Lipid and protein utilization during lecithotrophic development in the asteroid Stegnaster inflatus, with a review of larval provisioning in lecithotrophic echinoderms

The eggs of echinoderms with lecithotrophic development provide structural and nutritional materials (lipids, proteins) to complete development without any external sources of nutrition. Previous studies have suggested that a relatively large proportion of the maternal lipid reserves remain after settlement to provision the early post-metamorphic juvenile. Here we examined lipid and protein utilization during lecithotrophic development of the...