Biochemical composition of body compartments during the annual reproductive cycle of the fissiparous starfish Allostichaster capensis in Golfo Nuevo, Northern Patagonia, Argentina.

RUBILAR, TAMARA; DÍAZ DE VIVAR, MARÍA ENRIQUETA; PASTOR DE WARD, CATALINA TERESA

REVISTA DE BIOLOGíA TROPICAL

Universidad de Costa Rica

Lugar: San José; Año: 2008 vol. 56 p. 351 - 360

0034-7744

seasonal changes in biochemical composition of body compartments are presented for a population of the fissiparous starfish Allostichaster capensis in Bahia Kaiser, Golfo Nuevo, Chubut, Argentina, from June 2000 to May 2002. In Bahia Kaiser, the population displays an annual cycles in both sexual and asexual reproduction. The population undergoes fission during the summer, after spawning, and regeneration of arms occurs during the rest of the year. During the annual cycle, an inverse relationship between gonad and pyloric caeca indices suggests nutrient transfer. Biochemical analysis revealed that only lipids are translocated from pyloric caeca to gonads at the beginning of gametogenesis.