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Signals for gamete release by intertidal species with external fertilization
Fucoid algae, like many marine organisms, rely exclusively on external fertilization in the water column for successful reproduction. We use these as model species to investigate how can intertidal species with external fertilization achieve high reproductive success despite the gamete diluting effects of high water motion and whether external fertilization takes place at either slack high tide or as soon as organisms are reached by the incoming tide, as these are the phases that minimize gamete dilution. It is also asked whether for these intertidal populations gamete dispersal is restricted and whether the bottleneck between the large amounts of gametes that are released and the few juveniles that are found is not fertilization success but is instead early post- settlement survival to recruitment.
On top, Fucus settlement disks, Viana do Castelo (photo by Soraia Santos); above, Fucus settlement studies at Alcochete, Ericeira
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