Organic level and caloric content of eggs of brooding asteroids and an echinoid (Echinodermata) from Kerguelen (South Indian Ocean)

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Abstract
Egg diameters (mm) of the asteroids Diplasterias meridionalis, Anas ferias perrieri, and Anasterias rupicola and of the echinoid Abatus cordatus were 2.79, 1.75, 1.37 and 1.34, respectively. The levels (% dry wt) of soluble protein/insoluble protein/lipid/carbohydrate were 44: 15: 36: 0.4, 29: 31: 35: 0.9, 37: 28: 26:1.0, and 33:29: 35:2.1, respectively. The calories/egg were 38, 9.45 ± 1.75, 4.69, 3.70 ± 0.98, respectively. Brooded, A. perrieri (1.46 mg dry wt/individual, R = 1.47 mm) had 7.85 ± 1.5 cal/ind. Brooded, A. cordatus (1.76 mg dry wt/ind, length = 2.02 mm) had 4.17 ± 0.06 cal/ind. There was little change in the amount of organic material during development in either species, but the amount of ash increased 5-fold in A. perrieri and 13-fold in A. cordatus. The significance of the large eggs may be in the production of a large juvenile, and not in the provision of a large amount of energy for development.