Reproduction and development in echinodermata and prochordata - volume 3

Echinoderms and prochordates occupy a key position in vertebrate evolution.

The genomes of sea urchin share 70% homology with humans.

Researches on cell cycle in sea urchin and phagocytosis in asteroids have fetched Nobel Prizes.

In this context, this book assumes immense importance.

Echinoderms are unique, as their symmetry is bilateral in larvae but pentamerous radial in adults.

The latter has eliminated the development of an anterior head and bilateral appendages.

Further, the obligate need to face the substratum for locomotion and acquisition of food has eliminated their planktonic and nektonic existence.