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Biol. Bull. 215: 191-199. (October 2008)
© 2008 Marine Biological Laboratory

Egg Energetics, Fertilization Kinetics, and Population Structure in Echinoids With Facultatively Feeding Larvae

Kirk S. Zigler1,2,3,*, H. A. Lessios3 and Rudolf A. Raff4,5

1 Department of Biology, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee 37383
2 Friday Harbor Laboratories, Friday Harbor, Washington 98250
3 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Panama
4 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
5 School of Biological Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kzigler{at}sewanee.edu


   Abstract
TOP
 Abstract
Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Literature Cited
 
Larvae of marine invertebrates either arise from small eggs and feed during their development or arise from large eggs that proceed to metamorphosis sustained only from maternal provisioning. Only a few species are known to posses facultatively feeding larvae. Of about 250 echinoid species with known mode of development, only two, Brisaster latifrons and Clypeaster rosaceus, are known to develop through facultatively planktotrophic larvae. To obtain more information on this form of development and its consequences, we determined egg size and egg energetic and protein content of these two species. We found that eggs of B. latifrons resemble those of species with nonfeeding larvae in these characteristics more than those of C. rosaceus. We also compared DNA sequences of the cytochrome oxidase (COI) gene from the Caribbean C. rosaceus to those of the sympatric planktotrophic developer C. subdepressus and also to those of the eastern Pacific species C. europacificus to estimate the degree of divergence between species with different developmental modes. Comparison of COI sequences of C. rosaceus from Panama and Florida revealed that there is no geographic differentiation in this species. Cross-fertilization experiments between C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus indicated that bidirectional gametic incompatibility has evolved between the two species.


   Introduction
TOP
 Abstract
 Introduction
Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Literature Cited
 
The diversity of life is evident in the astonishingly varied forms of marine invertebrates and their larvae (Raff, 2008). Marine invertebrate larvae may differ in their embryology, morphology, and ecology. Individual species generally have larvae that fit into one of two modes: feeding larvae arise from small eggs that give rise to planktotrophic larvae, whereas nonfeeding larvae arise from larger eggs that proceed directly to metamorphosis. Both modes of development are observed in a wide range of taxa, indicating multiple evolutionary transitions between feeding and nonfeeding development.

Facultatively feeding larvae represent a third mode of development. They arise from eggs that contain enough energy to support them through metamorphosis in the absence of food, but they also retain the ability to feed. As a mode of larval development, facultative feeding is quite rare; confirmed cases are limited to eight species in three phyla (Allen and Pernet, 2007). Of more than 250 echinoid (sea urchin, heart urchin, and sand dollar) species with known mode of development, two-thirds have obligately feeding larvae and the other third have nonfeeding larvae. Only two species, Brisaster latifrons and Clypeaster rosaceus, develop from facultatively feeding larvae (Emlet, 1986, 1990; Hart, 1996). These two species belong to different echinoid orders (Spatangoida and Clypeasteroida, respectively), and so represent two evolutionarily distant examples of facultatively planktotrophic larvae. The echinoid examples of this rare developmental mode provide an opportunity to examine how developmental features change with mode of development, and to ask if this developmental mode has been reached by similar changes in these distinct lineages.

Because all echinoids with feeding larvae develop via the distinctive pluteus larva, and because of extensive similarities between the sea urchin pluteus and the feeding larvae of other echinoderms, a feeding pluteus is inferred to be the ancestral form of development in echinoids (Strathmann, 1978). Nonfeeding echinoid larvae have evolved from feeding larvae at least 14 times (Emlet, 1990). Although the re-evolution of feeding larvae from nonfeeding larvae may be possible in some groups (Marshall et al., 1994; Rouse, 2000), the switch from feeding to nonfeeding larval development appears to be irreversible in echinoids. Nonfeeding echinoid larvae lose the complex ciliary band required for feeding, fail to form a complete gut, and acquire novel features related to direct development (Strathmann, 1978; Raff, 1996); re-evolving the ancestral features is highly unlikely.

Echinoids with facultatively feeding larvae provide an opportunity to study life-history and developmental intermediates between feeding and nonfeeding larvae. Emlet (1986) showed that C. rosaceus has facultatively feeding larvae and compared their development with that of the obligately feeding larvae of C. subdepressus. Reitzel and Miner (2007) showed that though C. rosaceus larvae can feed, they do not assimilate much food as larvae. Heyland et al. (2006) found that time to metamorphosis in C. rosaceus is influenced by thyroxine levels. Allen et al. (2006) determined that time to metamorphosis is largely insensitive to experimental manipulation of egg size or food ration. Smith et al. (2007) discovered that C. rosaceus forms a large left coelom (a precursor to the adult rudiment) earlier in development than C. subdepressus does, an embryological modification that likely contributes to the rapid time to metamorphosis in C. rosaceus. Hart (1996) described the development of B. latifrons.

In the present paper we extend the previous work of others in several ways. First, we examine egg characteristics of B. latifrons, C. rosaceus, and C. subdepressus, a sympatric congener of C. rosaceus that develops via an obligately feeding larva. We use mitochondrial DNA sequences to estimate how long ago C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus diverged. We compare the fertilization dynamics of these two species to each other and to other echinoids. Last, we use mitochondrial DNA sequences to determine whether the short larval duration of C. rosaceus has resulted in population subdivision across the Caribbean. We then discuss insights gained from the study of B. latifrons and C. rosaceus on the patterns of change in larval features involved in the evolution of developmental mode.


   Materials and Methods
TOP
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
Results
 Discussion
 Literature Cited
 
Samples
Clypeaster rosaceus (Linnaeus) and C. subdepressus (Gray) were collected in October and November 2004 and in June 2005 at 2–5-m depth at Bocas del Toro, Panama, and transferred to the laboratory, where they were maintained in sea tables for as long as one week. Animals were spawned by intracoelomic injection of 0.5 mol l–1 KCl, supplemented in C. rosaceus by vigorous shaking. B. Miner (Western Washington University) kindly provided tissue samples from C. rosaceus individuals from Long Key Channel, Florida. Brisaster latifrons (Agassiz) was dredged at 200-m depth off Meadow Point in Puget Sound, Washington, in March 2004, transferred to sea tables at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, and induced to spawn by intracoelomic injection of 0.5 mol l–1 KCl.

Egg size and egg energy content
After spawning, eggs were washed several times in filtered seawater (FSW). An aliquot of eggs was transferred to a slide and covered with a coverslip supported by modeling clay at the corners to prevent compression of the eggs. Mean egg sizes were determined for eight C. rosaceus and four C. subdepressus females from a sample of 20 eggs per female. C. rosaceus and B. latifrons eggs were frequently not completely spherical, so egg diameters were measured for both the long and short axes. Egg volume was then calculated as that of an oblate spheroid. For comparison to earlier studies, the egg diameter of a sphere with volume equal to that of the spheroid was also calculated. C. subdepressus eggs were generally spherical, so egg diameter was measured for only one axis.

To calculate energy content per egg, we used the dichromate oxidation method as described by Miner et al. (2002) with the following modifications: eggs were briefly rinsed in distilled H2O, and 3–5 replicates of a known number of eggs (20/replicate for C. rosaceus, 25/replicate for B. latifrons, and 100/replicate for C. subdepressus) per female were then frozen in a minimal volume of dH2O. Energy per egg was then measured as described, with glucose as a standard.

Egg protein concentrations were determined using the Bradford reagent (Sigma B-6916) according to the manufacturer's directions, with the following modifications: 3–5 replicates of a known number of eggs per female (6 or 10 for C. rosaceus, 10 for B. latifrons, and 25 for C. subdepressus) were frozen in 100 µl of filtered seawater. Protein concentrations per egg were calculated using a standard absorption curve generated with bovine serum albumin (Sigma A-2153).

Fertilization experiments
Thirty experimental crosses within and between C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus were performed in October 2004. Individual animals were used in one or two crosses on a single day, and were crossed with both heterospecific and conspecific animals at a range of sperm concentrations. Eggs were collected by inverting females over beakers of 0.45 µm FSW and subsequently washed several times in FSW. They were then resuspended at a concentration of approximately 250 eggs/ml. Three milliliters of this egg suspension was placed in each of 12 wells of a 24-well cell culture plate.

Sperm were collected "dry" from the gonopores of males. A series of five 5-fold sperm dilutions in FSW was prepared, beginning with a 1:250 dilution of dry sperm. A 50-µl sample of each sperm dilution was added to the appropriate conspecific and heterospecific egg suspensions, and the culture plate was briefly swirled to mix the sperm and eggs. After 10 min, the volume in each well was raised to 12 ml with FSW. The sperm-egg mixes were then allowed to sit at room temperature for at least 2 h, by which time cleavage had begun. One hundred eggs per well were then examined to determine if they had cleaved. Obviously immature oocytes (evidenced by a large germinal vesicle) were ignored.

The remnant of the first sperm dilution was preserved by the addition of paraformaldehyde. Fixed sperm samples were briefly mixed using a vortex mixer, and a 10-µl aliquot was transferred onto a hemacytometer. The sperm concentration was measured after the samples had settled for 15 min.

Fertilization kinetics calculations
To quantify levels of gametic compatibility within and between C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus, we calculated the linear regression of logit-transformed fertilization percentages against the log sperm concentration (McCartney and Lessios, 2002). From these regressions we then calculated F50 (the number of sperm per microliter required to fertilize 50% of the eggs) and F90 (the number of sperm per microliter required to fertilize 90% of the eggs) values for each cross. Additionally, to arrive at a single F50 and F90 value for each of the four possible crosses (female x male: C. rosaceus x C. rosaceus, C. rosaceus x C. subdepressus, C. subdepressus x C. rosaceus, and C. subdepressus x C. subdepressus), we calculated a single linear regression between sperm concentration and percent fertilization for all values tested for a particular class of crosses.

Mitochondrial DNA sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, and population structure
A 640-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was amplified and sequenced using the primers COIa (5'-AGTATAAGCGTCTGGGTAGTC-3') and COIf (5'-CCTGCAGGAGGAGGAGAYCC-3') as described in Lessios et al. (1999) from 12 individuals of C. rosaceus (8 from Panama and 4 from Florida) and 9 of C. subdepressus (all from Panama). The same gene fragment was sequenced from 8 C. europacificus individuals collected on the Pacific coast of Panama and from one Mellita longifissa (Clypeasteroida:Mellitidae) for use as an outgroup. The sequences have been deposited in Genbank (accession numbers EU669832–EU669861).

After combining identical sequences and excluding the outgroup, we used Modeltest (ver. 3.7; Posada and Crandall, 1998) to identify the best model of nucleotide substitution for the data (GTR + {Gamma} as selected by the Akaike Information Criterion). We then used these parameters to construct a phylogenetic tree using the neighbor-joining distance method in PAUP* (ver. 4.0b10; Swofford, 2003). We bootstrapped the data (1000 replicates) using these parameters and neighbor-joining. We calculated F statistics in Arlequin (ver 2.0; Schneider et al., 2000) and compared haplotypes to determine the degree of divergence between Florida and Panama populations of C. rosaceus.


   Results
TOP
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
Discussion
 Literature Cited
 
Egg size and energy content
The mean egg diameter of Clypeaster rosaceus was 283.4 µm (Table 1). Our estimate of mean egg energy in C. rosaceus was 0.076 J/egg (Table 1). C. rosaceus eggs contained an average of 0.79 µg of protein. Egg diameter in C. subdepressus was 155.5 µm. Egg energy in this species was 0.0051 J/egg and protein content was 0.12 µg/egg (Table 1). Egg diameter of B. latifrons was 357.4 µm. B. latifrons egg energy was 0.251 J/egg, and protein content 2.63 µg/egg (Table 1).


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  		Table 1 Egg size, egg energy content, and egg protein content for Clypeaster rosaceus, C. subdepressus, and Brisaster latifrons

 
Eggs of echinoderms with feeding larvae are generally less energetically dense (in J/µl of egg volume) than those of echinoderms with nonfeeding larvae, regardless of the assay method used (Pernet and Jaeckle, 2004). After excluding Perknaster fuscus and Notasterias armata from the dataset in McEdward and Morgan (2001) (as in Pernet and Jaeckle, 2004), the mean egg energetic density for the two feeding types of echinoderms was 5.9 J/µl for 21 species with feeding larvae and 12.1 J/µl for 23 species with nonfeeding larvae. Our estimates of egg energetic density are 2.6 J/µl for C. subdepressus, 6.4 J/µl for C. rosaceus, and 10.5 J/µl for B. latifrons (Fig. 1).


Figure 1
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  		Figure 1. Egg energetic density (in J/µl egg volume) for 26 species of echinoderms, separated by their mode of development. The values for Clypeaster subdepressus (1), C. rosaceus (2), and Brisaster latifrons (3) were determined in this study. All other egg energy and volume values are from McEdward and Morgan (2001).

 
Fertilization kinetics
For conspecific crosses, the numbers of conspecific sperm per microliter required to fertilize 50% of C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus eggs (F50 values) were 101 and 50, respectively (Table 2). C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus are gametically incompatible in both directions, as indicated by the ratio of heterospecific to conspecific F50 values. C. rosaceus eggs are incompatible with C. subdepressus sperm (Fig. 2); it takes 15 times more C. subdepressus sperm to fertilize 50% of C. rosaceus eggs (Table 2). C. subdepressus eggs are extremely incompatible with C. rosaceus sperm (Fig. 2); the F50 ratio for this cross is 3.6 x 104 (Table 2). In C. rosaceus x C. rosaceus crosses at high sperm concentrations we occasionally observed eggs with fertilization envelopes that were not cleaving after 2 h, suggesting that polyspermy may have been a problem with C. rosaceus at high sperm concentrations, and may have decreased our estimates of fertilization success at the highest sperm concentrations.


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  		Table 2 Summary of fertilization results for Clypeaster rosaceus and C. subdepressus

 

Figure 2
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  		Figure 2. Results of fertilization experiments involving Clypeaster rosaceus and C. subdepressus. Percent fertilization of C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus eggs by C. rosaceus sperm (left panel). Percent fertilization of C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus eggs by C. subdepressus sperm (right panel).

 
Phylogenetic relationships, genetic divergence, and population structure
C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus are not closely related (Fig. 3). Mean COI divergence between C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus (based on the GTR + {Gamma} model) was 21.9%, which indicates a distant relationship between the two species by the standard of genetic distances among species in other echinoid genera (Lessios et al., 2001, 2003; Zigler and Lessios, 2004). C. subdepressus is more closely related to the Eastern Pacific C. europacificus (8.7% divergence). Florida and Panama populations of C. rosaceus do not appear to be genetically distinct, as two of four haplotypes present in Florida are shared with Panama, and there is little overall diversity among the eight observed C. rosaceus haplotypes (mean difference 0.29% between haplotypes). These observations are consistent with the absence of significant population structure in C. rosaceus between the two sides of the Caribbean (FST = 0.014, P = 0.39).


Figure 3
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  		Figure 3. Neighbor-joining tree based on GTR + {Gamma} distances between cytochrome oxidase sequences from three species of Clypeaster. Bootstrap values less than 70% are not shown. The tree is rooted with a sequence from Mellita longifissa.

 

   Discussion
TOP
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
Literature Cited
 
Gamete characteristics
Our measurements of egg size for Clypeaster rosaceus, C. subdepressus, and Brisaster latifrons and for protein content in B. latifrons are consistent with previously reported values (Table 1). Our estimate of egg energy for C. rosaceus falls between four previous estimates: we studied Panamanian individuals and estimated egg energy at 0.076 J/egg, Emlet (1986) estimated that Panamanian C. rosaceus contain 0.047 J/egg (cited in Miner et al., 2002), whereas Miner et al. (2002) and Heyland et al. (2006) estimated that Floridian C. rosaceus contain 0.106 J/egg and 0.065 J/egg, respectively. The value from Heyland et al. (2006) was converted from reported values of organic C using the conversion 1 µg C = 3.9 x 10–2 J (after McEdward and Carson, 1987). The reported egg diameters are similar: 274 µm (Miner et al., 2002), 280 µm (Emlet, 1986), 283 µm (this study), and 294 µm (Heyland et al., 2006). Larger eggs do not contain more energy per egg, considering that the values reported by Miner et al. (2002) are the smallest for egg diameter but the highest for egg energetic content. There is no clear geographic effect in egg energy when comparing opposite sides of the Caribbean, nor would we expect one given the apparent gene flow between these two sites. Seasonal or lunar effects are also unlikely to explain the reported differences, as all four studies worked with C. rosaceus during the same time of the year (September to early November), and Lessios (1991) showed that C. rosaceus in Panama does not spawn on a lunar cycle. Methodological differences alone do not account for the different results, as both Heyland et al. (2006) and this study used the dichromate oxidation methods of Miner et al. (2002). The dichromate oxidation method has been criticized for failing to completely oxidize proteins, which leads to an underestimation of egg energy, particularly in species with small eggs (Pernet and Jaeckle, 2004). This effect is relatively less important when studying species with larger, lipid-rich eggs, where proteins make up a smaller proportion of total egg mass (Jaeckle, 1995), but future studies of egg energy in Clypeaster should consider biochemical component analysis, as suggested by Pernet and Jaeckle (2004).

A trend toward an increase in egg energetic density with increasing egg diameter is evident when comparing C. subdepressus, C. rosaceus, and B. latifrons (Fig. 1). Due to these differences in energetic density, a C. rosaceus egg, with about 6 times greater volume than a C. subdepressus egg, contains about 15 times more energy. Similarly, a B. latifrons egg has twice the volume of a C. rosaceus egg, but contains more than 3 times as much energy. These differences are likely due to the larger eggs containing a higher proportion of energetically dense lipids, and correlates with the observation that although C. subdepressus and C. rosaceus eggs are negatively buoyant in seawater, B. latifrons eggs float.

Fertilization kinetics of Clypeaster rosaceus and Clypeaster subdepressus
Despite their larger size, eggs of C. rosaceus are not easier to fertilize than those of C. subdepressus, and the conspecific F50 values of both species are well within the range typical for echinoderms with obligately feeding larvae (Harper and Hart, 2005). Adult C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus live in similar habitats: C. subdepressus is commonly found in sand, whereas C. rosaceus is typically found in turtle grass beds adjacent to sand fields. As a result, C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus live side by side in the shallow waters of the Caribbean. Lessios (1984, 1991) showed that both species are ripe much of the year in Panama, with peak levels of readiness to spawn from July to October. This combination of adult habitat preferences and spawning periods raised the possibility that these species, despite their differences in larval development, would have had the potential to cross-fertilize in nature in the absence of gametic incompatibility.

Our results indicate that C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus are gametically incompatible, with C. subdepressus eggs particularly resistant to fertilization by C. rosaceus sperm. Judging from the large genetic divergence between these species, they have had ample time to evolve bidirectional gametic incompatibility (Zigler et al., 2005; Lessios, 2007). C. rosaceus eggs are more vulnerable to fertilization by C. subdepressus sperm, but with an F50 ratio of 15 between heterospecific and conspecific fertilizations, it is unlikely that many C. rosaceus eggs are fertilized by C. subdepressus sperm in nature. The only other comparison of gamete compatibility between congeneric echinoids with different modes of development was conducted in Heliocidaris. In this genus, the larger eggs of H. erythrogramma, a species with nonfeeding larvae, are better protected from fertilization by H. tuberculata, a species with small eggs and obligately feeding larvae, than are eggs in the reciprocal cross (Zigler et al., 2003). In Clypeaster, the smaller eggs of C. subdepressus are better protected from fertilization by C. rosaceus. On the basis of these two comparisons, there does not seem to be a consistent pattern of larger eggs being better protected from cross-fertilization by sympatric congeners.

Divergence time between Clypeaster rosaceus and Clypeaster subdepressus
C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus are not sister species, as C. europacificus and C. subdepressus are more closely related to each other (Fig. 3). As C. subdepressus is found only in the Caribbean and C. europacificus is found only in the Eastern Pacific, it is reasonable to assume that they diverged at or before the final closure of the Isthmus of Panama, 3 million years ago (mya) (Coates and Obando, 1996). Consistent with this idea, the genetic divergence between C. europacificus and C. subdepressus is similar to that observed for other presumed trans-Isthmian (geminate) species pairs of sea urchins (Lessios et al., 2001). With COI divergence between C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus 2.5 times greater than that between C. subdepressus and C. europacificus, we can roughly estimate that C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus diverged at least 7–8 mya, and potentially longer, if C. subdepressus and C. europacificus diverged at some point before 3 mya, or if saturation at the third codon position of the COI gene has led us to underestimate the actual genetic divergence between C. subdepressus and C. rosaceus.

Given that C. rosaceus develops via a pluteus and all of its congeners with a known mode of development develop from smaller eggs into obligately feeding plutei (Mortensen, 1937; Emlet, 1986; Vernon et al., 1993; Amemiya and Arakawa, 1996), it is likely that this species evolved from ancestors with smaller eggs and an obligately feeding pluteus. The mode of development of C. europacificus is not known, but if we assume that the common ancestor of the three species of Clypeaster we studied developed via an obligately feeding larva, the divergence time estimate of C. rosaceus and C. subdepressus places a maximum limit on how long it has been since C. rosaceus evolved a facultative feeding larva.

Population genetic structure in Clypeaster rosaceus
One might expect that the short minimum time to metamorphosis in C. rosaceus would lead to genetic divergence across the range of the species, as has been observed in other echinoderms with short larval lives (reviewed in Hart, 2002). This, however, is not the case, as we found no evidence of divergence between Panama and Florida. Instead, geographic variation of C. rosaceus resembles that of obligately planktotrophic species, which lack population structure across the Caribbean (Lessios et al., 1999, 2001, 2003; Zigler and Lessios, 2004). Such a pattern indicates that even though larvae of C. rosaceus are capable of rapid metamorphosis, there has been sufficient trans-Caribbean gene flow to prevent divergence from evolving.

Insights from the study of species with facultatively feeding larvae
C. rosaceus and B. latifrons are extraordinary representatives of a rare mode of development. What has the study of these species revealed about echinoid development in general and about echinoid species with facultatively feeding larvae in particular? Also, how do we interpret the developmental and life-history features of these species relative to echinoid species with feeding or nonfeeding larvae?

At one extreme of planktotrophic echinoid larvae (in terms of egg size), C. rosaceus and B. latifrons embryos indicate how flexible the pluteus form can be. The most commonly studied echinoid species have egg diameters of {approx}100 µm. C. rosaceus and B. latifrons eggs, with volumes 20 and 45 times greater, respectively, than an egg with a diameter of 100 µm, still develop via the typical pluteus form (Emlet, 1986; Hart, 1996). Although similar in form to those of species with smaller eggs, C. rosaceus plutei differ in several ways that are intermediate between feeding and nonfeeding larvae. Plutei of obligately planktotrophic species typically take weeks to reach metamorphosis, but C. rosaceus plutei can metamorphose in as few as 5 days (Emlet, 1986). This rapid time to metamorphosis is likely related both to a smaller allocation of embryonic resources toward feeding structures (in terms of total pluteus length and postoral arm length [Emlet, 1986]), and to a larger allocation of resources to early formation of the adult rudiment (via the early formation of a large left coelom [Smith et al., 2007]) when compared to C. subdepressus. In contrast, time to metamorphosis in B. latifrons is not accelerated relative to co-occurring echinoids with obligately feeding larvae (Hart, 1996).

Comparing C. rosaceus and B. latifrons makes it clear that not all eggs that develop into facultatively feeding larvae are built in the same fashion. C. rosaceus eggs are not very different from the eggs of obligate planktotrophs. By our measurements, C. rosaceus egg energetic density, though twice that of C. subdepressus, falls in the middle of the range of values reported for echinoids with feeding larvae. Like the eggs of other echinoids with feeding larvae, C. rosaceus eggs are negatively buoyant. In contrast, B. latifrons eggs are more similar to those of echinoids with nonfeeding larvae, in terms of egg size, energetic density, and buoyancy.

In summary, the eggs, embryos, and life histories of C. rosaceus and B. latifrons exhibit distinct mixtures of features from echinoids with feeding and nonfeeding larvae. C. rosaceus resembles echinoid species with obligately feeding larvae in its egg energetic density, egg buoyancy, fertilization kinetics, and population structure. At the same time, C. rosaceus resembles echinoid species with nonfeeding larvae in its time to metamorphosis, reduced allocation to larval feeding structures, and early formation of a left coelom. We know less about B. latifrons, but what we do know indicates that the situation in this species is reversed relative to that of C. rosaceus: B. latifrons eggs are similar to those of species with nonfeeding larvae in energetic density and buoyancy, but its time to metamorphosis is similar to that of echinoids with obligately feeding larvae. There are, however, some similarities between the larvae of the two species, as neither is particularly effective at gathering energy in the plankton: C. rosaceus does not assimilate much food as a larva (Reitzel and Miner, 2007), and B. latifrons has reduced capture rates relative to other planktotrophic echinoids (Hart, 1996). Rather than being similarly intermediate for developmental and life-history features that differ between echinoid species with feeding and nonfeeding development, C. rosaceus and B. latifrons exhibit distinct combinations of features of both modes of development, indicating different evolutionary paths to facultative feeding.


   Acknowledgments
 
We thank J. Allen, R. Collin, D. Duggins, M. Hart, A. Heyland, M. Jacobs, B. Miner, B. Pernet, and R. Strathmann for advice. C. Eaton (and the R/V Kittiwake), B. Pernet, and A. Primus helped collect Brisaster latifrons. S. Barnes, D. Carlon, and T. McGovern helped collect Clypeaster rosaceus and C. subdepressus. A. and L. Calderon provided assistance in the laboratory. Comments from two anonymous reviewers and R. A. Cameron significantly improved the manuscript. The project was supported by fellowships from the Friday Harbor Laboratories, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Science Foundation (grant #0202773).


   Footnotes
 
Received 29 September 2007; accepted 28 April 2008.


   Literature Cited
TOP
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Literature Cited
 

    Allen, J. D., and B. Pernet. 2007. Intermediate modes of larval development: bridging the gap between planktotrophy and lecithotrophy. Evol. Dev. 9: 643–653.[Web of Science][Medline]
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    Amemiya, S., and E. Arakawa. 1996. Variation of cleavage pattern permitting normal development in a sand dollar, Peronella japonica: comparison to other sand dollars. Dev. Genes Evol. 206: 125–135.[Web of Science]
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