Lunar synchronization of the monthly reproductive rhythm in the sea urchin Centrostephanus coronatus Verrill

Kennedy, Bill; Pearse, John S.

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(75)90007-6

Cited by 45 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…some Epinephelinae; Thresher 1984; Colin, Shapiro & Weiler 1987). Also, varying moonlight levels induce lunar spawning rhythms in some polychaetes (Bentley, Olive & Last 2001) and sea urchins (Kennedy & Pearse 1975).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do multiple environmental cycles in combination determine reproductive timing in marine organisms? A model and test

Yamahira

2004

Functional Ecology

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Summary 1.Each of the multiple environmental cycles -the light-dark, tidal, semilunar, lunar and seasonal cycles -may have an independent, specific effect on reproductive timings of marine organisms and can alone or in combination produce a variety of temporal reproductive patterns. Assuming that each ecological interaction with these fluctuating environmental cycles generates a unique functional relationship between a component of fitness and the timing of reproduction, a model is proposed that predicts that all fitness components are multiplicative and therefore the reproductive timing is entrained or driven by a cycle(s) having a sharp functional curve of the relevant fitness component. 2. According to this model, many of the reproductive patterns, ranging from diel to lunar, commonly seen in marine organisms were explained by changing relative kurtosis among functional curves of fitness components. Each curve could also differ in its optimum and skewness, making various intermediates and modifications possible. 3. As a model system for the model to be applied, intraspecific variation in the timing of spawning by a puffer, Takifugu niphobles (Jordan & Snyder) was examined. The patterns of daily variation in a day's spawning time within a population and geographical variation in spawning days among populations indicated that (1) the semilunar cycle (i.e. spring-neap tide cycle) has no direct influence on spawning days, (2) a combination between the functional curves of the fitness components associated with the light-dark and tidal cycles produce an apparent biweekly, semilunar spawning rhythm, (3) the curves may be skewed toward earlier and later times, respectively, and (4) their form may differ among populations. 4. This model approach argues that to understand the ecology and evolution of temporal patterns of reproduction, one must properly decouple and evaluate the form of the functional curve of a fitness component associated with each of the multiple environmental cycles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do multiple environmental cycles in combination determine reproductive timing in marine organisms? A model and test

Yamahira

2004

Functional Ecology

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“…antillarum between areas that have little in common except moonlight periodicity (Iliffe and Pearse, 1982) suggests such a relationship. Kennedy and Pearse's (1975) study of reproductive cycles in the diadematoid sea urchin Centrostephanus coronatus showed that spawning followed fluctuations in moonlight, not tide. Diadema, like Centrostephanus, is sensitive to light, even at low intensities, (Millot, 1955), so it is possible that its lunar cycles are also mediated by moonlight.…”

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confidence: 99%

Possible Prezygotic Reproductive Isolation in Sea Urchins Separated by the Isthmus of Panama

Lessios

1984

Evolution

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“…Several studies have suggested that spawning in S. droebachiensis is triggered when urchins detect an increase in phytoplankton during the spring bloom (Himmelman 1975;Starr et al 1993;Vadas and Beal 1999). Studies of other echinoids have documented an association with the lunar cycle (e.g., Kennedy and Pearse 1975) or temperature change (e.g., Lamare and Stewart 1998;Vadas and Beal 1999). Reports on other marine organisms that co-exist with the green sea urchin (e.g., Fucus spp.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spawning events in small and large populations of the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis as recorded using fertilization assays

2006

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During the winter and spring of 2002 and 2003, we used time-integrated fertilization assays to monitor sperm availability in three populations of the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis in Maine: a naturally occurring population of .40,000 urchins and two smaller groups (,1,000) of transplanted urchins isolated from other aggregations. Episodes of sperm release coincided in two populations 10 km apart, suggesting that urchins were responding to a widespread environmental signal. We observed significant lunar periodicity in sperm release events for both of these populations. However, extensive spawning as shown by fertilization rates near 100% and a dramatic drop in gonad mass only occurred in the large natural population around the onset of thermal stratification and the spring phytoplankton bloom. By contrast, in the two small populations we observed low fertilization rates and little or no change in gonad mass. We speculate that a subset of males in these populations responded to a common external spawning signal, but that mass spawning is more likely to occur in large, dense populations where sperm concentrations reach high enough levels to trigger spawning in less responsive urchins.

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Lunar synchronization of the monthly reproductive rhythm in the sea urchin Centrostephanus coronatus Verrill

Cited by 45 publications

References 13 publications

How do multiple environmental cycles in combination determine reproductive timing in marine organisms? A model and test

How do multiple environmental cycles in combination determine reproductive timing in marine organisms? A model and test

Possible Prezygotic Reproductive Isolation in Sea Urchins Separated by the Isthmus of Panama

Spawning events in small and large populations of the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis as recorded using fertilization assays

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