Abstract
STUDIES on the reproductive activity of the purple sea urchin, S. purpuratus, made during the past eight years at Pacific Grove, California, indicate the presence of an annual breeding cycle, with maximum gonadal activity occurring during the winter months. In the course of the present investigation, designed to examine the effect of latitude on the breeding activity of the sea urchin, it was observed that the sea urchin populations distributed over a 20° latitudinal range have a uniform spawning period. These observations suggest that the reproductive activity of the purple sea urchin might be independent of temperature over a physiological range represented by this distribution. Therefore a photoperiodic response was considered as a possible explanation for the breeding cycles observed.
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BOOLOOTIAN, R. Response of the Testes of Purple Sea Urchins to Variations in Temperature and Light. Nature 197, 403 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/197403a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/197403a0
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