Energetics and development modes of Asteroidea (Echinodermata) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean including Burdwood Bank/MPA Namuncurá

FRAYSSE, C.P.; PÉREZ, A.F.; CALCAGNO, J.A.; BOY, C.C.

POLAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2020 vol. 43 p. 175 - 186

0722-4060

Reproduction is a highly expensive process that during gonadal development requiresan important supply of nutrients. The allocation of energy can vary throughout thereproductive cycle, between sexes and development modes. During research cruiseaboard the RV Puerto Deseado in April 2016, we collected fifteen species of sea starsfrom the southernmost region of Argentina. The main purposes of the present studywas threefold: first, to revise and report novel information on the reproductivestrategies and energetic density (ED) of body components from the asteroids of thesouthwestern Atlantic Ocean including Burdwood Bank/ MPA Namuncurá; second, tocompare the ED of these body components across species with contrastingreproductive strategies; third, to provide a tool to estimate the ED from dry mass oforgans of the sea star species examined. Ovaries of Diplopteraster verrucosus (abrooder with a nidamental chamber) revealed a significantly greater ED than did thetestes (29.81±1.38 and 17.76±1.59, respectively). In Glabraster antarctica (abroadcaster with yolky eggs and facultative planktotrophic larvae), the gonads had EDsof 25.78±3.16 and 19.21±0.52 (females and males, respectively). While in Peribolasterfolliculatus (a broadcaster with eggs with low yolk content and inferred planktotrophiclarvae) there was no significant difference in the ED values between sexes (females:22.79±1.10 and males: 20.46±1.05). For the pyloric caeca, ED values did not revealany difference between sexes, although in P. folliculatus, the ED was significantlyhigher than that for D. verrucosus and G. antarctica (25.90±1.00, 23.03±0.34 and22.66±0.65, respectively). The body wall had higher ED values in D. verrucosus and P.folliculatus than that for all the sea star species analyzed (46.48±1.63, 51.17±1.34,respectively). Higher ED values in the ovaries could be related to the nutrition ofoffspring, while differences found in the body wall may reflect the skeletal structure ofthis body component. This research provides basic information for understanding thedifferences on energetic allocation when contrasting development modes areconsidered.