Abstract
Sclerasterias richardi, a relatively deep sea asteroid (140–200 m) from the border of the Mediterranean continental shelf, is characterized by an asexual reproduction by fissiparity concomitant with a functional sexuality. A monthly sampling of a population from Calvi (Corsica) has allowed a study of the complete sexual cycle from 354 histologically-treated specimens. The 218 sexually defined animals (62% males, 38% females) show strict gonochorism. In males, spermatogenesis is cyclic and sexual maturity seems to be reached before that of the females. In females, the different stages of oogenesis are well marked: oogonia and parietal oocytes disappear only at maturity. Oligolecithic oocytes (120–150 μn) show a synchronous growth. The annual reproductive cycle is well defined in both sexes with one spawning period from mid-September to mid-October. After spawning, a resting period (from mid-October to mid-January) occurs during which unspawned oocytes are phagocytized by more or less isolated accessory cel...
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