Skip Navigation


Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on April 18, 2006
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2006 46(3):243-254; doi:10.1093/icb/icj033
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
46/3/243    most recent
icj033v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Byrne, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 2006. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Life history diversity and evolution in the Asterinidae

Maria Byrne1
Department of Anatomy and Histology, F13, University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia

Correspondence: 1E-mail: mbyrne{at}anatomy.usyd.edu.au

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 diverse modes of development are discerned in cryptic species complexes, new insights into life history evolution in the Asterinidae are being generated.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
S. M. Degnan and B. M. Degnan
The origin of the pelagobenthic metazoan life cycle: what's sex got to do with it?
Integr. Comp. Biol., December 1, 2006; 46(6): 683 - 690.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
D. Haesaerts, M. Jangoux, and P. Flammang
Adaptations to Benthic Development: Functional Morphology of the Attachment Complex of the Brachiolaria Larva in the Sea Star Asterina gibbosa.
Biol. Bull., October 1, 2006; 211(2): 172 - 182.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.