An increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]) and morphological were simultaneously observed by epifluorescence and differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy during fertilization of the sand dollar, Clypeaster japonicus. [Ca2+], which was detected by a Ca2+ indicator, Fluo-3, initially increased just beneath the sperm-attached site on the egg surface 8.6 sec after attachmen...

We summarize information concerning Recent and Pleistocene-Holocene Uruguayan sand dollars (Mellitidae), as well as Miocene taxa (Monophorasteridae). Recent and Pleistocene-Holocene species (Encope emarginata, Mellita quinquiesperforata, and Leodia sexisperforata) are at their southernmost limits of distribution, with only E. emarginata recorded further south than Uruguay. Lower temperatures to...

Many larvae and other plankton have complex and variable morphologies of unknown functional significance. We experimentally and theoretically investigated the functional consequences of the complex morphologies of larval sand dollars, Dendraster excentricus (Eschscholtz), for hydrodynamic interactions between swimming and turbulent water motion. Vertical shearing flows (horizontal gradients of ...

Sand dripping in 1 dimensional Sand Pile Model is rst studied. Patterns and signals appear. Their behaviors and interactions are explained and asymptotic approximations are made. The total collapsing time of a single stack of sand is linear in function of the number of grains.

A new species of abertellid sand dollar, Abertella miskellyi n. sp., is described from the Miocene Camarones Formation of Patagonia, southern Argentina. The new taxon corroborates the existence of the genus in South America, given that Abertella is most common in the southeastern USA and the eastern coast of Central America. It is characterized by a unique basicoronal circle, in which the inter...

Organisms with external fertilization are often sperm limited, and in echinoids, larger eggs have a higher probability of fertilization than smaller eggs. This difference is thought to be a result of the more frequent sperm-egg collisions experienced by larger targets. Here we report how two components of egg target size, the egg cell and jelly coat, contributed to fertilization success in a se...

Complex life cycles have evolved independently numerous times in marine animals as well as in disparate algae. Such life histories typically involve a dispersive immature stage followed by settlement and metamorphosis to an adult stage on the sea floor. One commonality among animals exhibiting transitions of this type is that their larvae pass through a 'precompetent' period in which they do no...