscs and echinoderms to changing ocean conditions
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-01-2016
Abstract: We are beginning to understand how the larvae of molluscs and echinoderms with complex life cycles will be affected by climate change. Early experiments using short-term exposures suggested that larvae in oceans predicted to increase in acidification and temperature will be smaller in size, take longer to develop, and have a greater incidence of abnormal development. More realistic experiments which factored in the complex life cycles of molluscs and echinoderms found impacts not as severe as predicted. This is because the performance of one life history stage led to a significant carryover effect on the subsequent life history stage. Carryover effects that arise within a generation, for ex le, embryonic and larval stages, can influence juvenile and adult success. Carryover effects can also arise across a generation, known as transgenerational plasticity (TGP). A transgenerational response or TGP can be defined as a phenotypic change in offspring in response to the environmental stress experienced by a parent before fertilization. In the small number of experiments which have measured the transgenerational response of molluscs and echinoderms to elevated CO2, TGP has been observed in the larval offspring. If we are to safeguard ecological and economically significant mollusc and echinoderm species against climate change then we require more knowledge of the impacts that carryover effects have within and across generations as well as an understanding of the underlying mechanisms responsible for such adaptation.
Maternal Provisioning in Ophionereis fasciata and O. schayeri: Brittle Stars With Contrasting Modes of Development
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 12-2006
DOI: 10.2307/4134542
Abstract: Evolutionary change from planktotrophic to lecithotrophic development in echinoderms is closely tied to an increase in maternal provisioning. We provide the first data on the major energetic constituents in the eggs of two ophiuroids, the planktotroph Ophionereis fasciata (egg diameter 103 microm) and the lecithotroph O. schayeri (egg diameter 248 microm), to document changes in maternal investment associated with the switch to lecithotrophy in O. schayeri. Lipid classes in the eggs of the two species did not differ except for the presence of small amounts of wax esters in the eggs of O. schayeri. Production of a large egg in O. schayeri is mostly due to enhanced deposition of one energy-storage lipid, triglyceride. The eggs of O. schayeri are not simply scaled-up versions of the ancestral-type eggs of O. fasciata. The relationship between lipid and protein content and egg volume conformed to the relationship previously established for echinoderm eggs. Surprisingly, total lipid and protein data for the eggs of O. schayeri grouped with data for the eggs of planktotrophic echinoderms. The eggs of O. schayeri are small compared with those of other echinoderms with lecithotrophic development, and their energetic contents may approach the minimum provisions necessary to permit development without feeding.
Seven Hox gene sequences from the asterinid starfish Patiriella exigua (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2000
Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new genus of sea cucumbers from Australia, with two new combinations (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2019
Three-stage lipid dynamics during development of planktotrophic echinoderm larvae
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 16-11-2017
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12335
Lipid and protein utilization during lecithotrophic development in the asteroid Stegnaster inflatus, with a review of larval provisioning in lecithotrophic echinoderms
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 07-05-2020
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS13304
Abstract: The eggs of echinoderms with lecithotrophic development provide structural and nutritional materials (lipids, proteins) to complete development without any external sources of nutrition. Previous studies have suggested that a relatively large proportion of the maternal lipid reserves remain after settlement to provision the early post-metamorphic juvenile. Here we examined lipid and protein utilization during lecithotrophic development of the asterinid starfish Stegnaster inflatus which has large (~400 µm diameter), negatively buoyant eggs. S. inflatus produces eggs with a large amount of lipid (mean ± SD: 2047 ± 315 ng egg -1 ), with 26% structural lipids and 74% energetic lipids dominated by diacylglycerol ether (DAGE 66%). Similar amounts of protein were present in the egg (mean ± SD: 2143 ± 157 ng egg -1 ), with a lipid:protein ratio of 0.96. Approximately 80% of the egg protein is used prior to settlement. In contrast, 51.0% of the energetic lipids provided in the egg, and 40.3% of the DAGE remain for provisioning of the early juvenile. A review of lecithotrophic development in echinoderms reveals that asteroid, echinoid and ophiuroid species have an excess of 50% of the maternal lipids remaining in the settled post-larva. When considering maternal investment in offspring for lecithotrophic developers, we need to consider energetic use during the short dispersal period, as well as provisioning for post-metamorphic early juvenile life.
Changes in the distributions of freshwater mussels (Unionoida: Hyriidae) in coastal south-eastern Australia and implications for their conservation status
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-10-2014
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.2402
Oral-aboral identity displayed in the expression of HpHox3 and HpHox11/13 in the adult rudiment of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-10-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-013-0457-5
Abstract: Hox genes are noted for their roles in specifying axial identity in bilateral forms. In the radial echinoderms, the axis whose identity Hox genes might specify remains unclear. From the expression of Hox genes in the development of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens reported here and that reported previously, we clarify the axis that might be specified by Hox genes in echinoderms. The expression of HpHox11/13 here is described at three developmental stages. The expression is around the rim of the blastopore in gastrulae, in the archenteron wall and adjacent mesoderm in early vestibula larvae, and in a patch of mesoderm close to the archenteron wall in later vestibula larvae. The retained expression of HpHox11/13 in the patch of mesoderm in the later vestibula larvae is, we suggest, indicative of a posterior or an aboral growth zone. The expression of HpHox3 at the echinoid-rudiment stage, in contrast, is in oral mesoderm beneath the epineural folds, concentrated in sites where the first three adult spines form. With the expression of HpHox5 and HpHox11/13 reported previously, the expressions here support the role of Hox genes in specifying oral-aboral identity in echinoderms. How such specification and a posterior growth zone add support to a concept of the structural homology between echinoderms and chordates is discussed.
The Effects of Salinity and pH on Fertilization, Early Development, and Hatching in the Crown-of-Thorns Seastar
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-02-2017
DOI: 10.3390/D9010013
Nutritional ecology of sea urchin larvae: influence of endogenous and exogenous nutrition on echinopluteal growth and phenotypic plasticity in Tripneustes gratilla
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-07-2008
Altered sediment biota and lagoon habitat carbonate dynamics due to sea cucumber bioturbation in a high-pCO2 environment
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-08-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13826
Abstract: The effects of global change on biological systems and functioning are already measurable, but how ecological interactions are being altered is poorly understood. Ecosystem resilience is strengthened by ecological functionality, which depends on trophic interactions between key species and resilience generated through biogenic buffering. Climate-driven alterations to coral reef metabolism, structural complexity and bio ersity are well documented, but the feedbacks between ocean change and trophic interactions of non-coral invertebrates are understudied. Sea cucumbers, some of the largest benthic inhabitants of tropical lagoon systems, can influence diel changes in reef carbonate dynamics. Whether they have the potential to exacerbate or buffer ocean acidification over diel cycles depends on their relative production of total alkalinity (A
Reproductive biology of four ophiocomid ophiuroids in tropical and temperate Australia-reproductive cycle and oogenic strategies in species with different modes of development
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2013
Increased temperature, but not acidification, enhances fertilization and development in a tropical urchin: Potential for adaptation to a tropicalized eastern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/EVA.12218
Adult exposure to ocean acidification and warming leads to limited beneficial responses for oyster larvae
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 20-06-2021
Abstract: There is a need to understand the responses of marine molluscs in this era of rapid climate change. Transgenerational plasticity that results in resilient offspring provides a mechanism for rapid acclimation of marine organisms to climate change. This study tested the hypothesis that adult parental exposure to elevated pCO2 and warming will have transgenerational benefits for offspring in the oysters Saccostrea glomerata and Crassostrea gigas. Adult S. glomerata and C. gigas were exposed to orthogonal treatments of ambient and elevated pCO2, and ambient and elevated temperature for 8 weeks. Gametes were collected and fertilized, larvae were then reared for 9 days under ambient and elevated pCO2. Egg lipidome and larval morphology and lipidome were measured. Parental exposure to warming and elevated pCO2 led to limited beneficial transgenerational responses for eggs and larvae of S. glomerata and C. gigas. Overall, larvae of S. glomerata were more sensitive than C. gigas, and both species had some capacity for transgenerational plasticity. This study supports the idea that transgenerational plasticity acts as an acclimatory mechanism for marine organisms to cope with the stress of climate change, but there are limitations, and it may not be a panacea or act equally in different species.
Development of nervous systems to metamorphosis in feeding and non-feeding echinoid larvae, the transition from bilateral to radial symmetry
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-11-2009
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-008-0266-4
Abstract: The development of nervous system (NS) in the non-feeding vestibula larva of the sea urchin, Holopneustes purpurescens, and the feeding echinopluteus larva of Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus was examined by focusing on fate during metamorphosis. In H. purpurescens, the serotonergic NS (SerNS) appeared simultaneously and independently in larval tissue and adult rudiment, respectively, from 3-day post-fertilization. In 4-day vestibulae, an expansive aboral ganglion (450 x 100 mum) was present in the larval mid region that extended axons toward the oral ectoderm. These axons erged near the base of the primary podia. An axonal bundle connected with the primary podia and the rim of vestopore on the oral side. Thus, the SerNS of the larva innervated the rudiment at early stage of development of the primary podia. This innervation was short-lived, and immediately before metamorphosis, it disappeared from the larval and adult tissue domains, whereas non-SerNS marked by synaptotagmin remained. The NS of 1-month post-fertilization plutei of H. pulcherrimus comprised an apical ganglion (50 x 17 mum) and axons that extended to the ciliary bands and the adult rudiment (AR). A major basal nerve of serotonergic and non-serotonergic axons and a minor non-serotonergic nerve comprised the ciliary band nerve. In 3-month plutei, axonal connection among the primary podia in the neural folds completed. The SerNS never developed in the AR. Thus, there was distinctive difference between feeding- and non-feeding larvae of the above sea urchins with respect to SerNS and the AR.
Maternal provisioning for larvae and larval provisioning for juveniles in the toxopneustid sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-09-2008
Contrasting arm elevation angles of multi- and two-armed sea urchin echinoplutei supports Grünbaum and Strathmann’s hydromechanical model
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-01-2015
Nervous system development in feeding and nonfeeding asteroid larvae and the early juvenile
Publisher: Test accounts
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.2307/25548163
Biology and ecology of the vulnerable holothuroid, Stichopus herrmanni, on a high-latitude coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2017
Latitudinal variation in thermal tolerance thresholds of early life stages of corals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-12-2014
A dynamic energy budget model to describe the reproduction and growth of invasive starfish Asterias amurensis in southeast Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-01-2018
Revisiting the larval dispersal black box in the Anthropocene
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-08-2018
Abstract: Many marine organisms have a multi-phase life history and rely on their planktonic larvae for dispersal. Despite the important role of larvae in shaping population distribution and abundance, the chemical, physical, and biological factors that shape larval fate are still not fully understood. Shedding light into this larval dispersal “black box” has become critical in the face of global climate change, primarily due to the importance of larval dispersal in formulating sound conservation and management strategies. Focusing on two major stressors, warming and acidification, we highlight the limitations of the current species-by-species, lab-based study approach, and particularly the lack of consideration of the larval experience along the dispersive pathway. Measuring organismal responses to environmentally relevant climate change stress demands an improved documentation of the physical and biological conditions that larvae experience through ontogeny, which in turn requires updated empirical and theoretical approaches. While there are meaningful between taxa comparisons to be made by larval ecologists, to peek into the dispersal black box and to investigate the larger scale consequences of altered dispersal requires innovative collaborations between ecologists, oceanographers, molecular biologists, statisticians, and mathematicians.
Lipid dynamics in the embryos of Patiriella species (Asteroidea) with divergent modes of development
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-02-2000
DOI: 10.1046/J.1440-169X.2000.00486.X
Abstract: Evolution of lecithotrophic development in sea stars involved a modification in maternal provisioning from the production of yolk-dominated to lipid-dominated eggs. The dynamics of lipid reserves in the embryos of four Patiriella species differing in their lipid provisions were examined. Patiriella regularis had small yolk protein-dominated eggs (150 microm in diameter) and an ancestral mode of development through planktotrophic larvae. Patiriella calcar, Patiriella exigua and Patiriella pseudoexigua had large eggs (390-440 microm in diameter) and lecithotrophic planktonic, benthic and intragonadal larvae, respectively. Patiriella exigua deposited negatively buoyant eggs containing substantial yolk protein and lipid reserves onto the substratum. In contrast, the planktonic eggs of P. calcar and the intragonadal eggs of P. pseudoexigua were dominated by lipid and were neutrally and positively buoyant, respectively. By the blastula stage there was little trace of lipid in P. regularis embryos. Blastulae of the lecithotrophic developers, by contrast, had conspicuous lipid droplets distributed through their cells. In parallel with the change from cuboidal to columnar epithelium during the blastula to gastrula transition, lipid reserves became redistributed into the basal cytoplasm. The extent of lipid transport reflected the amount of lipid reserves. In P. pseudoexigua embryos with the greatest lipid load, basal shunting was followed by secretion of lipid into the blastocoele where it was stored for the perimetamorphic period. Evolution of lecithotrophy in Patiriella appears to reflect selection to provide metamorphic stages with nutrients normally accrued by feeding larvae with the consequence that early development is burdened by voluminous, potentially inert nutritive stores. Lipid redistribution coincident with a major developmental stage transition may be required to facilitate unimpeded morphogenesis. This phenomenon may be characteristic of lecithotrophic development in echinoderms and appears pre-adaptive for extrusion of lipid in species like P. pseudoexigua with particularly extensive lipid reserves.
Shallow gene pools in the high intertidal: extreme loss of genetic diversity in viviparous sea stars ( Parvulastra )
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 23-10-2013
Abstract: We document an extreme ex le of reproductive trait evolution that affects population genetic structure in sister species of Parvulastra cushion stars from Australia. Self-fertilization by hermaphroditic adults and brood protection of benthic larvae causes strong inbreeding and range-wide genetic poverty. Most s les were fixed for a single allele at nearly all nuclear loci heterozygotes were extremely rare (0.18%) mitochondrial DNA sequences were more variable, but few populations shared haplotypes in common. Isolation-with-migration models suggest that these patterns are caused by population bottlenecks (relative to ancestral population size) and low gene flow. Loss of genetic ersity and low potential for dispersal between high-intertidal habitats may have dire consequences for extinction risk and potential for future adaptive evolution in response to climate and other selective agents.
Effects of multiple climate change stressors: ocean acidification interacts with warming, hyposalinity, and low food supply on the larvae of the brooding flat oyster Ostrea angasi
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-04-2016
Risk and resilience: variations in magnesium in echinoid skeletal calcite
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 15-12-2016
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11908
Energetic lipid responses of larval oysters to ocean acidification.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Larval energetics of the Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata and Pacific oyster Magallana gigas
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 10-12-2020
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS13538
Abstract: Larvae are a critical dispersal stage of marine invertebrates, and their survival depends on nutrition and energetics. This study compared the size, survival, metabolic rate and egg and larval lipid class profiles of larvae of the endemic Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata and the invasive Pacific oyster Magallana gigas through a period of starvation for 5 and 9 d after fertilisation. Starved larvae grew without food until 5 d of age, at which point they stopped developing, but resumed growth when fed. Egg lipids profiles comprised 78.1 and 74.5% triacylglycerol for M. gigas and S. glomerata respectively. When fed, larvae of M. gigas were significantly larger in size and had faster growth and similar survival compared to S. glomerata . When starved, larvae of M. gigas and S. glomerata grew at similar rates, and there was a trend for lower survival of M. gigas . Larval endogenous lipid reserves were deleted in the first 24 h. Larvae of M. gigas had more total lipids and comparatively more diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids and cholesterol, whereas S. glomerata had more diacylglycerols and produced sterol esters. Starvation altered the patterns of lipid assimilation, and metabolic rates of larvae of M. gigas and S. glomerata differed over time. When starved, S. glomerata larvae had greater capacity to cope with starvation compared to M. gigas , perhaps due to an evolutionary history in oligotrophic estuaries. As the climate rapidly changes in this global climate-change hotspot, S. glomerata is likely to be negatively affected.
Early development of the feeding larva of the sea urchin Heliocidaris tuberculata: role of the small micromeres
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-11-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-018-0622-Y
Abstract: The two modes of development in sea urchins are direct development, in which the adult develops directly from the gastrula to the adult and does not feed, and indirect development, in which the adult develops indirectly through a feeding larva. In this account of the indirect, feeding larva of Heliocidaris tuberculata, the question raised is whether an evolutionary difference of unequal cell isions contributes to the development of feeding structures in the indirect larva. In indirect development, the cell isions at the fourth and fifth cell cycles of the zygote are unequal, with four small micromeres formed at the vegetal pole at the fifth cell ision. In direct development, these cell isions are not unequal. From their position at the head of the archenteron, the small micromeres are strategically located to contribute to the feeding tissues of the larva and the adult of H. tuberculata.
Fertilization in a suite of coastal marine invertebrates from SE Australia is robust to near-future ocean warming and acidification
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2010
Morphological abnormalities in frogs from a rice-growing region in NSW, Australia, with investigations into pesticide exposure
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-03-2010
DOI: 10.1007/S10661-010-1395-6
Abstract: Three frog species (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, Limnodynastes fletcheri and Litoria raniformis) were surveyed in rice bays of the Coleambally Irrigation Area (CIA), NSW, Australia, during the rice-growing seasons of 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. A total external morphological abnormality index of 7.0% was observed in frogs of the CIA (n=1,209). The types and frequencies of abnormalities were typical of reports from agricultural areas with ectrodactyly being the most common aberration. A relatively low abnormality index of 1.2% was observed in L. raniformis (n=87) compared to indices of 7.1% and 8.2% observed in L. fletcheri (n=694) and L. tasmaniensis (n=428), respectively. No conclusive evidence was found of unnaturally high rates of intersex, gonadal maldevelopment or unbalanced sex ratios in any species. Rice bay surface waters differed significantly in mean pesticide concentrations of atrazine and metolachlor on farms growing rice and corn compared to farms with rice as the sole crop. However, the similar abnormality indices observed in recent metamorphs emerging from these two farm types provided no evidence to suggest a link between larval exposure to the measured pesticides and developmental malformations.
Patterns of Sediment Transport Using Foraminifera Tracers across Sand Aprons on the Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Date: 07-2017
cDNA Hox Sequences 3′ of the Homeobox Isolated from the Sea Urchin Holopneustes purpurescens are Definitive for Sea Urchin Hox Orthologues
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2002
DOI: 10.1080/1042517021000021581
Abstract: In an investigation into Hox genes in sea urchin development, cDNA nucleotide sequences were isolated from seven Hox genes of Holopneustes purpurescens by 3' RACE. Each sequence extended from the homeobox through the coding region 3' of the homeobox to the 3'untranslated region and, in the majority of sequences, to a poly(A) signal and a poly(A) tail. The cDNA sequences 3' of the homeoboxes were very different between the seven Hox genes. In contrast, the sequences within each Hox gene 3' of the homeobox were very similar, especially at the amino acid level, between the sea urchin species for which sequences are available. The coding regions 3' of the homeodomains are thus a means of unambiguously identifying homologies between sea urchin Hox genes. A phylogenetic analysis where amino acid motifs in these 3' coding regions were aligned with similar motifs in chordate species led us to classify two posterior sea urchin Hox genes, of uncertain affinity, as orthologues of Hox9 and Hox10 genes. Putative cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements were mapped in the 3' untranslated region of sea urchin Hox genes.
Hidden in plain sight: Tripneustes kermadecensis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) is a junior synonym of the eastern Australian sea urchin Evechinus australiae described in 1878
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1071/IS23038
An ultrastructural and microanalytical study of metal-ion content in granular concretions of the freshwater mussel Hyridella depressa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-1997
Temperature effects on a marine herbivore depend strongly on diet across multiple generations
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-02-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-018-4084-8
Abstract: Increasing sea surface temperatures are predicted to alter marine plant-herbivore interactions and, thus, the structure and function of algal and seagrass communities. Given the fundamental role of host plant quality in determining herbivore fitness, predicting the effects of increased temperatures requires an understanding of how temperature may interact with diet quality. We used an herbivorous marine hipod, Sun hitoe parmerong, to test how temperature and diet interact to alter herbivore growth, feeding rates, survival, and fecundity in short- and long-term assays. In short-term thermal stress assays, S. parmerong was tolerant to the range of temperatures that it currently experiences in nature (20-26 °C), with mortality at temperatures > 27 °C. In longer term experiments, two generations of S. parmerong were reared in nine combinations of temperature (ambient, + 2, + 4 °C) and diet (two high- and one low-quality algal species) treatments. Temperature and diet interacted to determine total numbers of hipods in the F
Ocean warming has greater and more consistent negative effects than ocean acidification on the growth and health of subtropical macroalgae
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 14-05-2018
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12552
Population biology and recruitment of a vulnerable sea cucumber, Stichopus herrmanni, on a protected reef
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-09-2017
DOI: 10.1111/MAEC.12397
Long term trends in population dynamics and reproduction in Holothuria atra (Aspidochirotida) in the southern Great Barrier Reef; the importance of asexual and sexual reproduction
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 03-04-2013
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315412000343
Abstract: Population density and the presence of fission products of Holothuria (Halodeima) atra were investigated in surveys taken over 5 years (2006–2010) in the Capricorn Bunker Group, Southern Great Barrier Reef. These surveys were undertaken to document population density over time and assess the potential that asexual reproduction contributes to population maintenance. Over the 5 years a low incidence of fission was evident year-round, with an increase in July and August (13 and 27% of the population, respectively). There was a positive correlation between population density and the presence of fission products across all surveys. Although density fluctuated, there was no significant difference between months or sites. Despite the potential increase that might be expected from fission followed by regeneration, density fluctuated around a mean of 0.77 ind. m −2 . Examination of gonads of the small (asexual and sexual reproduction) and large (sexual only) morphs of H. atra indicated a difference in reproductive pattern. Many small morphs lacked gonads during winter and, when they developed gonads, the gonad index (GI) was low. The GI pattern of the small morph indicated that they spawned in summer. In comparison the large morph had conspicuous gonads through the year. The GI of the large morph was high in winter and summer indicating greater, more prolonged spawning activity in these in iduals.
Reproduction of sympatric populations of Patiriella gunnii, P. calcar and P. exigua in New South Wales, asterinid seastars with direct development
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1992
DOI: 10.1007/BF00349533
Three-dimensional reconstruction of the odontophoral cartilages of Caenogastropoda (Mollusca: Gastropoda) using micro-CT: Morphology and phylogenetic significance
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2009
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.10699
Abstract: Odontophoral cartilages are located in the molluscan buccal mass and support the movement of the radula during feeding. The structural ersity of odontophoral cartilages is currently known only from limited taxa, but this information is important for interpreting phylogeny and for understanding the biomechanical operation of the buccal mass. Caenogastropods exhibit a wide variety of feeding strategies, but there is little comparative information on cartilage morphology within this group. The morphology of caenogastropod odontophoral cartilages is currently known only from dissection and histology, although preliminary results suggest that they may be structurally erse. A comparative morphological survey of 18 caenogastropods and three noncaenogastropods has been conducted, s ling most major caenogastropod superfamilies. Three-dimensional models of the odontophoral cartilages were generated using X-ray microscopy (micro-CT) and reconstruction by image segmentation. Considerable morphological ersity of the odontophoral cartilages was found within Caenogastropoda, including the presence of thin cartilaginous appendages, asymmetrically overlapping cartilages, and reflexed cartilage margins. Many basal caenogastropod taxa possess previously unidentified cartilaginous support structures below the radula (subradular cartilages), which may be homologous to the dorsal cartilages of other gastropods. As subradular cartilages were absent in carnivorous caenogastropods, adaptation to trophic specialization is likely. However, incongruence with specific feeding strategies or body size suggests that the morphology of odontophoral cartilages is constrained by phylogeny, representing a new source of morphological characters to improve the phylogenetic resolution of this group.
Engrailed is expressed in larval development and in the radial nervous system of Patiriella sea stars
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-09-2005
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-005-0018-7
Abstract: We documented expression of the pan-metazoan neurogenic gene engrailed in larval and juvenile Patiriella sea stars to determine if this gene patterns bilateral and radial echinoderm nervous systems. Engrailed homologues, containing conserved En protein domains, were cloned from the radial nerve cord. During development, engrailed was expressed in ectodermal (nervous system) and mesodermal (coeloms) derivatives. In larvae, engrailed was expressed in cells lining the larval and future adult coeloms. Engrailed was not expressed in the larval nervous system. As adult-specific developmental programs were switched on during metamorphosis, engrailed was expressed in the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system (PNS), paralleling the pattern of neuropeptide immunolocalisation. Engrailed was first seen in the developing nerve ring and appeared to be up-regulated as the nervous system developed. Expression of engrailed in the nerve plexus of the tube feet, the lobes of the hydrocoel along the adult arm axis, is similar to the reiterated pattern of expression seen in other animals. Engrailed expression in developing nervous tissue reflects its conserved role in neurogenesis, but its broad expression in the adult nervous system of Patiriella differs from the localised expression seen in other bilaterians. The role of engrailed in patterning repeated PNS structures indicates that it may be important in patterning the fivefold organisation of the ambulacrae, a defining feature of the Echinodermata.
Characterizing biogeochemical fluctuations in a world of extremes: A synthesis for temperate intertidal habitats in the face of global change
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-04-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15103
Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca as novel geochemical proxies for understanding sediment transport processes within coral reefs
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2017
Sea urchins in a high-CO2 world: Partitioned effects of body size, ocean warming and acidification on metabolic rate
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.136101
Abstract: Body-size and temperature are the major factors explaining metabolic rate, and the additional factor of pH is a major driver at the biochemical level. These three factors have frequently been found to interact, complicating the formulation of broad models predicting metabolic rates and hence ecological functioning. In this first study of the effects of warming and ocean acidification, and their potential interaction, on metabolic rate across a broad body-size range (two-to-three orders of magnitude difference in body mass) we addressed the impact of climate change on the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma in context with climate projections for east Australia, an ocean warming hotspot. Urchins were gradually introduced to two temperatures (18 and 23 °C) and two pH (7.5 and 8.0), and maintained for two months. That a new physiological steady-state had been reached, otherwise know as acclimation, was validated through identical experimental trials separated by several weeks. The relationship between body-size, temperature and acidification on the metabolic rate of H. erythrogramma was strikingly stable. Both stressors caused increases in metabolic rate 20% for temperature and 19% for pH. Combined effects were additive a 44% increase in metabolism. Body-size had a highly stable relationship with metabolic rate regardless of temperature or pH. None of these erse drivers of metabolism interacted or modulated the effects of the others, highlighting the partitioned nature of how each influences metabolic rate, and the importance of achieving a full acclimation state. Despite these increases in energetic demand there was very limited capacity for compensatory modulating of feeding rate food consumption increased only in the very smallest specimens, and only in response to temperature, and not pH. Our data show that warming, acidification and body-size all substantially affect metabolism and are highly consistent and partitioned in their effects, and for H. erythrogramma near-future climate change will incur a substantial energetic cost.
Ocean acidification alters zooplankton communities and increases top‐down pressure of a cubozoan predator
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-08-2017
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13849
Abstract: The composition of local ecological communities is determined by the members of the regional community that are able to survive the abiotic and biotic conditions of a local ecosystem. Anthropogenic activities since the industrial revolution have increased atmospheric CO
Expression of an Otx gene in the adult rudiment and the developing central nervous system in the vestibula larva of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens
Publisher: UPV/EHU Press
Date: 2004
Abstract: Expression of the Otx gene, HprOtx, from the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens, is described during the development of the adult echinoid rudiment in the vestibula larva of this species. The adult rudiment forms directly after gastrulation in the vestibula larva since, unlike the pluteus larva of most other sea urchin species, it is not a feeding larva. The expression is described during the period from hatching to a late vestibula larva. At hatching, HprOtx is expressed throughout the ectoderm of the gastrula. A short time later, expression is absent from the ectoderm on the oral side of the gastrula where the vestibule will form. In an early vestibula larva, HprOtx is not expressed in the ectodermal floor of the vestibule but is expressed in an asymmetric pattern in the aboral ectoderm. As the vestibule invaginates, HprOtx is newly expressed in the ectodermal floor of the vestibule as it develops into the neuroectoderm that is the anlage of the circum-oral central nervous system. The expression is at first in the central part of the floor, then it extends outwards to the ectoderm around the five primary podia and to the epineural folds between the podia. The epineural folds later close to form the radial nerves and the circum-oral nerve ring. In a late vestibula larva, HprOtx is expressed in the radial nerves and the nerve ring. The expression of an Otx gene in the developing echinoid central nervous system is interpreted as an instance of conserved gene expression in echinoderm development.
Effects of exposure to gadolinium on the development of geographically and phylogenetically distant sea urchins species
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2016.06.001
Abstract: Gadolinium (Gd), a metal of the lanthanide series used as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging, is released into the aquatic environment. We investigated the effects of Gd on the development of four sea urchin species: two from Europe, Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula, and two from Australia, Heliocidaris tuberculata and Centrostephanus rodgersii. Exposure to Gd from fertilization resulted in inhibition or alteration of skeleton growth in the plutei. The similar morphological response to Gd in the four species indicates a similar mechanism underlying abnormal skeletogenesis. Sensitivity to Gd greatly varied, with the EC50 ranging from 56 nM to 132 μM across the four species. These different sensitivities highlight the importance of testing toxicity in several species for risk assessment. The strong negative effects of Gd on calcification in plutei, together with the plethora of marine species that have calcifying larvae, indicates that Gd pollution is urgent issue that needs to be addressed.
Fine structure of the dorsal arm plate of Ophiocoma wendti: Evidence for a photoreceptor system (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-1987
DOI: 10.1007/BF00312172
Apical organs in echinoderm larvae: insights into larval evolution in the Ambulacraria
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2007
Biogenic acidification drives density-dependent growth of a calcifying invertebrate in culture
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-07-2015
The effects of temperature on embryonic development and larval survival in two scleractinian corals
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 20-11-2013
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10499
Selectively bred oysters can alter their biomineralization pathways, promoting resilience to environmental acidification
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14818
Reproduction in the diadematoid sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii in contrasting habitats along the coast of New South Wales, Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-09-1998
Noncalcifying larvae in a changing ocean: warming, not acidification/hypercapnia, is the dominant stressor on development of the sea star M eridiastra calcar
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2012
Asexual reproduction and observations of sexual reproduction in the aspidochirotid sea cucumberHolothuria difficilis
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2009
Expression of Hox4 during development of the pentamerous juvenile sea star, Parvulastra exigua
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1007/S00427-010-0318-4
Abstract: Expression of Hox4 during development of the bilateral larva and pentameral juvenile sea star was investigated in Parvulastra exigua. The role of Hox4, possibly the anterior-most gene in the echinoderm Hox cluster, in the formation of the echinoderm adult body plan has not been examined previously. In the larva of P. exigua, PeHox4 is expressed in the developing coeloms-the anterior and the right and left coeloms that generate the aboral and oral coeloms of the juvenile. At the rudiment stage, PeHox4 was expressed in the five primary lobes of the hydrocoel that give rise to primary podia, the foundation of the adult body plan. This suggests a role for this gene in the development of the echinoderm body plan. In contrast to other bilaterians, Hox4 was not expressed in the developing asteroid central nervous system.
Ciliated band structure in planktotrophic and lecithotrophic larvae of Heliocidaris species (Echinodermata: Echinoidea): A demonstration of conservation and change
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2001
The effect of warming on mortality, metabolic rate, heat-shock protein response and gonad growth in thermally acclimated sea urchins (Heliocidaris erythrogramma)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-05-2018
Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE21707
Abstract: During 2015-2016, record temperatures triggered a pan-tropical episode of coral bleaching, the third global-scale event since mass bleaching was first documented in the 1980s. Here we examine how and why the severity of recurrent major bleaching events has varied at multiple scales, using aerial and underwater surveys of Australian reefs combined with satellite-derived sea surface temperatures. The distinctive geographic footprints of recurrent bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, 2002 and 2016 were determined by the spatial pattern of sea temperatures in each year. Water quality and fishing pressure had minimal effect on the unprecedented bleaching in 2016, suggesting that local protection of reefs affords little or no resistance to extreme heat. Similarly, past exposure to bleaching in 1998 and 2002 did not lessen the severity of bleaching in 2016. Consequently, immediate global action to curb future warming is essential to secure a future for coral reefs.
Light and scanning electron microscopy of the embryos and glochidia larvae of the Australian freshwater bivalve hyridella depressa (Hyriidae)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-1997
Sea urchin reproductive performance in a changing ocean: poor males improve while good males worsen in response to ocean acidification
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 24-07-2019
Abstract: Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to be a major driver of ocean bio ersity change. At projected rates of change, sensitive marine taxa may not have time to adapt. Their persistence may depend on pre-existing inter-in idual variability. We investigated in idual male reproductive performance under present-day and OA conditions using two representative broadcast spawners, the sea urchins Lytechinus pictus and Heliocidaris erythrogramma. Under the non-competitive in idual ejaculate scenario, we examined sperm functional parameters (e.g. swimming speed, motility) and their relationship with fertilization success under current and near-future OA conditions. Significant inter-in idual differences in almost every parameter measured were identified. Importantly, we observed strong inverse relationships between in idual fertilization success rate under current conditions and change in fertilization success under OA. In iduals with a high fertilization success under current conditions had reduced fertilization under OA, while in iduals with a low fertilization success under current conditions improved. Change in fertilization success ranged from −67% to +114% across in iduals. Our results demonstrate that while average population fertilization rates remain similar under OA and present-day conditions, the contribution by different males to the population significantly shifts, with implications for how selection will operate in a future ocean.
Isolation and characterisation of microsatellite markers for the dwarf sheoak Allocasuarina humilis (Casuarinaceae), an important understorey species in ecological restoration
Publisher: Biodiversity Heritage Library
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.5962/P.292267
Elemental composition of mantle tissue granules in Hyridella depressa (Unionida) from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system, Australia: Inferences from catchment chemistry
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2000
DOI: 10.1071/MF98083
Abstract: The Australian freshwater mussel Hyridella depressa sequesters elements in calcium phosphate (CaP) granules that form extensive aggregations in its tissues. Elements contained in these granules were determined by X-ray microanalysis of river and lake mussels from the Hawkesbury–Nepean River system, New South Wales. Granules in freeze-substituted mantle tissue were analysed to determine the variation in element profiles in granules among mussels and among sites. For the common elements Ca, P, Fe, Mg and Mn, granule composition reflected catchment lithology and site trophic status and indicated exogenous input. These were most important for differentiation among lake sites and also indicated differences between lake and river mussels. Site differences seen with some common elements in granules from lake mussels correlated with differences in water chemistry. Trace elements, particularly Al, Cu, Zn and Pb, were also important in lake and river site differentiation. The granules play a major role in element dynamics in freshwater mussel tissues and provide a focal structure for direct analysis of element accumulation by these bivalves. The results indicate that characterization of element content of granules in mussel populations would provide valuable insights into animal–element interactions in freshwater systems for ecological and ecotoxicological investigations.
Global change ecotoxicology: Identification of early life history bottlenecks in marine invertebrates, variable species responses and variable experimental approaches
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2011.10.004
Abstract: Climate change is a threat to marine biota because increased atmospheric CO₂ is causing ocean warming, acidification, hypercapnia and decreased carbonate saturation. These stressors have toxic effects on invertebrate development. The persistence and success of populations requires all ontogenetic stages be completed successfully and, due to their sensitivity to environmental stressors, developmental stages may be a population bottleneck in a changing ocean. Global change ecotoxicology is being used to identify the marine invertebrate developmental stages vulnerable to climate change. This overview of research, and the methodologies used, shows that most studies focus on acidification, with few studies on ocean warming, despite a long history of research on developmental thermotolerance. The interactive effects of stressors are poorly studied. Experimental approaches differ among studies. Fertilization in many species exhibits a broad tolerance to warming and/or acidification, although different methodologies confound inter-study comparisons. Early development is susceptible to warming and most calcifying larvae are sensitive to acidification/increased pCO₂. In multistressor studies moderate warming diminishes the negative impact of acidification on calcification in some species. Development of non-calcifying larvae appears resilient to near-future ocean change. Although differences in species sensitivities to ocean change stressors undoubtedly reflect different tolerance levels, inconsistent handling of gametes, embryos and larvae probably influences different research outcomes. Due to the integrative 'developmental domino effect', life history responses will be influenced by the ontogenetic stage at which experimental incubations are initiated. Exposure to climate change stressors from early development (fertilization where possible) in multistressor experiments is needed to identify ontogenetic sensitivities and this will be facilitated by more consistent methodologies.
Paternal identity influences response of Acanthaster planci embryos to ocean acidification and warming
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-09-2017
Inorganic carbon turnover caused by digestion of carbonate sands and metabolic activity of holothurians
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
Evolutionary modification of gastrulation in Parvulastra exigua, an asterinid seastar with holobenthic lecithotrophic development
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-01-2021
DOI: 10.1111/EDE.12371
Abstract: Gastrulation is a fundamental morphogenetic process in development. In echinoderms with ancestral-type development through feeding larvae, gastrulation involves radially symmetrical invagination of cells around the blastopore. Gastrulation in the seastar Parvulastra exigua, a species with non-feeding larvae deviates from this pattern. Microinjection of cells with fluorescent lineage tracer dye revealed that early blastomeres contribute unequally to ectoderm and endoderm. In embryos injected at the two-cell stage, asymmetry was evident in the fluorescence at the top of the archenteron and animal pole ectoderm. Archenteron elongation is driven by asymmetrical involution of cells with more cells crossing the blastopore on one side. Lineages of cells injected at the four-cell stage also differed in allocation to endoderm and ectoderm. In embryos injected at the eight-cell stage ectodermal and endodermal fates were evident reflecting the animal and vegetal fates determined by third cleavage as typical of echinoderms. Modification of gastrulation associated with evolution of development in P. exigua shows that this foundational morphogenetic process can be altered despite its importance for subsequent development. However, observations of slight asymmetry in the lineage fates of blastomeres in asterinids with planktotrophic development indicates that gastrulation by asymmetrical involution in P. exigua may be a hypertrophic elaboration of a pre-existing state in ancestral-type development. As for echinoids with lecithotrophic development, involution as a mechanism to contribute to archenteron elongation may be associated with the impact of extensive maternal nutritive reserves on the mechanics of cell movement and a novel innovation to facilitate early development of the adult rudiment.
Culturing echinoderm larvae through metamorphosis
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/BS.MCB.2018.11.004
Abstract: Echinoderms are favored study organisms not only in cell and developmental biology, but also physiology, larval biology, benthic ecology, population biology and paleontology, among other fields. However, many echinoderm embryology labs are not well-equipped to continue to rear the post-embryonic stages that result. This is unfortunate, as such labs are thus unable to address many intriguing biological phenomena, related to their own cell and developmental biology studies, that emerge during larval and juvenile stages. To facilitate broader studies of post-embryonic echinoderms, we provide here our collective experience rearing these organisms, with suggestions to try and pitfalls to avoid. Furthermore, we present information on rearing larvae from small laboratory to large aquaculture scales. Finally, we review taxon-specific approaches to larval rearing through metamorphosis in each of the four most commonly-studied echinoderm classes-asteroids, echinoids, holothuroids and ophiuroids.
Sea urchins in a high CO2 world: Impacts of climate warming and ocean acidification across life history stages
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2020
Larval ecology in the face of changing climate—impacts of ocean warming and ocean acidification
Publisher: Oxford University PressOxford
Date: 10-09-2008
DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780198786962.003.0017
Abstract: Ocean warming and acidification are major climate change stressors for marine invertebrate larvae, and their impacts differ between habitats and regions. In many regions species with pelagic propagules are on the move, exhibiting poleward trends as temperatures rise and ocean currents change. Larval sensitivity to warming varies among species, influencing their invasive potential. Broadly distributed species with wide developmental thermotolerances appear best able to avail of the new opportunities provided by warming. Ocean acidification is a multi-stressor in itself and the impacts of its covarying stressors differ among taxa. Increased pCO2 is the key stressor impairing calcification in echinoid larvae while decreased mineral saturation is more important for calcification in bivalve larvae. Non-feeding, non-calcifying larvae appear more resilient to warming and acidification. Some species may be able to persist through acclimatization/adaptation to produce resilient offspring. Understanding the capacity for adaptation/acclimatization across generations is important to predicting the future species composition of marine communities.
Synthesis of Thresholds of Ocean Acidification Impacts on Echinoderms
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 19-05-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2021.602601
Abstract: Assessing the vulnerability of marine invertebrates to ocean acidification (OA) requires an understanding of critical thresholds at which developmental, physiological, and behavioral traits are affected. To identify relevant thresholds for echinoderms, we undertook a three-step data synthesis, focused on California Current Ecosystem (CCE) species. First, literature characterizing echinoderm responses to OA was compiled, creating a dataset comprised of & ,000 datapoints from 41 studies. Analysis of this data set demonstrated responses related to physiology, behavior, growth and development, and increased mortality in the larval and adult stages to low pH exposure. Second, statistical analyses were conducted on selected pathways to identify OA thresholds specific to duration, taxa, and depth-related life stage. Exposure to reduced pH led to impaired responses across a range of physiology, behavior, growth and development, and mortality endpoints for both larval and adult stages. Third, through discussions and synthesis, the expert panel identified a set of eight duration-dependent, life stage, and habitat-dependent pH thresholds and assigned each a confidence score based on quantity and agreement of evidence. The thresholds for these effects ranged within pH from 7.20 to 7.74 and duration from 7 to 30 days, all of which were characterized with either medium or low confidence. These thresholds yielded a risk range from early warning to lethal impacts, providing the foundation for consistent interpretation of OA monitoring data or numerical ocean model simulations to support climate change marine vulnerability assessments and evaluation of ocean management strategies. As a demonstration, two echinoderm thresholds were applied to simulations of a CCE numerical model to visualize the effects of current state of pH conditions on potential habitat.
Early development of congeneric sea urchins (Heliocidaris) with contrasting life history modes in a warming and high CO2 ocean
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2014.07.007
Abstract: The impacts of ocean change stressors - warming and acidification - on marine invertebrate development have emerged as a significant impact of global change. We investigated the response of early development to the larval stage in sympatric, congeneric sea urchins, Heliocidaris tuberculata and Heliocidaris erythrogramma with contrasting modes of development to ocean warming and acidification. Effects of these stressors were assessed by quantifying the percentage of normal development during the first 24 h post fertilization, in cross-factorial experiments that included three temperature treatments (control: 20 °C +4: 24 °C +6: 26 °C) and four pHNIST levels (control: 8.2 -0.4: 7.8 -0.6: 7.6 -0.8: 0.4). The experimental treatments were designed in context with present day and near-future (∼2100) conditions for the southeast Australia global warming hotspot. Temperature was the most important factor affecting development of both species causing faster progression through developmental stages as well as a decrease in the percentage of normal development. H. erythrogramma embryos were less tolerant of increased temperature than those of H. tuberculata. Acidification impaired development to the larval stage in H. tuberculata, but this was not the case for H. erythrogramma. Thus, outcomes for the planktonic life phase of the two Heliocidaris species in response to ocean warming and acidification will differ. As shown for these species, single-stressor temperature or acidification studies can be misleading with respect to determining species' vulnerability and responses to global change.
Is the decline of freshwater mussel populations in a regulated coastal river in south-eastern Australia linked with human modification of habitat?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.758
Geography and the new social contract for global change research
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-05-2016
DOI: 10.1111/TRAN.12125
Interactive effects of increased temperature and gadolinium pollution in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin embryos: a climate change perspective
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Evolution of maternal provisioning in ophiuroid echinoderms: characterisation of egg composition in planktotrophic and lecithotrophic developers
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 09-04-2015
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11217
Evolution of larval form in the sea star genus Patiriella: Conservation and change in the larval nervous system
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-08-2001
DOI: 10.1046/J.1440-169X.2001.00588.X
Abstract: The organization of the peptidergic system in the larvae of Patiriella species with ergent ontogenies was compared to determine which aspects of neurogenesis are conserved and which are altered in the evolution of development in these sea stars. P. regularis has ancestral-type feeding bipinnaria and brachiolaria larvae and the organization of the nervous system, in association with feeding structures, paralleled the bilateral larval body plan. P. calcar and P. exigua have non-feeding planktonic and benthic brachiolariae, respectively, and there was no trace of the neuronal architecture involved with feeding. The nervous system in the attachment stage brachiolaria was similar in all three species and neuronal organization reflected larval symmetry. Delayed expression of peptidergic lineages to the brachiolaria stage in the lecithotrophs indicates heterochronic change in the timing of neurogenesis or deletion of the ancestral early neurogenic program. The bipinnarial program is suggested to be a developmental module autonomous from the brachiolar one. With a ergence time of less than 10 Ma, the evolution of development in Patiriella has resulted in extensive reduction in the complexity of the larval nervous system in parallel with simplification in larval form. There is, however, strong conservation in the morphology and neuronal architecture of structures involved with settlement.
Morphological, Physiological and Mechanical Features of the Mutable Collagenous Tissues Associated with Autotomy and Evisceration in Dendrochirotid Holothuroids
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-02-2023
DOI: 10.3390/MD21030134
Abstract: Evisceration in dendrochirotid sea cucumbers leads to expulsion of the digestive tract, pharyrngeal complex and coelomic fluid through rupture of the anterior body wall. This process involves failure of three mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) structures, the introvert, the pharyngeal retractor muscle tendon, and the intestine-cloacal junction. These are complex structures composed of several tissue strata. The MCT in the three autotomy structures contains collagen fibrils, unstriated microfibrils, and interfibrillar molecules. Neurosecretory-like processes (juxtaligamental-type) with large dense vesicles (LDVs) are prominent in the autotomy structures. Biomechanical tests show that these structures are not inherently weak. Failure of the autotomy structures can be elicited by manipulating the ionic environment and the changes are blocked by anaesthetics. Autotomy and evisceration are under neural control, but local neural elements and neurosecretory-like processes do not appear to be a source of factors that cause MCT destabilisation. The LDVs remain intact while the tissue destabilises. The coelomic fluid contains an evisceration inducing factor indicating a neurosecretory-like mediation of autotomy. This factor elicits muscle contraction and MCT destabilisation. As the autotomy structures are completely or partially surrounded by coelomic fluid, the agent(s) of change may be located in the coelom (systemic origin) as well as originate from cells within the MCT. The biochemistry and mechanism(s) of action of the evisceration factor are not known. This factor is a promising candidate for biodiscovery investigation.
Establishing baselines: Eighty years of phytoplankton diversity and biomass in south-eastern Australia
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 25-11-2016
Erratum to Contrasting arm elevation angles of multi- and two-armed sea urchin echinoplutei supports Grünbaum and Strathmann’s hydromechanical model[Marine Biology, 2015, 162, 607, 616, 10.1007/s00227-014-2608-2]
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-03-2015
Development of three commercial sea cucumbers, Holothuria scabra, H. fuscogilva and Actinopyga mauritiana: Larval structure and growth
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2003
DOI: 10.1071/MF02145
Abstract: Development of the tropical sea cucumbers Holothuria scabra, H. fuscogilva and Actinopyga mauritiana was investigated. Holothuria scabra developed through the feeding auricularia, the non-feeding doliolaria and the pentactula larval stages in 14–17 days at 26–28�C. Holothuria fuscogilva and A. mauritiana were reared to the auricularia and doliolaria stages respectively. The auricularia stage was reached by 40–70 h and the larvae developed lateral processes and a prominent ciliated band. Transformation to the doliolaria stage took 10–12 h and occurred on Days 9–12 in H. scabra and Days 12–22 in A. mauritiana. During this transition the ciliated band fragmented into ciliary rings, the location of which coincided with the lateral processes in the auriculariae. In H. scabra, metamorphosis to pentactulae (13–15 days) was marked by development of five primary tentacles and a ventroposterior podium. This podium was used to attach to the substratum. Newly settled pentactulae of H. scabra used their tentacles to test, adhere and move across the substratum. Development of a second podium marked the development of juveniles (14–17 days). Hyaline spheres were conspicuous in late auriculariae of H. scabra and may be an indicator of larval competence. They disappeared in the doliolaria stage, which suggests that they may function as nutritive reserves to sustain H. scabra through the non-feeding perimetamorphic period. Absence of these spheres in H. fuscogilva, and their poor growth in A. mauritiana, suggests the feeding protocol used may not be sufficient to support complete development in these species. Determination of food and culture conditions that promote hyaline sphere formation and control bacteria may be essential for successful culture of H. fuscogilva and A.�mauritiana.
Oogenic strategies in the evolution of development in patiriella (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-1999
Characterization of the lecithotrophic larval development of the temperate New Zealand asterinid Stegnaster inflatus
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-04-2019
DOI: 10.1111/IVB.12244
Characterization of measurement errors using structure-from-motion and photogrammetry to measure marine habitat structural complexity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-06-2017
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.3127
Vulnerability of the calcifying larval stage of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri to near‐future ocean acidification and warming
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-04-2013
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12190
Abstract: Stenothermal polar benthic marine invertebrates are highly sensitive to environmental perturbations but little is known about potential synergistic effects of concurrent ocean warming and acidification on development of their embryos and larvae. We examined the effects of these stressors on development to the calcifying larval stage in the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri in embryos reared in present and future (2100+) ocean conditions from fertilization. Embryos were reared in 2 temperature (ambient: -1.0 °C, + 2 °C : 1.0 °C) and 3 pH (ambient: pH 8.0, -0.2-0.4 pH units: 7.8,7.6) levels. Principle coordinates analysis on five larval metrics showed a significant effect of temperature and pH on the pattern of growth. Within each temperature, larvae were separated by pH treatment, a pattern primarily influenced by larval arm and body length. Growth was accelerated by temperature with a 20-28% increase in postoral (PO) length at +2 °C across all pH levels. Growth was strongly depressed by reduced pH with a 8-19% decrease in PO length at pH 7.6-7.8 at both temperatures. The boost in growth caused by warming resulted in larvae that were larger than would be observed if acidification was examined in the absence of warming. However, there was no significant interaction between these stressors. The increase in left-right asymmetry and altered body allometry indicated that decreased pH disrupted developmental patterning and acted as a teratogen (agent causing developmental malformation). Decreased developmental success with just a 2 °C warming indicates that development in S. neumayeri is particularly sensitive to increased temperature. Increased temperature also altered larval allometry. Altered body shape impairs swimming and feeding in echinoplutei. In the absence of adaptation, it appears that the larval phase may be a bottleneck for survivorship of S. neumayeri in a changing ocean in a location where poleward migration to escape inhospitable conditions is not possible.
Responses of sea urchin larvae to field and laboratory acidification
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2020
The Larval Apical Organ in the Holothuroid Chiridota gigas (Apodida): Inferences on Evolution of the Ambulacrarian Larval Nervous System
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 10-2006
DOI: 10.2307/4134584
Life history diversity and evolution in the Asterinidae
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 29-03-2006
DOI: 10.1093/ICB/ICJ033
Abstract: Asterinid sea stars have the greatest range of life histories known for the Asteroidea. Larval form in these sea stars has been modified in association with selection for planktonic, benthic, or intergonadal developmental habitats. Life history data are available for 31 species and molecular data for 28 of these. These data were used to assess life history evolution and relationships among asterinid clades. Lecithotrophy is prevalent in Asterinidae, with at least 6 independent origins of this developmental mode. Morphological differences in the attachment complex of brachiolaria larvae were evident among species with planktonic lecithotrophy. Some features are clade specific while others are variable within clades. Benthic brachiolariae are similar in Aquilonastra and Parvulastra with tripod-shaped larvae, while the bilobed sole-shaped larvae of Asterina species appear unique to this genus. Multiple transitions and pathways have been involved in the evolution of lecithotropy in the Asterinidae. Although several genera have a species with a planktonic feeding larva in a basal phylogenetic position, relative to species with planktonic or benthic lecithotrophy, there is little evidence for the expected life history transformation series from planktonic feeding, to planktonic non-feeding, to benthic non-feeding development. Intragonadal development, a life history pattern unique to the Asterinidae, arose three times through ancestors with benthic or pelagic lecithotrophy. Evolution of lecithotrophy appears more prevalent in the Asterinidae than other asteroid families. As erse modes of development are discerned in cryptic species complexes, new insights into life history evolution in the Asterinidae are being generated.
Superstars: Assessing nutrient thresholds for enhanced larval success of Acanthaster planci, a review of the evidence
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2016.12.079
Abstract: Crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci (COTS), predation is a major cause of coral reef decline, but the factors behind their population outbreaks remain unclear. Increased phytoplankton food resulting from eutrophication is suggested to enhance larval survival. We addressed the hypothesis that larval success is associated with particular chl-a levels in tightly controlled larval:algal conditions. We used chl-a conditions found on coral reefs (0.1-5.0μgchl-aL
Sea urchins in a high-CO 2 world: the influence of acclimation on the immune response to ocean warming and acidification
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 31-08-2016
Abstract: Climate-induced ocean warming and acidification may render marine organisms more vulnerable to infectious diseases. We investigated the effects of warming and acidification on the immune response of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma . Sea urchins were gradually introduced to four combinations of temperature and pH NIST (17°C H 8.15, 17°C H 7.6, 23°C H 8.15 and 23°C H 7.6) and then held in temperature–pH treatments for 1, 15 or 30 days to determine if the immune response would adjust to stressors over time. Coelomocyte concentration and type, phagocytic capacity and bactericidal activity were measured on day 1, 15 and 30 with different sea urchins used each time. At each time point, the coelomic fluid of in iduals exposed to increased temperature and acidification had the lowest coelomocyte concentrations, exhibited lower phagocytic capacities and was least effective at inhibiting bacterial growth of the pathogen Vibrio anguillarum . Over time, increased temperature alleviated the negative effects of acidification on phagocytic activity. Our results demonstrate the importance of incorporating acclimation time to multiple stressors when assessing potential responses to future ocean conditions and indicate that the immune response of H. erythrogramma may be compromised under near-future ocean warming and acidification.
Fertilisation, embryogenesis and larval development in the tropical intertidal sand dollar Arachnoides placenta in response to reduced seawater pH
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-09-2012
respR—An R package for the manipulation and analysis of respirometry data
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2019
Forecasting impacts of ocean acidification on marine communities: Utilizing volcanic CO2 vents as natural laboratories
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-02-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15528
Introduction of the northern Pacific asteroid Asterias amurensis to Tasmania: reproduction and current distribution
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-03-1997
Impacts of ocean acidification on sea urchin growth across the juvenile to mature adult life-stage transition is mitigated by warming
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-04-2018
Abstract: Understanding how growth trajectories of calcifying invertebrates are affected by changing climate requires acclimation experiments that follow development across life-history transitions. In a long-term acclimation study, the effects of increased acidification and temperature on survival and growth of the tropical sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla from the early juvenile (5 mm test diameter—TD) through the developmental transition to the mature adult (60 mm TD) were investigated. Juveniles were reared in a combination of three temperature and three pH/ p CO 2 treatments, including treatments commensurate with global change projections. Elevated temperature and p CO 2 H both affected growth, but there was no interaction between these factors. The urchins grew more slowly at pH 7.6, but not at pH 7.8. Slow growth may be influenced by the inability to compensate coelomic fluid acid–base balance at pH 7.6. Growth was faster at +3 and +6°C compared to that in ambient temperature. Acidification and warming had strong and interactive effects on reproductive potential. Warming increased the gonad index, but acidification decreased it. At pH 7.6 there were virtually no gonads in any urchins regardless of temperature. The T. gratilla were larger at maturity under combined near-future warming and acidification scenarios (+3°C H 7.8). Although the juveniles grew and survived in near-future warming and acidification conditions, chronic exposure to these stressors from an early stage altered allocation to somatic and gonad growth. In the absence of phenotypic adjustment, the interactive effects of warming and acidification on the benthic life phases of sea urchins may compromise reproductive fitness and population maintenance as global climatic change unfolds.
Differential establishment potential of species predicts a shift in coral assemblage structure across a biogeographic barrier
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-03-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.01437
Correction to: Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new genus of sea cucumbers from Australia, with two new combinations (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-11-2019
Nodal and BMP expression during the transition to pentamery in the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma: insights into patterning the enigmatic echinoderm body plan
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-02-2017
Survivorship of post-split fission products of Holothuria atra (Holothuroidea: Aspidochirotida) on the southern Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-04-2013
Thermal tolerance of early development in tropical and temperate sea urchins: inferences for the tropicalization of eastern Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-10-2013
Chapter 10 Ecology of Centrostephanus
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2007
Evolution of larval form in ophiuroids: Insights from the metamorphic phenotype of Ophiothrix (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-02-2006
DOI: 10.1111/J.1525-142X.2006.00088.X
Abstract: SUMMARY Comparison of development through metamorphosis in Ophiothrix species provided insights into the evolutionary relationships between Type I (ophiopluteus only) and Type II (ophiopluteus and vitellaria) patterns of development in the Ophiuroidea. As typical of Type I developers, the six inner larval arms in Ophiothrix spongicola were fully resorbed at metamorphosis and no remnants of ciliated epithelia were retained. The postero‐lateral arms function as locomotory organs for the developing juvenile and were discarded at settlement. In contrast, in O. ciliaris the epithelia of the inner arms were transformed into ciliated ridges, similar to those seen in vitellariae and the postero‐lateral arms were resorbed rather than being discarded. Larval arm resorption in O. ciliaris is similar to that in Type II developers. The metamorphic phenotype of O. ciliaris provides a link between Type I and II development. The presence of two types of metamorphosis in congeneric ophiuroids and the variable metamorphic phenotype of O. ciliaris was unexpected. It appears that closely related ophiuroids and in idual species may have the capacity to metamorphose using either Type I or Type II pathways. Although the phylogenetic distribution of metamorphic phenotypes indicates that Type II development may be the ancestral state, comparative morphology suggests that a developmental dichotomy based on larval arm resorption may not be appropriate for the Ophiuroidea. Until metamorphosis is characterized for more taxa, the ancestral developmental mode for the Ophiuroidea will remain a matter of conjecture.
Reproduction of Ophiactis resiliens (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) in New South Wales with observations on recruitment
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-2003
Ocean acidification has little effect on developmental thermal windows of echinoderms from Antarctica to the tropics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-09-2017
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13452
Abstract: As the ocean warms, thermal tolerance of developmental stages may be a key driver of changes in the geographical distributions and abundance of marine invertebrates. Additional stressors such as ocean acidification may influence developmental thermal windows and are therefore important considerations for predicting distributions of species under climate change scenarios. The effects of reduced seawater pH on the thermal windows of fertilization, embryology and larval morphology were examined using five echinoderm species: two polar (Sterechinus neumayeri and Odontaster validus), two temperate (Fellaster zelandiae and Patiriella regularis) and one tropical (Arachnoides placenta). Responses were examined across 12-13 temperatures ranging from -1.1 °C to 5.7 °C (S. neumayeri), -0.5 °C to 10.7 °C (O. validus), 5.8 °C to 27 °C (F. zelandiae), 6.0 °C to 27.1 °C (P. regularis) and 13.9 °C to 34.8 °C (A. placenta) under present-day and near-future (2100+) ocean acidification conditions (-0.3 pH units) and for three important early developmental stages 1) fertilization, 2) embryo (prehatching) and 3) larval development. Thermal windows for fertilization were broad and were not influenced by a pH decrease. Embryological development was less thermotolerant. For O. validus, P. regularis and A. placenta, low pH reduced normal development, albeit with no effect on thermal windows. Larval development in all five species was affected by both temperature and pH however, thermal tolerance was not reduced by pH. Results of this study suggest that in terms of fertilization and development, temperature will remain as the most important factor influencing species' latitudinal distributions as the ocean continues to warm and decrease in pH, and that there is little evidence of a synergistic effect of temperature and ocean acidification on the thermal control of species ranges.
What and when to eat? Investigating the feeding habits of an intertidal herbivorous starfish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2016
Spatial and temporal variation in reef-scale carbonate storage of large benthic foraminifera: a case study on One Tree Reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-09-2017
Implications of range overlap in the commercially important pan-tropical sea urchin genus Tripneustes (Echinoidea: Toxopneustidae)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-02-2019
Warming and hypoxia threaten a valuable scallop fishery: A warning for commercial bivalve ventures in climate change hotspots
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-01-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16606
Abstract: Marine molluscs constitute the second largest marine fishery and are often caught in coastal and estuarine habitats. Temperature is increasing in these habitats at a rate greater than predicted, especially in warming “hotspots”. This warming is accompanied by hypoxia in a duo of stressors that threatens coastal mollusc fisheries and aquaculture. Collapses of the northern bay scallop ( Argopecten irradians irradians ) fisheries on the Atlantic coast of the USA are likely to be driven by rapid rates of coastal warming and may provide an ominous glimpse into the prospects of other coastal mollusc fisheries in climate warming hotspots.
Effects of ocean warming and acidification on survival, growth and skeletal development in the early benthic juvenile sea urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-07-2013
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12249
Abstract: Co-occurring ocean warming, acidification and reduced carbonate mineral saturation have significant impacts on marine biota, especially calcifying organisms. The effects of these stressors on development and calcification in newly metamorphosed juveniles (ca. 0.5 mm test diameter) of the intertidal sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma, an ecologically important species in temperate Australia, were investigated in context with present and projected future conditions. Habitat temperature and pH CO2 were documented to place experiments in a biologically and ecologically relevant context. These parameters fluctuated diurnally up to 10 °C and 0.45 pH units. The juveniles were exposed to three temperature (21, 23 and 25 °C) and four pH (8.1, 7.8, 7.6 and 7.4) treatments in all combinations, representing ambient sea surface conditions (21 °C, pH 8.1 pCO2 397 ΩCa 4.7 ΩAr 3.1), near-future projected change (+2-4 °C, -0.3-0.5 pH units pCO2 400-1820 ΩCa 5.0-1.6 ΩAr 3.3-1.1), and extreme conditions experienced at low tide (+4 °C, -0.3-0.7 pH units pCO2 2850-2967 ΩCa 1.1-1.0 ΩAr 0.7-0.6). The lowest pH treatment (pH 7.4) was used to assess tolerance levels. Juvenile survival and test growth were resilient to current and near-future warming and acidification. Spine development, however, was negatively affected by near-future increased temperature (+2-4 °C) and extreme acidification (pH 7.4), with a complex interaction between stressors. Near-future warming was the more significant stressor. Spine tips were dissolved in the pH 7.4 treatments. Adaptation to fluctuating temperature-pH conditions in the intertidal may convey resilience to juvenile H. erythrogramma to changing ocean conditions, however, ocean warming and acidification may shift baseline intertidal temperature and pH CO2 to levels that exceed tolerance limits.
The ultrastructure of the morula cells of Eupentacta quinquesemita (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) and their role in the maintenance of the extracellular matrix
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-1986
Abstract: The ultrastructure of the morula cells of Eupentacta quinquesemita and the distribution of these cells in the dermal connective tissue are described. Morula cells are abundant in the dermis and appear to function in the maintenance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) as a source of ground substance material. The synthetic activity of these cells is described in detail. Morula cells are filled with large secretory vesicles containing three electrondense materials which are derived from rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi activity. The synthetic product of these cells contains glycosaminoglycans and is secreted into the ECM by degranulation. The ultrastructural and histochemical similarity of the degranulation product to the ECM ground substance suggests that they are comprised of the same material. Morula cells appear to function primarily in connective tissues where ground substance predominates. The cells often contain secretory vesicles at various stages of formation, all of which eventually mature and degranulate. The synthetic pathway of the morula cells appears to result ultimately in the complete disruption and death of the cells. The function of morula cells in the holothuroid ECM is discussed, and the synthetic activity of the cells is compared with that of other secretory cells.
Temperature, but not pH, compromises sea urchin fertilization and early development under near-future climate change scenarios
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 25-02-2009
Abstract: Global warming is causing ocean warming and acidification. The distribution of Heliocidaris erythrogramma coincides with the eastern Australia climate change hot spot, where disproportionate warming makes marine biota particularly vulnerable to climate change. In keeping with near-future climate change scenarios, we determined the interactive effects of warming and acidification on fertilization and development of this echinoid. Experimental treatments (20–26°C, pH 7.6–8.2) were tested in all combinations for the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, with 20°C H 8.2 being ambient. Percentage of fertilization was high ( %) across all treatments. There was no difference in percentage of normal development in any pH treatment. In elevated temperature conditions, +4°C reduced cleavage by 40 per cent and +6°C by a further 20 per cent. Normal gastrulation fell below 4 per cent at +6°C. At 26°C, development was impaired. As the first study of interactive effects of temperature and pH on sea urchin development, we confirm the thermotolerance and pH resilience of fertilization and embryogenesis within predicted climate change scenarios, with negative effects at upper limits of ocean warming. Our findings place single stressor studies in context and emphasize the need for experiments that address ocean warming and acidification concurrently. Although ocean acidification research has focused on impaired calcification, embryos may not reach the skeletogenic stage in a warm ocean.
Sea urchin development in a global change hotspot, potential for southerly migration of thermotolerant propagules
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2011
Seasonal variation in the effects of ocean warming and acidification on a native bryozoan, Celleporaria nodulosa
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-07-2012
Ocean acidification: Linking science to management solutions using the Great Barrier Reef as a case study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2016.07.038
Abstract: Coral reefs are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to ocean acidification. While our understanding of the potential impacts of ocean acidification on coral reef ecosystems is growing, gaps remain that limit our ability to translate scientific knowledge into management action. To guide solution-based research, we review the current knowledge of ocean acidification impacts on coral reefs alongside management needs and priorities. We use the world's largest continuous reef system, Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), as a case study. We integrate scientific knowledge gained from a variety of approaches (e.g., laboratory studies, field observations, and ecosystem modelling) and scales (e.g., cell, organism, ecosystem) that underpin a systems-level understanding of how ocean acidification is likely to impact the GBR and associated goods and services. We then discuss local and regional management options that may be effective to help mitigate the effects of ocean acidification on the GBR, with likely application to other coral reef systems. We develop a research framework for linking solution-based ocean acidification research to practical management options. The framework assists in identifying effective and cost-efficient options for supporting ecosystem resilience. The framework enables on-the-ground OA management to be the focus, while not losing sight of CO2 mitigation as the ultimate solution.
Annual reproductive cycles of the commercial sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus from an exposed intertidal and a sheltered subtidal habitat on the west coast of Ireland
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-1990
DOI: 10.1007/BF01313269
Serotonin-like immunoreactivity in the brachiolaria larvae of patiriella regularis
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-1999
Life‐history predicts past and present population connectivity in two sympatric sea stars
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-04-2017
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.2938
Impacts of cyclone Hamish at One Tree Reef: Integrating environmental and benthic habitat data
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-12-2012
Evolution of abbreviated development in the ophiuroid Ophiarachnella gorgonia involves heterochronies and deletions
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 08-2005
DOI: 10.1139/Z05-092
Abstract: The ophiuroid Ophiarachnella gorgonia Müller and Troschel, 1842 has the Type II mode of ophiuroid development through a short-lived (lecithotrophic) vitellaria larva that settles 3 days after fertilization. Development in O. gor gonia is characterized by a reduction in larval structures and settlement of a precocious juvenile. In comparison with other ophiuroid vitellariae, the larva of O. gorgonia has reduced ciliated bands that lack prominent epithelial ridges. Ab breviated development in O. gorgonia is achieved through prompt formation of a radial hydrocoel and radial juvenile skeleton. Newly settled juvenile O. gorgonia also lack the feeding and locomotory structures found in the settlement stage of species with ophioplutei. Juveniles of O. gorgonia settle with one pair of buccal podia, and the mouth is not functional. The first arm segment forms before the mouth opens. In comparison, in species with ophioplutei the first two pairs of buccal podia and the first two arm segments develop before the mouth opens and before settlement occurs. Comparison of development of O. gorgonia and that of other species with vitellariae suggests that hetero chron ies and deletions in the metamorphic and settlement programs may be involved in the evolution of abbreviated development.
Toxicity of landfill leachate to sea urchin development with a focus on ammonia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-08-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S10565-008-9099-1
Abstract: Sea urchin gametes and embryos serve as a model system to evaluate toxicity in the marine environment. In this study, the toxicity of complex chemical mixtures in leachate s les to sea urchin development was examined with a focus on ammonia, which was the main contaminant of concern in most s les. Two rapid tests, the submitochondrial particle function and bacterial luminescence tests, were also used. Ammonia is highly toxic to sea urchin embryos with an EC50 of 1.3 mg l(-1) for the embryos of the Australian sea urchin Heliocidaris tuberculata. Leachate ammonia levels were well above these EC50 concentrations. To assess the contribution of ammonia to leachate toxicity in sea urchin development, we compared the predicted toxic units (PTU) and observed toxic units (OTU) for ammonia for each s le. The PTU/OTU comparison revealed that the sensitivity of the sea urchin embryos to ammonia were altered (enhanced or decreased) by other chemicals in the leachates. This result emphasises the need for parallel chemical analyses and a suite bioassays for evaluating the toxicity of complex and variable chemical mixtures.
Multistressor impacts of warming and acidification of the ocean on marine invertebrates' life histories
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-05-2013
DOI: 10.1093/ICB/ICT049
Abstract: Benthic marine invertebrates live in a multistressor world where stressor levels are, and will continue to be, exacerbated by global warming and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. These changes are causing the oceans to warm, decrease in pH, become hypercapnic, and to become less saturated in carbonate minerals. These stressors have strong impacts on biological processes, but little is known about their combined effects on the development of marine invertebrates. Increasing temperature has a stimulatory effect on development, whereas hypercapnia can depress developmental processes. The pH, pCO2, and CaCO3 of seawater change simultaneously with temperature, challenging our ability to predict future outcomes for marine biota. The need to consider both warming and acidification is reflected in the recent increase in cross-factorial studies of the effects of these stressors on development of marine invertebrates. The outcomes and trends in these studies are synthesized here. Based on this compilation, significant additive or antagonistic effects of warming and acidification of the ocean are common (16 of 20 species studied), and synergistic negative effects also are reported. Fertilization can be robust to near-future warming and acidification, depending on the male-female mating pair. Although larvae and juveniles of some species tolerate near-future levels of warming and acidification (+2°C H 7.8), projected far-future conditions (ca. ≥4°C/ ≤pH 7.6) are widely deleterious, with a reduction in the size and survival of larvae. It appears that larvae that calcify are sensitive both to warming and acidification, whereas those that do not calcify are more sensitive to warming. Different sensitivities of life-history stages and species have implications for persistence and community function in a changing ocean. Some species are more resilient than others and may be potential "winners" in the climate-change stakes. As the ocean will change more gradually over coming decades than in "future shock" perturbation investigations, it is likely that some species, particularly those with short generation times, may be able to tolerate near-future oceanic change through acclimatization and/or adaption.
The effects of long-term exposure to low pH on the skeletal microstructure of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Evolution of yolk protein genes in the E chinodermata
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2012
Effects of elevated pCO(2) and the effect of parent acclimation on development in the tropical Pacific sea urchin Echinometra mathaei
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-08-2013
Hox-type and non-Hox homeobox gene sequences in genomic DNA of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-1997
DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1119(97)00434-4
Abstract: As a preliminary step in an analysis of Hox gene expression and radial body plan specification in sea urchin development, we lified partial homeobox sequences in H. purpurescens by PCR using degenerate primers. The primers, HoxE and HoxF (Pendleton et al., 1993), spanned a highly conserved region of 82 nucleotides encompassing amino acids 21-47 of the homeodomain. Seven Hox-type homeobox sequences and two non-Hox homeobox sequences were identified. The seven Hox-type sequences were placed provisionally in Hox paralogous groups, one in paralogous group 3, three in paralogous groups 6-8 and three in paralogous groups 9 13. The non-Hox sequences had similarities with Xlox and Gbx homeobox genes.
Australian sea-floor survey data, with images and expert annotations
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-10-2015
Abstract: This Australian benthic data set (BENTHOZ-2015) consists of an expert-annotated set of georeferenced benthic images and associated sensor data, captured by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) around Australia. This type of data is of interest to marine scientists studying benthic habitats and organisms. AUVs collect georeferenced images over an area with consistent illumination and altitude, and make it possible to generate broad scale, photo-realistic 3D maps. Marine scientists then typically spend several minutes on each of thousands of images, labeling substratum type and biota at a subset of points. Labels from four Australian research groups were combined using the CATAMI classification scheme, a hierarchical classification scheme based on taxonomy and morphology for scoring marine imagery. This data set consists of 407,968 expert labeled points from around the Australian coast, with associated images, geolocation and other sensor data. The robotic surveys that collected this data form part of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) ongoing benthic monitoring program. There is reuse potential in marine science, robotics, and computer vision research.
Sperm Bindin Divergence under Sexual Selection and Concerted Evolution in Sea Stars
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-05-2016
Abstract: Selection associated with competition among males or sexual conflict between mates can create positive selection for high rates of molecular evolution of gamete recognition genes and lead to reproductive isolation between species. We analyzed coding sequence and repetitive domain variation in the gene encoding the sperm acrosomal protein bindin in 13 erse sea star species. We found that bindin has a conserved coding sequence domain structure in all 13 species, with several repeated motifs in a large central region that is similar among all sea stars in organization but highly ergent among genera in nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequence. More bindin codons and lineages showed positive selection for high relative rates of amino acid substitution in genera with gonochoric outcrossing adults (and greater expected strength of sexual selection) than in selfing hermaphrodites. That difference is consistent with the expectation that selfing (a highly derived mating system) may moderate the strength of sexual selection and limit the accumulation of bindin amino acid differences. The results implicate both positive selection on single codons and concerted evolution within the repetitive region in bindin ergence, and suggest that both single amino acid differences and repeat differences may affect sperm-egg binding and reproductive compatibility.
Natural hybridization in the sea urchin genus pseudoboletia between species without apparent barriers to gamete recognition
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-04-2012
DOI: 10.1111/J.1558-5646.2012.01609.X
Abstract: Marine species with high dispersal potential often have huge ranges and minimal population structure. Combined with the paucity of geographic barriers in the oceans, this pattern raises the question as to how speciation occurs in the sea. Over the past 20 years, evidence has accumulated that marine speciation is often linked to the evolution of gamete recognition proteins. Rapid evolution of gamete recognition proteins in gastropods, bivalves, and sea urchins is correlated with gamete incompatibility and contributes to the maintenance of species boundaries between sympatric congeners. Here, we present a counterex le to this general pattern. The sea urchins Pseudoboletia indiana and P. maculata have broad ranges that overlap in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Cytochrome oxidase I sequences indicated that these species are distinct, and their 7.3% ergence suggests that they erged at least 2 mya. Despite this, we suspected hybridization between them based on the presence of morphologically intermediate in iduals in sympatric populations at Sydney, Australia. We assessed the opportunity for hybridization between the two species and found that (1) in iduals of the two species occur within a meter of each other in nature, (2) they have overlapping annual reproductive cycles, and (3) their gametes cross-fertilize readily in the laboratory and in the field. We genotyped in iduals with intermediate morphology and confirmed that many were hybrids. Hybrids were fertile, and some female hybrids had egg sizes intermediate between the two parental species. Consistent with their high level of gamete compatibility, there is minimal ergence between P. indiana and P. maculata in the gamete recognition protein bindin, with a single fixed amino acid difference between the two species. Pseudoboletia thus provides a well-characterized exception to the idea that broadcast spawning marine species living in sympatry develop and maintain species boundaries through the ergence of gamete recognition proteins and the associated evolution of gamete incompatibility.
Morphology and function of the tube feet of Florometra serratissima (Echinodermata: Crinoidea)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-1983
DOI: 10.1007/BF00310346
The sea cucumber fishery in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park follows global patterns of serial exploitation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-10-2015
DOI: 10.1111/FAF.12059
Beyond corals and fish: the effects of climate change on noncoral benthic invertebrates of tropical reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-11-2008
Restoring the flat oyster Ostrea angasi in the face of a changing climate
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 29-08-2019
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS13047
Potential influence of sea cucumbers on coral reef CaCO3budget: A case study at One Tree Reef
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 23-12-2011
DOI: 10.1029/2011JG001755
Rotational harvesting is a risky strategy for vulnerable marine animals
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 29-10-2015
Effects of ocean acidification on the settlement and metamorphosis of marine invertebrate and fish larvae: A review
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 15-11-2018
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12754
A review and meta‐analysis of the effects of multiple abiotic stressors on marine embryos and larvae
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-02-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12833
Abstract: Marine organisms are simultaneously exposed to anthropogenic stressors with likely interactive effects, including synergisms in which the combined effects of multiple stressors are greater than the sum of in idual effects. Early life stages of marine organisms are potentially vulnerable to the stressors associated with global change, but identifying general patterns across studies, species and response variables is challenging. This review represents the first meta-analysis of multistressor studies to target early marine life stages (embryo to larvae), particularly between temperature, salinity and pH as these are the best studied. Knowledge gaps in research on multiple abiotic stressors and early life stages are also identified. The meta-analysis yielded several key results: (1) Synergistic interactions (65% of in idual tests) are more common than additive (17%) or antagonistic (17%) interactions. (2) Larvae are generally more vulnerable than embryos to thermal and pH stress. (3) Survival is more likely than sublethal responses to be affected by thermal, salinity and pH stress. (4) Interaction types vary among stressors, ontogenetic stages and biological responses, but they are more consistent among phyla. (5) Ocean acidification is a greater stressor for calcifying than noncalcifying larvae. Despite being more ecologically realistic than single-factor studies, multifactorial studies may still oversimplify complex systems, and so meta-analyses of the data from them must be cautiously interpreted with regard to extrapolation to field conditions. Nonetheless, our results identify taxa with early life stages that may be particularly vulnerable (e.g. molluscs, echinoderms) or robust (e.g. arthropods, cnidarians) to abiotic stress. We provide a list of recommendations for future multiple stressor studies, particularly those focussed on early marine life stages.
Unique tagging of small echinoderms: a case study using the cushion star Parvulastra exigua
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-08-2013
Corrigendum: Australian sea-floor survey data, with images and expert annotations (Scientific Data (2015) 2 (150057) DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2015.57)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-12-2016
Abstract: Scientific Data 2:150057 doi:10.1038/sdata.2015.57 (2015) Published 27 Oct 2015 Updated 20 Dec 2016 The authors regret that Ezequiel Marzinelli was omitted in error from the author list of the original version of this Data Descriptor. This omission has now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of this Data Descriptor.
Variability in egg and jelly-coat size and their contribution to target size for spermatozoa: a review for the Echinodermata
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1071/MF18134
Abstract: Fertilisation and development in broadcast-spawning marine invertebrates depends on the ability of the egg to attract spermatozoa and provision progeny. Echinoderm eggs have a jelly coat that facilitates sperm–egg collisions. We investigated variation in egg volume and target area for spermatozoa provided by the jelly coat within and between three sea urchin species (Heliocidaris erythrogramma, Heliocidaris tuberculata, Centrostephanus rodgersii), as well as across 22 echinoderm species for which data are available. Egg and jelly-coat size varied within spawns of in idual females, between females of a species and between species. The jelly coat increased egg target area by 125–489% for echinoids with planktotrophic development. In general, planktotrophic echinoids (n=16) with larger eggs had thicker jelly coats, as did H. tuberculata females with larger eggs. Variability in egg and jelly-coat size within a species indicates that these traits are prone to maternal effects and may be influenced by factors such as sperm environment and offspring fitness that drive selection on egg investment. The greater variability in jelly-coat size compared with that of the egg has a large potential to affect fertilisation and should be considered in models of fertilisation kinetics. Egg size alone cannot be used as a metric to infer target size for spermatozoa.
Fuels for development: evolution of maternal provisioning in asterinid sea stars
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-10-2007
Combined effects of two ocean change stressors, warming and acidification, on fertilization and early development of the Antarctic echinoid Sterechinus neumayeri
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-12-2012
Extraordinarily rapid life-history divergence between Cryptasterina sea star species
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 18-07-2012
Abstract: Life history plays a critical role in governing microevolutionary processes such as gene flow and adaptation, as well as macroevolutionary processes such speciation. Here, we use multilocus phylogeographic analyses to examine a speciation event involving spectacular life-history differences between sister species of sea stars. Cryptasterina hystera has evolved a suite of derived life-history traits (including internal self-fertilization and brood protection) that differ from its sister species Cryptasterina pentagona , a gonochoric broadcast spawner . We show that these species have only been reproductively isolated for approximately 6000 years (95% highest posterior density of 905–22 628), and that this life-history change may be responsible for dramatic genetic consequences, including low nucleotide ersity, zero heterozygosity and no gene flow. The rapid ergence of these species rules out some mechanisms of isolation such as adaptation to microhabitats in sympatry, or slow ergence by genetic drift during prolonged isolation. We hypothesize that the large phenotypic differences between species relative to the short ergence time suggests that the life-history differences observed may be direct responses to disruptive selection between populations. We speculate that local environmental or demographic differences at the southern range margin are possible mechanisms of selection driving one of the fastest known marine speciation events.
Capacity of an ecologically key urchin to recover from extreme events: Physiological impacts of heatwaves and the road to recovery
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Overview of phenotypic plasticity in echinoid larvae, ‘Echinopluteus transversus’ type vs. typical echinoplutei
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 14-05-2009
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS07848
Reproduction and development of the freshwater clam Corbicula australis in southeast Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2000
Characterization and expression of a sea star otx ortholog (Protxβ1/2) in the larva of Patiriella regularis
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.GEP.2010.07.003
Abstract: A transcript of otx from the sea star Patiriella regularis (Protxβ1/2) was characterized and its expression in early bipinnaria larvae was documented by whole mount in situ hybridization (WMISH). The nucleotide sequence exhibited 94% identity with Amotxβ1/2 from the closely related species Patiria miniata. Protxβ1/2 was expressed strongly in the developing archenteron in the future fore and mid-gut regions. This was followed by expression of Protxβ1/2 in the developing enterocoels, mesodermal derivatives. This suggests a role for Protx in endomesoderm development. In coelom development, Protxβ1/2 was first expressed in the left coelom. Subsequently expression was evident in the right coelom, but localization was never as strong as in the left coelom. This asymmetry in Protxβ1/2 expression in the coeloms was evident up to the stage when they started to extend posteriorly. These data indicate that Protxβ1/2 may have a role in coelom development, particularly in the left coelom, a definitive adult structure.
Adult exposure to ocean acidification and warming remains beneficial for oyster larvae following starvation
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-04-2021
Abstract: Climate change is expected to warm and acidify oceans and alter the phenology of phytoplankton, creating a mismatch between larvae and their food. Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) may allow marine species to acclimate to climate change however, it is expected that this may come with elevated energetic demands. This study used the oysters, Saccostrea glomerata and Crassostrea gigas, to test the effects of adult parental exposure to elevated pCO2 and temperature on larvae during starvation and recovery. It was anticipated that beneficial effects of TGP will be limited when larvae oyster are starved. Transgenerational responses and lipid reserves of larvae were measured for 2 weeks. Larvae of C. gigas and S. glomerata from parents exposed to elevated pCO2 had greater survival when exposed to elevated CO2, but this differed between species and temperature. For S. glomerata, survival of larvae was greatest when the conditions experienced by larvae matched the condition of their parents. For C. gigas, survival of larvae was greater when parents and larvae were exposed to elevated pCO2. Larvae of both species used lipids when starved. The total lipid content was dependent on parental exposure and temperature. Against expectations, the beneficial TGP responses of larvae remained, despite starvation.
The evolutionary and biomechanical implications of snout and proboscis morphology in Caenogastropoda (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-10-2009
Morphological evolution in sea urchin development: Hybrids provide insights into the pace of evolution
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-03-2004
DOI: 10.1002/BIES.20024
Abstract: Hybridisations between related species with ergent ontogenies can provide insights into the bases for evolutionary change in development. One ex le of such hybridisations involves sea urchin species that exhibit either standard larval (pluteal) stages or those that develop directly from embryo to adult without an intervening feeding larval stage. In such crosses, pluteal features were found to be restored in fertilisations of the eggs of some direct developing sea urchins (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) with the sperm of closely (Heliocidaris tuberculata) and distantly (Pseudoboletia maculata) related species with feeding larvae. Such results can be argued to support the punctuated equilibrium model-conservation in pluteal regulatory systems and a comparatively rapid switch to direct development in evolution.1,2 Generation of hybrids between distantly related direct developers may, however, indicate evolutionary convergence. The 'rescue' of pluteal features by paternal genomes may require maternal factors from H. erythrogramma because the larva of this species has pluteal features. In contrast, pluteal features were not restored in hybridisations with the eggs of Holopneustes purpurescens, which lacks pluteal features. How much of pluteal development can be lost before it cannot be rescued in such crosses? The answer awaits hybridisations among indirect and direct developing sea urchins differing in developmental phenotype, in parallel with investigations of the genetic programs involved.
Ciliated band structure in planktotrophic and lecithotrophic larvae of Heliocidaris species (Echinodermata: Echinoidea): A demonstration of conservation and change
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2001
Effects of low and high pH on sea urchin settlement, implications for the use of alkali to counter the impacts of acidification
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2020
Calcium concretions in the interstitial tissues of the Australian freshwater mussel Hyridella (Hyriidae)
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Date: 2000
Resilience of the amphipod Hyale niger and its algal host Sargassum linearifolium to heatwave conditions
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-05-2020
Coastal acidification impacts on shell mineral structure of bivalve mollusks
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-08-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.4416
Impacts of ocean acidification on development of the meroplanktonic larval stage of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-09-2012
Abstract: Doo, S. S., Dworjanyn, S. A., Foo, S. A., Soars, N. A., and Byrne, M. 2012. Impacts of ocean acidification on development of the meroplanktonic larval stage of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 460–464. The effects of near-future ocean acidification/hypercapnia on larval development were investigated in the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii, a habitat-modifying species from eastern Australia. Decreased pH (−0.3 to −0.5 pH units) or increased pCO2 significantly reduced the percentage of normal larvae. Larval growth was negatively impacted with smaller larvae in the pH 7.6/1800 ppm treatments. The impact of acidification on development was similar on days 3 and 5, indicating deleterious effects early in development. On day 3, increased abnormalities in the pH 7.6/1600 ppm treatment were seen in aberrant prism stage larvae and arrested/dead embryos. By day 5, echinoplutei in this treatment had smaller arm rods. Observations of smaller larvae in C. rodgersii have significant implications for this species because larval success may be a potential bottleneck for persistence in a changing ocean.
Maternal factors and the evolution of developmental mode: Evolution of oogenesis in Heliocidaris erythrogramma
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-04-1999
Abstract: Evolutionary change in developmental mode in sea urchins is closely tied to an increase in maternal provisioning. We examined the oogenic modifications involved in production of a large egg by comparison of oogenesis in congeneric sea urchins with markedly different sized oocytes and ergent modes of development. Heliocidaris tuberculata has small eggs (95 microm diameter) and the ancestral mode of development through feeding larvae, whereas H. erythrogramma has large eggs (430 microm diameter) and highly modified non-feeding lecithotrophic larvae. Production of a large egg in H. erythrogramma involved both conserved and ergent mechanisms. The pattern and level of vitellogenin gene expression is similar in the two species. Vitellogenin processing is also similar with the gonads of both species incorporating yolk protein from coelomic and hemal stores into nutritive cells with subsequent transfer of this protein into yolk granules in the developing vitellogenic oocyte. Immunocytology of the eggs of both Heliocidaris species indicates they incorporate similar levels of yolk protein. However, H. erythrogramma has evolved a highly ergent second phase of oogenesis characterised by massive deposition of non-vitellogenic material including additional maternal protein and lipid. Maternal provisioning in H. erythrogramma exhibits recapitulation of the ancestral vitellogenic program followed by a novel oogenic phase with hypertrophy of the lipogenic program being a major contributor to the increase in egg size.
Enhanced performance of juvenile crown of thorns starfish in a warm-high CO2 ocean exacerbates poor growth and survival of their coral prey
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-05-2018
Contributions of genetic and environmental variance in early development of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri in response to increased ocean temperature and acidification
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-05-2016
Effects of ocean warming and lowered pH on algal growth and palatability to a grazing gastropod
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-04-2016
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