Seasonal Growth of the Purple Sea Urchin Heliocidaris crassispina Revealed by Sequential Fluorochrome Tagging.

ABSTRACT: Many studies have applied fluorochrome tagging to examine the growth of animals with calcified skeletons, but most of them have used only a single tag to determine the annual growth rate. We used sequential fluorochrome tagging to study the seasonal growth of the purple sea urchin Heliocidaris crassispina in Hong Kong waters from February 2012 to February 2013. Sea urchins ranging from 18.9 to 42.7 mm in test diameter had a yearly growth from 0.6 to 13.0 mm. During that year, the sea urchins grew from 0.6 to 5.0 mm in test diameter during the first six months, and from 0.4 to 10.2 mm in test diameter in the second six months. The seasonal differences in growth were confirmed using the von Bertalanffy model. The growth was clear for young sea urchins, especially for individuals less

SUBMITTER: Suarez JDU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8662310 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature