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Main Authors: Jobson, Sara, Hamel, Jean-François, Mercier, Annie
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Biology 2025
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41300264/
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author Jobson, Sara
Hamel, Jean-François
Mercier, Annie
author_facet Jobson, Sara
Hamel, Jean-François
Mercier, Annie
Jobson, Sara
Hamel, Jean-François
Mercier, Annie
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of the Apodid Sea Cucumber . Jobson, Sara Hamel, Jean-François Mercier, Annie The apodid sea cucumber has been a documented member of endobenthic marine communities in northern waters for over a century and the rare studies available on its biology identify it as distinctive species and promising model for research. The present study sought to elucidate fundamental aspects of its life history that remained unresolved. Adults were determined to be protandric, with individuals primarily demonstrating solely male or female gametes from winter (close to spawning) to the spring and summer months before undergoing a sex change in the fall months. Additionally, gametes of both sexes reached maturity synchronously in late winter (February to March). In mesocosms, free spawning occurred in February, as the temperature reached ~2.0 °C. The negatively buoyant eggs were encased in a sticky casing and fell to the sediment where they adhered to each other to form a mat on the muddy substratum. The realized fecundity was ~15,000 offspring. Development was lecithotrophic, demersal, and abbreviated, characterized by the absence of a pelagic larval stage. Embryos reached the gastrula stage after about 7 days post fertilization; the calcareous ring appeared at 6 weeks, and juveniles hatched from the sticky casing at 7 weeks, immediately becoming endobenthic. The size of late embryos and juveniles remained similar (~350 μm) until they began actively feeding at about 10 weeks of age. Feeding juveniles more than doubled in size in the first week (740 μm), reached 3.5 mm by year one, and measured up to 11 mm by year two. This growth rate suggests that it may take this species up to 7 years to reach adult size at ~24 mm contracted length.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_41300264
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2025
publisher Biology
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of the Apodid Sea Cucumber .
Jobson, Sara
Hamel, Jean-François
Mercier, Annie
Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of the Apodid Sea Cucumber . Jobson, Sara Hamel, Jean-François Mercier, Annie The apodid sea cucumber has been a documented member of endobenthic marine communities in northern waters for over a century and the rare studies available on its biology identify it as distinctive species and promising model for research. The present study sought to elucidate fundamental aspects of its life history that remained unresolved. Adults were determined to be protandric, with individuals primarily demonstrating solely male or female gametes from winter (close to spawning) to the spring and summer months before undergoing a sex change in the fall months. Additionally, gametes of both sexes reached maturity synchronously in late winter (February to March). In mesocosms, free spawning occurred in February, as the temperature reached ~2.0 °C. The negatively buoyant eggs were encased in a sticky casing and fell to the sediment where they adhered to each other to form a mat on the muddy substratum. The realized fecundity was ~15,000 offspring. Development was lecithotrophic, demersal, and abbreviated, characterized by the absence of a pelagic larval stage. Embryos reached the gastrula stage after about 7 days post fertilization; the calcareous ring appeared at 6 weeks, and juveniles hatched from the sticky casing at 7 weeks, immediately becoming endobenthic. The size of late embryos and juveniles remained similar (~350 μm) until they began actively feeding at about 10 weeks of age. Feeding juveniles more than doubled in size in the first week (740 μm), reached 3.5 mm by year one, and measured up to 11 mm by year two. This growth rate suggests that it may take this species up to 7 years to reach adult size at ~24 mm contracted length.
title Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of the Apodid Sea Cucumber .
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41300264/