BIOTIC Species Information for Halichondria bowerbanki
|Click here to view the MarLIN Key Information Review for Halichondria bowerbanki|
|Researched by||Dr Keith Hiscock and Hugh Jones||Data supplied by||MarLIN|
|Refereed by||Dr Rob van Soest|
|Reproductive type||Permanent hermaphrodite
||Developmental mechanism||Viviparous (Parental Care)
|Reproductive Season||April to November||Reproductive Location||As adult|
|Reproductive frequency||Insufficient information||Regeneration potential||Yes|
|Life span||Insufficient information||Age at reproductive maturity||Insufficient information|
|Generation time||Insufficient information||Fecundity||Insufficient information|
|Egg/propagule size||Insufficient information||Fertilization type||Internal|
|Reproduction Preferences Additional Information||In the Oosterschelde, large oocytes and embryos found from early August until mid-October which coincided with a drop in water temperature from maximal summer values to about 14 °C (Vethaak et al., 1982). Wapstra & van Soest (1987) recorded that Halichondria bowerbanki from the same area contained oocytes from April through to November although embryos were only observed from June to November. Newly settled colonies were seen within just over a year, i.e. the following September and October (Vethaak et al., 1982) . Wapstra & van Soest (1982) noted that it was possible that Halichondria bowerbanki could be protandrous or protogynous hermaphrodites.
No information was found concerning the life span of Halichondria bowerbanki although a life span of about 3 years was suggested for the closely related Halichondria panicea in Fish & Fish (1996).
Halichondria bowerbanki survives over the winter months as a dormant form with no growth and a disintegration of tissue. In the Oosterschelde, this species experienced a drastic reduction in biomass during the severe winter of 1978/9, especially in the intertidal (Vethaak et al., 1982).
|Reproduction References||Soest van et al., 2000, Wapstra & van Soest, 1987,|