PMC:1044833 / 25889-27316 JSONTXT

{"project":"2_test","denotations":[{"id":"15736979-10676948-84746029","span":{"begin":1076,"end":1078},"obj":"10676948"},{"id":"T79285","span":{"begin":1076,"end":1078},"obj":"10676948"}],"text":"L. luymesi individuals are dioecious, with males releasing sperm into the water column. Fertilization is believed to be external [30], though sperm has been found within the oviducts of females of the hydrothermal vent tubeworm R. pachyptila [31]. Eggs and embryos are positively buoyant and develop into a swimming trochophore-like larval stage within 3 d of fertilization [32]. Larvae are lecithotrophic and may remain in the water column for several weeks [32]. They require hard substrata for settlement, and acquire symbionts from their environment after metamorphosis [33,34]. Settlement is initially rapid, and continues until the available substrate is occupied [12,23,35]. Population sizes of aggregations collected with existing sampling devices typically vary between 100 and 1,500 individuals ([12,23]; this study), though far larger aggregations covering tens to hundreds of square meters are common at the sites sampled. Previous studies have shown that L. luymesi has an average longevity of 135 y [12], and requires an average of 210 y to reach 2 m in length [26], a size not uncommon among collected animals. Mortality events are exceedingly rare, dropping below 1% annual mortality probability for animals over 30 cm [12]. The expanded datasets of growth and mortality rates included here extend the longevity estimate for L. luymesi to an average of 176 y and the estimated age of a 2-m-long animal to 216 y."}