Naturalists and scientists have been captivated by the diversity of marine larval forms since
they were discovered following the advent of the microscope. Because they often bear little …

Biologists have long sought to identify and explain patterns in the diverse array of marine life
histories. The most famous speculation about such patterns is Gunnar Thorson's suggestion …

Amphibians have undergone important evolutionary transitions in reproductive modes and
life-cycles. We compare large-scale macroevolutionary patterns in these transitions across …

Allee effects are (broadly) defined as a decline in individual fitness at low population size or
density. They can result in critical population thresholds below which populations crash to …

Many benthic marine invertebrates develop by means of free-living, dispersive larval stages.
The presumed advantages of such larvae include the avoidance of competition for …

Efforts to restore the native oyster in the Chesapeake Bay enjoy enormous public support
and have consumed and continue to consume vast, some would argue unreasonable and …

The fitness or population growth rate of populations with Allee effects increases with
increasing population size or density up to a certain threshold. Allee effects are possible in …

Broadcast spawning of gametes with planktonic development of larvae is the most common
reproductive mode in tropical corals, and is generally thought to optimize the dispersal …

External fertilization is a common and widespread reproductive strategy in aquatic
environments (Giese and Kanatani 1987) and is generally thought to be ancestral to internal …

Abstract 'Trochophore'is a term used in a strict sense for larvae having an opposed-band
method of feeding, involving a prototroch and metatroch. Other ciliary bands such as a …