Meeting Abstract

P3.14  Jan. 6  Natural variability in size in the nonfeeding larvae of Bugula neritina KOSMAN, E**; PERNET, B; California State University, Long Beach; California State University, Long Beach etkosman@yahoo.com

Variation in maternal investment can influence larval planktonic duration and juvenile performance in lecithotrophic larvae. Populations of the bryozoan Bugula neritina are very variable in per-offspring maternal investment (as measured by larval size: in one Southern California population, larvae vary ~4-fold in volume), but how this variation is partitioned (e.g., within or among maternal colonies) is not well known. In this study, we examined the distribution of variation in larval size in one population of B. neritina. We measured larvae released from field-reared colonies of known age and size, and compared variation in the sizes of their larvae with a field population of larvae obtained by plankton tow. The effect of colony size on larval size was examined by comparison of same-aged, differently-sized colonies. Initial results indicate that most of the total variance in larval size in this population occurs among larvae within single cohorts produced by individual maternal colonies, and that maternal colony size is a relatively poor predictor of larval size. We discuss potential causes and consequences of such great quantitative variation in per-offspring maternal investment among sibling offspring.