Modeling the life cycle of echinoderm larvae clones

Larval cloning occurs in echinoderm species and has been viewed as possibly adaptive. A species of Oreaster currently being described has linked a rare benthic stage with common planktonic larvae that clone, and this calls attention to questions in life stage linkages. Life cycle analysis shows that there are unresolved problems in our understanding of the dynamics of species with cloning larvae, in particular their survival and duration in the plankton. Possible solutions are (1) benthic adults that are rare are also very long-lived or (2) survival in the plankton is much higher than has been reported.