Report of a Cohesive Gelatinous Egg Mass Produced by a Tropical Marine Bivalve

Abstract

Gelatinous egg masses are common in a number of animal phyla. However, they are virtually unknown in marine bivalves, with structures that could be thought of as gelatinous egg masses being reported for only five species. We describe the gelatinous egg mass and intracapsular development in the tropical lucinid Phacoides pectinatus. The embryos developed within individual capsules embedded in a large flimsy, spherical mass. Swimming veligers hatch at 198 μm shell length. They did not feed, settled within several days of hatching, and metamorphosis was completed within 2 weeks of hatching. Gelatinous egg masses might be detected in members of more lucinid species if studies of development included field or in vivo observations of reproduction in addition to producing embryos by stripping the gonads.