Question

Multiple Choice: Which survivorship curve best describes most marine organisms (few adults produce large number of eggs and larvae)

Answer 1

Complete question:

Which survivorship curve best describes most marine organisms (few adults produce a large number of eggs and larvae).

1. Type I
2. Type II
3. Type III
4. None of the above

Answer:

Type III

Explanation:

There are three survivorship curves, each of them corresponding to different species according to their reproductive strategies.

• Type I. Organisms do not tend to die when they are young or middle-aged, but they do when they are old. These species, in general, have a few descendants and parents provide much parental care to ensure their progeny to survival.  

• Type II. Organisms that have more or less the same probabilities of dying in each age interval. These organisms can also have a few descendants and they can provide significant parental care.

• Type III. Only a few individuals survive their first period of life or their firsts years. However, the lucky ones to reach a certain age generally have a long life. These organisms have a lot of descendants at the same time, but they do not provide much parental care. This is the case of most marine organisms that produce a large number of eggs and larvae when they are adults, but they do not provide parental care.