Evolutionary Aspects of Environmental Sex Determination

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Abstract
The phenomenon of evironmentally cued sex determination (E.S.D.) is reviewed. E.S.D. is defined and its characteristics are described by comparison to other sex determining systems. The evidence for the presence of E.S.D. among Echiura, Nematoda and Crustacea is presented, with reference to the evidence for sex-specific size-related fitness in each group. A diversity of sex-determining cues, not all of them related to factors affecting fitness, are identified. The review considers current theoretical models for E.S.D. and sex-ratio manipulation in patchy environments, and discusses the relevance of these, models to the described examples. Past analysis has concentrated on; size in relation to nutrition but time may be an equally important factor in many cases.