How barriers to gene flow arise and are maintained are key questions in evolutionary
biology. Speciation research has mainly focused on barriers that occur either before mating …

Echinoderms are marine water invertebrates that are represented by more than 7000 extant
species, grouped in five classes and showing diverse morphologies (starfish, sea lilies …

As global temperatures warm, species must adapt to a changing climate or transition to a
different location suitable for their survival. Understanding the extent to which species are …

Gametic isolation is thought to play an important role in the evolution of reproductive
isolation in broadcast‐spawning marine invertebrates. However, it is unclear whether …

The reef-building coral Acropora is a broadcast spawning hermaphrodite including more
than 110 species in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, many sympatric species show synchronous …

Cell–cell fusion is limited to only a few cell types in the body of most organisms and sperm
and eggs are paradigmatic in this process. The specialized cellular mechanism of …

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea is an exceptional habitat. Its relative isolation and distinct
characteristics create a unique ecosystem recognized as a marine biodiversity hot spot …

Hybridization is important in evolution, because it is a necessary (though not sufficient) step
in the introgression of potentially adaptive variation between species. Bindin is a gamete …

Widely distributed, broadcast-spawning Diadema sea urchins have been used as model
invertebrate species for studying the zoogeography of the tropical Indo-Pacific. So far, the …

Simple Summary Genitalia and reproduction-associated proteins are often species-specific
and might evolve rapidly. The situation in which the morphology of the reproductive system …