Intertidal rocky shores in south-eastern Australia are dominated by a diverse assemblage of grazing invertebrates that feed on micro-algal biofilms. This resource is spatially variable and frequently over-grazed, causing strong interand intra-specific competition among grazers. Most studies on intertidal grazing are about gastropod molluscs. We observed, however, damaged patches in intertidal b...

cosphingolipids from starfish, we have isolated cerebrosides, ceramide-lactosides, sulfatides, and gangliosides having some biological activities. As a continuation of our previous studies, we recently carried out the isolation and structure elucidation of a disialo-ganglioside molecular species, LLG-3, i.e., 8-O-Me-NeuAca2→11NeuGca2→3Galb1→ 4Glcb1→1ceramides, from the starfish Linckia laevigat...

The neuritogenic and neuroprotective activities of six starfish polar steroids, asterosaponin Р₁, (25S)-5α-cholestane-3β,4β,6α,7α,8,15α,16β,26-octaol, and (25S)-5α-cholestane-3β,6α,7α,8,15α,16β,26-heptaol (1-3) from the starfish Patiria pectinifera and distolasterosides D₁-D₃ (4-6) from the starfish Distolasterias nipon were analyzed using the mouse neuroblastoma (NB) C-1300 cell line and an or...

Echinoderms take many forms of symmetry. Pentameral symmetry is the major form and the other forms are derived from it. However, the ancestors of echinoderms, which originated from Cambrian period, were believed to be bilaterians. Echinoderm larvae are bilateral during their early development. During embryonic development of starfish and sea urchins, the position and the developmental sequence ...

1 1 Effects of the Erika oil spill on the common starfish Asterias rubens, evaluated by field and laboratory studies. Abstract Impacts of the " Erika " oil spill on the common starfish Asterias rubens were investigated in the field, and using laboratory experiments based on contamination via food at different stages of the starfish reproductive cycle. Two months after the shipwreck, levels of h...

Evolutionary change in morphological features must depend on architectural reorganization of developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs), just as true conservation of morphological features must imply retention of ancestral developmental GRN features. Key elements of the provisional GRN for embryonic endomesoderm development in the sea urchin are here compared with those operating in embryos ...

The crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, is a predator of corals that is a major management issue on coral reefs [1]. It occurs throughout the Indo–Pacific and shows boom–bust population dynamics with low background densities and intermittent outbreaks. Three waves of population outbreaks have affected Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) since the 1960s. The waves of outbreaks appear ...

Starfish have small compound eyes at the ends of their arms. Until recently no behavioural function had been found for them, but now it appears that starfish are able to use them to navigate to the edges of reefs from which they sometimes stray.

Neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants have been identified in chordates and protostomian invertebrates but little is known about the molecular identity of neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants in deuterostomian invertebrates (e.g. echinoderms) that are 'evolutionary intermediates' of chordates and protostomes. Here, we have used the apical muscle of the starfish Patiria pectinifera to...

The accumulation of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in the starfish Asterias rubens was studied in a Norwegian fjord characterized by a gradient of metal pollution in the sediments, ranging from very high metal concentrations at its head to much lower levels at its opening. The concentrations of metals in starfish from natural populations along the gradient (long-term accumulation) and in starfish that were...