Evidence of Chemical Communication During the Gametogenesis of Holothuroids

• Published in: Ecology
• Main Authors: Hamel, Jean-Francois, Mercier, Annie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1996
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Cucumaria frondosa
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2265555; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F2265555; https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/2265555

This research provides evidence for chemical mediation in the initiation of gametogenesis and interindividual fine—tuning among populations of the holothurian Cucumaria frondosa. Initiated in the laboratory by increased day length, the gametogenesis of C. frondosa developed normally when individuals were transferred to an environment in which temperature and photoperiod were held constant and food was withheld. Gonad development and spawning of these sea cucumbers occurred simultaneously with animals that were fed. Individuals collected from the deep aphotic zone showed gonadal indices and histological development of gametes synchronous with populations found in the shallower photic zone. These data strongly suggest that day length and temperature were not the sole factors controlling the onset and development of gametogenesis, but rather that they act synergistically with other mechanisms. Laboratory experiments showed that gametogenic synchrony was less for individuals separately maintained under natural environmental conditions than it was for similarly treated individuals kept in groups. Finally, gametogenesis was initiated by exposure to more developed individuals, even without the photoperiod cue. This induction, effective only between animals of the same sex, became more evident with increasing maturity of the more developed individuals.