Experimental Analysis of Waterborne Chemical Cues as Agents Regulating Larval Settlement and Metamorphosis

远洋幼体进入底栖生物栖息地的过程由于其在海洋生物种群动态中的“瓶颈”作用而受到生物海洋学的高度关注。在幼虫生态学领域，重点是：1)幼虫向基质输送的流体动力学；2)幼虫的生理和营养状况，它提供了野外生存的信息；3)幼虫在底栖环境中决定附着地点的化学线索。齐默尔-福斯特博士发现了证据，表明一种具有重要商业价值的物种——美国牡蛎（American Oyster）的幼虫对水柱中的一种化学物质有反应，而这种化学物质被同一物种的成年牡蛎隔离。该项目将确定线索的化学成分，并对该线索对幼虫定居的作用进行现场评估，并将区分这种水媒线索的作用与幼虫对基材表面膜化学物质的吸引力，这一点已经反复记录。该项目将有助于实现该计划的目标，即逐步了解控制幼虫繁殖体进入成虫种群的机制。如果水生化学线索的作用确实很重要，这项工作可能会导致海洋生物招募生态学中现有理论的重组。

9416749 Zimmer-Faust The process of recruitment of pelagic larvae into benthic habitats has been given serious attention in biological oceanography because of its role as a "bottleneck" in the population dynamics of marine organisms. In the field of larval ecology, emphasis has been given to : 1) the hydrodynamics of larval delivery to the substratum, 2) the physiological and nutritional condition of larvae, which provides information on survivorship in the field, and 3) chemical cues for larvae that dictate attachment sites in the benthic environment. Dr. Zimmer-Faust has found evidence that larvae of a commercially important species, the American Oyster, respond to a chemical in the water column that is sequestered by adults of the same species. This project will identify the chemical composition of the cue, and perform in situ evaluation of the role of this cue on larval settlement, and will distinguish the role of this water-borne cue versus the larval attraction to chemicals from surface films on substrata, which has been repeatedly documented. This project will contribute to the program's objective of making incremental steps in the understanding of the mechanisms which control the input of larval propagules into adult populations. If the role of water-borne chemical cues is indeed significant, this work could lead to the restructuring of current theory in the recruitment ecology of marine organisms.