File:Life history mechanisms for localization and dispersal of neustonic organisms.png

English: Life history mechanisms for localization and dispersal of neustonic organisms

(a) Some neustonic species lay eggs on floating objects and sometimes pelagic organisms (e.g., Halobates spp.), while others require surface floating objects for early life cycle stages (e.g., Dosima fascicularis [1]), still others may remain at or near the surface throughout a life cycle due to a dependence on endosymbiotic photosynthetic zooxanthellae (a hypothesis proposed by Larson for Velella [2]). (b) Neustonic organisms like Sargassum may proliferate in one region (large circle) and be transported by wind and/or currents to high-density regions of low proliferation (small circles) [3]. (c) Neuston may also occupy deep water for one part of their life history (a hypothesis proposed for Velella by Woltereck [4), and (d) these deep-water habitats may allow them to take advantage of counter currents for transport in the direction opposite surface currents (a hypothesis proposed for Velella by Savilov [5]).

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[1] Zheden V, Klepal W, von Byern J, Bogner FR, Thiel K, Kowalik T, et al. Biochemical analyses of the cement float of the goose barnacle Dosima fascicularis–a preliminary study. Biofouling. 2014;30(8):949–963. pmid:25237772
[2] Larson RJ. The Medusa of Velella velella (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hydrozoa, Chondrophorae). J Crustacean Biol. 1980;2(3):183–186.
[3] Gower JFR, King SA. Distribution of floating Sargassumin the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean mapped using MERIS. Int J Remote Sens. 2011;32(7):1917–1929.
[4] Woltereck R. Ueber die Entwicklung der Velella aus einer in der tiefe vorkommenden Larve. Fischer; 1904.

[5] Savilov AI. Pleuston of the Pacific Ocean. In: Biology of the Pacific Ocean; 1969. p. 1–435.