Population Structure, Spawning, and Growth of the Coral Reef Asteroid Linckia laevigata (Linnaeus)
Date
1977-01
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
The blue coral reef asteroid Linckia laevigata (Linnaeus) makes up
conspicuous adult-only populations on shallow reef flat habitats in the tropical
Indo-West-Pacific. Monthly year-round census showed a consistent unimodal
size-frequency distribution, with mean arm radius for the population fluctuating
from 93.8 to 99.4 mm, at Asan reef flat, Guam, Mariana Islands. This census failed
to detect a significant influx of smaller individuals within the population. Searching
efforts for this and other asteroids yielded only three pretransformation-stage
juveniles and less than 10 transforming young (with arm radius of approximately
50 mm) during a 3-year period (1972 through 1974), in spite of the omnipresence
of adults. The L. laevigata population at Asan showed a peak breeding period
during the summer months (May to August), as indicated by the spawning
activities of sampled adults after they had been injected with 1-methyladenine.
Laboratory-grown juveniles attained a mean arm radius of 13.9 mm, 14 months
after metamorphosis (15 months after spawning). The juvenile-to-adult transformation
is estimated to take place in average L. laevigata at about 2 years of age.
Individually marked adults in the field increased 1.1 mm (approximately 1 percent)
in arm radius and 0.9 g (approximately 7 percent) in underwater weight (means for
32 individuals) during 5.5 months. The growth rate and population structure
indicate that this population of L. laevigata has a low turnover rate with a low level
of recruitment.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Yamaguchi M. 1977. Population structure, spawning, and growth of the coral reef asteroid Linckia laevigata (Linnaeus). Pac Sci 31(1): 13-30.
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.