pluteus

biology

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June 17, 2026

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In biology, a pluteus is the free-swimming, bilaterally symmetrical larva of a sea urchin or brittle star. This larval stage is characterized by slender, anteriorly projecting processes supported by calcareous rods, resembling an artist's easel. The pluteus larva is a phase in the indirect development of echinoderms, where the embryo develops into a free-swimming larva before metamorphosing into a juvenile. The echinoid larva is specifically called an echinopluteus. The term "pluteal" relates to or is characteristic of a pluteus.1234

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reproduction
Life cycles of animals
…larva, which is called a pluteus, has a small, wartlike bud that grows into the adult while the pluteus tissue disintegrates. In both examples it is as if the organism has two life histories, one built on the ruins of another.
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…larva, which is called a pluteus, has a small, wartlike bud that grows into the adult while the pluteus tissue disintegrates. In both examples it is as if the organism has two life histories, one built on the ruins of another.
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biological development
Single-phase and multiphase development
…to a small larva (the pluteus), which is completely unlike that of the adult. During metamorphosis nearly all the structures of the pluteus disappear; the five-rayed adult develops from a very small rudiment within the larva. In other groups of marine invertebrates, there may be successive larval stages before the…
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…to a small larva (the pluteus), which is completely unlike that of the adult. During metamorphosis nearly all the structures of the pluteus disappear; the five-rayed adult develops from a very small rudiment within the larva. In other groups of marine invertebrates, there may be successive larval stages before the…
Read More