ABSTRACT
Reproductive patterns were compared between 5 species of central California ophiuroids over a period of 2 years. Modes of development include the production of planktotrophic ophiopluteus larvae as well as viviparous and ovoviviparous brooding. Breeding was markedly periodic in the different broadcast-spawning species despite the absence of strong seasonal oscillations in sea temperature; Ophiopteris papillose and Amphiodia occidentalis had restricted breeding cycles with respective peaks of spawning activity in the winter and spring. Spawning occurred continuously in Ophiothrix spiculata from late winter to early summer. Brooding ophiuroids also showed disparate reproductive patterns. Large-bodied ovoviviparous females of Ophioplocus esmarki brooded intermediate numbers of embryos only during the late spring and summer. Conversely, small-bodied viviparous hermaphroditic individuals of Axiognathus squamata continuously brooded fewer embryos throughout the year. Proximate cues other than sea temperature apparently synchronize the gametogenic cycles of these ophiuroids.
