Biological Factors

Reproduction

For marine creatures the most important way to distribute offspring to suitable new sites is by casting their fertilised eggs or juveniles adrift as plankton into water currents. Most intertidal female animals produce hundreds, if not thousands, of eggs. Most will not survive into adulthood, but are an excellent food supply for some other kind of animal.

A planktonic development pattern is common in most cnidaria, echinoderms, molluscs, barnacles, decapod crabs and ascidians.

The important issue is whether the currents will return the plankton to a suitable site for juveniles to settle and grow to become reproductively mature adults.

References

Bennett, I. (1987) W. J. Dakin's classic study: Australian Seashores. Angus & Robertson, Sydney.

Davey, K. (1998) A Photographic Guide to Seashore Life of Australia. New Holland, Sydney.

Underwood, A. J. & Chapman, M. G. (1993) Seashores: a beachcomber's guide. New South Wales University Press, Sydney.

Biological Factors
Oxygen & Respiration
Food and Predation
Excretion
Reproduction
Behaviour

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Biological Factors
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