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Science 2 March 1990:
Vol. 247. no. 4946, pp. 1071 - 1074
DOI: 10.1126/science.247.4946.1071
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Articles

Direct Coupling of Marine Invertebrate Spawning with Phytoplankton Blooms

Michel Starr 1, John H. Himmelman 1, and Jean-Claude Therriault 2

1 GIROQ (Groupe Interuniversitaire de Recherche Océanographique du Québec) and Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4
2 Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Ministère des Pê et des Océ, C.P. 1000, Mont-Joli, Qué, Canada G5H 3Z4

Spawning of green sea urchins and blue mussels may be triggered by a heat-stable metabolite released by various species of phytoplankton. Mussels require a higher phytoplankton density for a maximum response than urchins, perhaps because mussels are exposed to higher concentrations of phytoplankton as a result of their filtering activity. Phytoplankton as a spawning cue appears to integrate numerous physical and biotic factors indicating favorable conditions for larval growth and survival. Evolution of similar direct coupling of the larval phase with phytoplankton blooms may be common among marine invertebrates.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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