Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Apr;336(3):221-230.
doi: 10.1002/jez.b.22929. Epub 2020 Jan 30.

The association of coloniality with parental care of embryos

Richard R Strathmann  1
Affiliations
Review

The association of coloniality with parental care of embryos

Richard R Strathmann. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Many colonial marine animals care for embryos by brooding them on or in their bodies. For brooding to occur, features of the animals must allow it, and brooding must be at least as advantageous as releasing gametes or zygotes. Shared features of diverse colonial brooders are suspension feeding and a body composed of small modules that are indefinitely repeated and can function semi-autonomously, such as polyps or zooids. Suspension feeding permits capture of sperm for fertilization of ova that are retained by the parent. Distribution of broods among numerous small polyps, zooids, or other small modules facilitates supply of oxygen to embryos that are retained and protected by the parent. Brooding increases survival of offspring, controls dispersal, and can provide other developmental advantages. Colonial ascidians, pterobranch hemichordates, and entoprocts brood; most bryozoans and many colonial cnidarians brood. An unanswered question is why so many colonial anthozoans do not brood. Sponges share with colonies capacities for capturing sperm and separating numerous retained embryos yet many do not brood. Hypotheses for nonbrooding by colonies and sponges necessarily must apply to particular taxa. Few have been tested.

Keywords: brood; colonial; dispersal; embryo; fertilization; larva.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Alié, A., Hiebert, L. S., Simion, P., Scelzo, M., Prünster, M. M., Lotito, S., … Tiozzo, F. (2018). Convergent acquisition of nonembryonic development in styelid ascidians. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(7), 1728-1743. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy068
    1. Baeza, J. A., & Fernández, M. (2002). Active brood care in Cancer setosus (Crustacea: Decapoda): The relationship between female behaviour, embryo oxygen consumption and the cost of brooding. Functional Ecology, 16(2), 241-251. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.2002.00616.x
    1. Baird, A. H., Guest, J. R., & Willis, B. L. (2009). Systematic and biogeographical patterns in the reproductive biology of scleractinian corals. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 40, 551-571. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.110308.120220
    1. Barazandeh, M., Davis, C. S., Neufeld, C. J., Coltman, D. W., & Palmer, A. R. (2013). Something Darwin didn't know about barnacles: Spermcast mating in a common stalked species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280, 20122919. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2919
    1. Barnes, H. (1957). Processes of restoration and synchronization in marine ecology. The spring diatom increase and the “spawning” of the common barnacle Balanus balanoides (L.). Année Biologique. Paris, 33, 68-85.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources