Document Type
Response or Comment
Publication Date
6-1994
Keywords
AUTOTOMY, REGENERATION, ECHINODERMATA, ASTEROIDEA, STARFISH, SEA STARS
Abstract
Arm autotomy in asteroids, as tail autotomy in vertebrates, typically occurs when the animal is attacked and appears to facilitate escape. One assumes autotomy has a cost, but it rarely has been demonstrated in the field in vertebrates and never demonstrated in asteroids. The concentration of lipid was 40 % less and the amount of kilojoules 85 % less in the pyloric caeca of the asteroid Stichaster striatus Muller & Troschel (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) with autotomized arms than in those of individuals with intact arms collected in the field. as the pyloric caeca are used as nutrient reserves, individuals with autotomized arms would have a lesser capacity to withstand low availability of food and, as the caecal reserves can be used for gametogenesis, a decreased capacity for reproduction.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Marine Ecology - Progress Series, v. 109, p. 311-313
Inter-Research Science Center makes the archives of its journals available as a service to the scientific community. All articles published more than 5 years ago may be accessed freely.
Link to publisher website: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v109/
Scholar Commons Citation
Lawrence, John M. and Larrain, A., "The Cost of Arm Autotomy in the Starfish Stichaster-Striatus" (1994). Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications. 30.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/bin_facpub/30
