Females of this marine worm release fertilized eggs into the water. The eggs hat

Question

Females of this marine worm release fertilized eggs into the water. The eggs hatch into larvae that swim and then settle on a substrate.

If the larvae land on sand, they burrow in and develop into females with large bodies and a proboscis that extends into the water above to collect food. If a larva lands on a female proboscis, it burrows into the female body and becomes a tiny male whose only function is to produce sperm to fertilize the female’s eggs. What selection pressures could contribute to this extreme sexual dimorphism?

Explanation / Answer

Ans- the possible selection pressures for the sexual dimorphism in this marine worm will be subcategories as abiotic selection pressure because in this worm when the larva came in contact with soil upon interaction it grow as a female but when the larva interact with a biotic factor I.e. female worm in this case then the larva grow as tiny male so here both biotic and abiotic selection pressure contributes to sexual dimorphism.

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