Limits on Size and Form of Benthic Clutches

这项拟议的研究是一项正在进行的研究计划的一部分，该计划旨在研究限制海洋生物生命史的因素。在海洋底栖动物中，可选择的繁殖模式是浮游生物分散胚胎和受保护的底栖胚胎。因此，底栖动物胚胎发育的存在或缺失通常会对散布、招募和交配产生影响，进而对底栖动物种群的分布、丰度和遗传产生影响。底栖动物的卵群和卵群在形态上差别很大；变化的模式可能传达有关环境要求的重要信息，但这种变化的原因和后果尚未确定。孵卵和其他形式的底栖生物发育保护可能受到胚胎需要从周围的水中转移氧气或将可扩散物质从胚胎移到水中的限制。本研究将测试：(1)发育对氧气供应的依赖；(2)通过扩散或间隙流动进行交换的模型。底栖动物卵群发育受到限制的迹象和这些限制的后果将通过比较和实验方法加以审查，这些方法使用了几个主要底栖海洋动物群体的代表。

The proposed study is part of an ongoing research program on factors that restrict life histories of marine organisms. Among benthic marine animals, alternative modes of reproduction are planktonic dispersed embryos versus protected benthic embryos. Therefore, the presence or absence of benthic embryonic development commonly has consequences for dispersal, recruitment, and mating, with further consequences for the distribution, abundance, and genetics of animals in benthic populations. Benthic egg masses and brood masses vary greatly in form; patterns of variation may convey important information about environmental requirements, but the causes and consequences of this variation are not yet established. Brooding and other forms of protection for benthic development may be limited by embryonic requirements for transfer of oxygen from the surrounding water or the removal from the embryo of diffusible substances to the water. This research will test: (1) dependence of development on supply of oxygen and (2) models of exchange by diffusion or by interstitial flow. Indications of restrictions on development in benthic egg masses and the consequences of these constraints will be examined by comparative and experimental approaches that use representatives of several major groups of benthic marine animals.