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Morphological diversity of larval skeletons in the sea urchin family Echinometridae (Echinoidea: Echinodermata)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2006

Sonoko Kinjo
Affiliation:
Seto Marine Biology Laboratory, Graduate school of Science, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama, 649-2211, Japan Present address: National Institute of Genetics, Center for Information Biology and DNA Data Bank of Japan, Laboratory for DNA Data Analysis, Mishima 411-8540, Japan
Tsuyoshi Uehara
Affiliation:
Department of Marine and Environmental Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara-cho, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan
Ikuko Yazaki
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minami-Ohsawa 1-1, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, 192-0397 Japan
Yoshihisa Shirayama
Affiliation:
Seto Marine Biology Laboratory, Graduate school of Science, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama, 649-2211, Japan
Hiroshi Wada
Affiliation:
Seto Marine Biology Laboratory, Graduate school of Science, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama, 649-2211, Japan

Abstract

To clarify the morphological variety of larval skeletons, a detailed morphological comparison among the species of the family Echinometridae was performed. Through conspecific comparison of larval skeletons among different ages, we found five skeletal characters of the body skeleton that are stable in the four-armed pluteus and thus useful in homologous comparison among the species. The morphological variation was summarized as the difference in the number of spines and posteroventral transverse rods, and differences in the shape of the body skeleton. Significant correlations were found between some skeletal characters, such as between upper body length and bottom width of body skeleton and between lower body length and the number of spines. We found that the larval skeletons of tropical species tend to have fewer spines and rods than those of temperate species, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a reduction in skeletal elements decreases the specific gravity of larvae as an adaptation to tropical waters.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2006 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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