Almost no work has been done on the brooding habits of Cucumaria curata Cowles 1902 from the Pacific Coast of North America. Most of the embryological investigations of holothurians on this coast have been with species having free swimming larval forms (Johnson and Johnson, 1950). Since the majority Holothurians have planktonic larvae, a study of the direct development found in C. curate might prove beneficial in comparing the ecological distribution of this species with those having planktonic larvae. The brooding type of development is found in polar species, but seldom found in warmer waters. This may have some direct effect on limiting the distribution of the species. After studying this particular type of development in C. curata, a need arose to investigate its physiology and ecology to ascertain the significance of its larval type to the distribution of the species in the community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pacific.edu/oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-2411 |
| Date | 01 January 1959 |
| Creators | Smith, Edmund Hobart |
| Publisher | Scholarly Commons |
| Source Sets | University of the Pacific |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations |
Page generated in 0.044 seconds