Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Despite Botrylloides violaceous being a globally invasive species in temperate marine habitats, little is known about it’s natural dispersal behavior. Previous work (Delton et al, 2011) suggests behavioral inferences based on a related and much more commonly studied species may not be appropriate, potentially due to a large size difference between the non-feeding larvae of these two species. Here, we consider factors that may affect dispersal potential. To study how light affects larval release, we measured timing of larval release in the field and compared larval size and time of release. Colonies were collected from floating docks in Richmond, CA and placed into flow-through acrylic boxes to trap released larvae. Larvae were counted every half hour from morning to mid-day and then brought to the lab for measurement. In contrast to other tunicate species that release closer to sunrise (4), this species on average released more offspring later in the morning. In addition, larval size showed an increasing trend later in the morning. Larger larvae are likely to have more energy reserves that may allow greater dispersal potential and thus a daily difference within colonies in dispersal potential of sibling progeny may occur. This may have implications for population patterns of relatedness, a key feature in the smaller relative that is commonly used as a kin selection model system
Authors: Damion J. Delton, Sarah Cohen
Institution: California State University, Fresno
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W182164738