How do sand dollars reproduce?

Answer 1

Reproduction is sexual and the Western Sand Dollar reaches sexual maturity between 1 and 4 years of age (Smith, 1984; Morris 1980). The swelling of the gonads in May marks the beginning of the major spawning period, which lasts through July or August. The female Dendraster discharges the eggs already ripe (meiosis already occurred) through her gonopores and are fertilized externally by the male, who protrudes his genital papilla from his body wall to increase the distance that the sperm can reach the eggs. Within 2-4 days, four-armed pluteus larvae develop and become a part of the floating zooplankton. Adult Sand Dollars will eat their own larvae but not their eggs, due to a protective jelly coating. Individuals probably spawn multiple times. Females can produce over 350,000 eggs per year (Morris 1980). Brooding, or the association of the juvenile with the female parent, is not common in echinoderms because it would decrease reproductive productivity.

The larvae may travel quite a distance with the currents and do not necessarily stay near the parent bed group. After the larvae develop, they pick up a chemical cue that is produced by the adult Dendraster excentricus (Highsmith 1982). They then settle within or adjacent to an existing sand dollar bed. After they settle, they undergo metamorphosis and begin to grow their adult sand dollar form. This whole process has taken 62-162 days when replicated in the laboratory (Morris 1980). Studies within the intertidal environment have shown that if the larvae do not settle in an existing bed, they are more likely to be eliminated by predators (Highsmith 1982).

Answer 2

Break the light and make change.

Answer 3

I guess they break off and make change