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Dwarf males of Ostrea jibananandai sp. nov. from the lower Eocene rocks of the Cambay Basin, western India, are found attached inside the anterior end of the hinge of large females. Commonly, one male is found inside a female shell. Equivalent associations are known in the extant oyster Ostrea puelchana and the Neogene “Cubitostrea” alvarezii from Argentina. This association increases successful fertilization of eggs by reducing sperm loss in these spermcasting/brooding oysters. The sperms, released into water, are normally brought in with the inhalant water current before fertilization inside the body of the female in brooding oysters. This male-female association reduces the uncertainty involved in fertilization because sperms are released directly inside the female shell. The phenomenon is christened here as facultative monogamy. With this discovery, its evolution in oysters is pushed back more than 40 myr to over 54 Ma. Facultative monogamy evolved only in these three species over its long history in spite of its obvious advantages. Facultative monogamy reduces evolutionary flexibility by decreasing phenotypic variability. It is argued here that the phenomenon evolved by trading off morphological variability in favour of successful fertilization in response to environmental perturbations that tend to disrupt sperm transport in open water. Rapid global warming is hypothesized to potentially cause environmental perturbation, because two of the three cases of facultative monogamy in oysters, Eocene O. jibananandai sp. nov. and Recent O. puelchana, occurred at the early stages of hyperthermal events.

Dwarf males of Ostrea jibananandai sp. nov. from the lower Eocene rocks of the Cambay Basin, western India, are found attached inside the anterior end of the hinge of large females. Commonly, one male is found inside a female shell. Equivalent associations are known in the extant oyster Ostrea puelchana and the Neogene "Cubitostrea" alvarezii from Argentina. This association increases successful fertilization of eggs by reducing sperm loss in these spermcasting/brooding oysters. The sperms, released into water, are normally brought in with the inhalant water current before fertilization inside the body of the female in brooding oysters. This male-female association reduces the uncertainty involved in fertilization because sperms are released directly inside the female shell. The phenomenon is christened here as facultative monogamy. With this discovery, its evolution in oysters is pushed back more than 40 myr to over 54 Ma. Facultative monogamy evolved only in these three species over its long history in spite of its obvious advantages. Facultative monogamy reduces evolutionary flexibility by decreasing phenotypic variability. It is argued here that the phenomenon evolved by trading off morphological variability in favour of successful fertilization in response to environmental perturbations that tend to disrupt sperm transport in open water. Rapid global warming is hypothesized to potentially cause environmental perturbation, because two of the three cases of facultative monogamy in oysters, Eocene O. jibananandai sp. nov. and Recent O. puelchana, occurred at the early stages of hyperthermal events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation in reproductive strategy is one of the key factors contributing to recruitment success of molluscs in different habitats. Spermcasting is a unique mode in mollusc reproduction where males produce spermatozeugmata, a radially arrayed sperm cluster wrapped by gelatinous membrane. In this study, spermatozeugmata structure and their dissociation in the Australian flat oyster Ostrea angasi were investigated to elucidate the reproductive strategy in spermcasting molluscs. The histological observation indicated that spermatogonia gradually aggregated in the gonad follicle at the early gonad development stages and developed into spermatozeugmata and became tightly packed at the advanced stages. Even though mature male and female gametes could be found in a hermaphroditic individual, the animal may prevent self-fertilization by shedding different sex gametes at different time. The O . angasi sperm are similar in size and shape to broadcasting oysters, but have one additional mitochondrion. Variations in maintaining spermatozeugmata integrity and sperm motility between individuals depended on the level of masculinity or femineity. The durations of spermatozeugmata dissociation and sperm viability were longer in males than in hermaphrodites. The unique structure and capability for spermatozeugmata to maintain the functional integrity after spawning have adaptive significance for fertilization and gamete dispersal in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many sessile, suspension-feeding marine invertebrates mate by spermcasting: aquatic sperm are spawned and gathered by conspecific individuals to fertilize eggs that are generally retained during development. In two phylogenetically distant examples, a cheilostome bryozoan and an aplousobranch ascidian, the receipt of allosperm has previously been shown to alter sex allocation by triggering female investment in eggs and brooding. Here we report experiments demonstrating that two species of cyclostome bryozoan also show restrained female investment in the absence of mating opportunity. In Tubulipora plumosa, the production of female zooids and progeny is much reduced in reproductive isolation. In Filicrisia geniculata, development of distinctive female zooids (gonozooids) begins but halts in the absence of mating opportunity, and no completed gonozooids or progeny result. Reduced female investment in the absence of a mate thus occurs in at least two orders of Bryozoa, but significant differences in detail exist and the evolutionary history within the phylum of the mechanism(s) by which female investment is initiated might be complex. The broadening taxonomic spectrum of examples where female investment appears restrained until allosperm becomes available may signify a general adaptive strategy among outcrossing modular animals, analogous to similarly adaptive sex allocation typical of many flowering plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Caribbean pillar coral Dendrogyra cylindrus was recently listed as a threatened species under the United States Endangered Species Act. One of the major threats to this species is its low, virtually undetectable recruitment rate. To our knowledge, sexually-produced recruits have never been found in over 30 years of surveys of Caribbean reefs. Until recently, the reproductive behavior of D. cylindrus was uncharacterized, limiting efforts to study its early life history, identify population bottlenecks, and conduct outplanting projects with sexually-produced offspring. In Curaçao, we observed the spawning behavior of this species over three years and five lunar cycles. We collected gametes from spawning individuals on three occasions and attempted to rear larvae and primary polyp settlers. Results: Here we describe successful fertilization methods for D. cylindrus and we document rapid embryonic development. We describe the successful propagation of embryos to the swimming larvae stage, the first settlement of larvae in the laboratory, and the survival of primary polyp settlers for over seven months. We show that spawning times are highly predictable from year to year relative to the lunar cycle and local sunset times. We use colony-level data to confirm that males begin spawning before females. We also provide the first reports of split-spawning across months in this species. Conclusions: Together, our findings of consistent spawning times, split-spawning, rapid embryonic development, and remarkable robustness of larvae and settlers now enable expanded research on the early life history and settlement ecology of D. cylindrus. This will help biologists to identify the population bottlenecks in nature that underlie low recruitment rates. Further, the settlement of D. cylindrus larvae in the laboratory now makes out-planting for restoration more feasible. Asynchronous spawning times and rapid embryonic development may have important consequences for population biology, connectivity, and management, by affecting fertilization dynamics and larval dispersal distances. We argue that a precautionary approach to conservation is warranted, given this species' peculiar life history traits and still-unresolved population structure. Overall, the natural history and husbandry contributions presented here should facilitate accelerated research and conservation of this threatened coral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small or sparse populations can experience Allee effects if egg fertilisation is reduced because of a shortage of sperm., Freshwater mussels are spermcasters that often occur as sparse, patchy populations. Previous studies suggested that sperm shortage limits these populations unless facultative hermaphroditism and self-fertilisation occur at low density. We conducted experiments in ponds to examine fertilisation in the mussel, Lampsilis straminea, in response to flow, presence of and distance from males, male density, and the presence of upstream females that could compete for sperm with downstream females., Self-fertilisation in the absence of males did not occur in either experiment. Female fertilisation success was uniformly high in most treatments and was not related to flow or distance from males (1-25 m). Fertilisation success was significantly lower at low male density (0.02 m−2, compared with 0.16 m−2) but remained relatively high even in most low male density treatments. The proportion of females that became gravid was higher in the presence of upstream females, but fecundity was significantly lower when upstream females were present; these conflicting results made it difficult to assess the role of competition among females for sperm., Overall, high fertilisation success occurred at densities three orders of magnitude lower than previously proposed thresholds for mussels. Sperm dispersal and acquisition and egg fertilisation appear to be complex processes associated with adaptations for spermcasting. These adaptations are likely to facilitate persistence at low population density and buffer mussels from reproductive Allee effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]