Life History and Population Biology of the Colonial Ascidian Diplosoma Similis

Abstract

This dissertation examines two issues related to the ecological and evolutionary consequences of sexual and asexual reproduction in colonial marine invertebrates. The first two chapters explore the extent to which the planktonic larval phase limits the distribution and abundance of a colonial ascidian, Oiplosoma similis. The third chapter examines some of the fitness consequences of alterations in the pattern of asexual reproduction by colony fragmention in similis. All research was carried out on the fringing coral reef surrounding Coconut Island which is located in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.