Temperature and diet modified swimming behaviors of larval sand dollar.

The article presents a study which looked at changes in the swimming behaviors of larval sand dollar due to temperature and diet. According to previous studies, larvae swim more slowly at lower temperatures and that improved diet quality in terms of essential fatty acid composition increases cold tolerance in many organisms. For this study, the researchers collected adult sand dollars Dendraster excentricus from Crescent Beach, East Sound, Orcas Island in Washington in early summer 2008. They have found that swimming behaviors of invertebrate larvae can significantly affect larval survival as well as dispersal outcomes.