"Urchin Odyssey: Sex Among Plankton"

漂泊的海膽 浮游生物的繁衍

I must look rather strange to you,

對你來說我長得很奇怪吧!

all covered in spines,

全身長滿了刺

without even a face.

連張臉都沒有

But I've taken many forms during my life.

但我在成長過程中擁有許多不同的面貌

I started out just like you,

我一開始跟你一樣

a tiny egg in a watery world.

只是海洋世界中的一顆蛋

My parents never knew each other.

我的父母互不相識

One moonlit night before a storm,

在暴風雨的前一夜

thousands of urchins, clams and corals

成千上萬的海膽、蛤蜊和珊瑚

released trillions of sperm and eggs into the open sea.

在海洋中釋放出上億的精卵

My father's sperm somehow met my mother's egg,

我父親的精子遇見了我母親的卵子

and they fused.

他們結合了

Fertilization.

受精過程中

Instantly, I became an embryo the size of a speck of dust.

很快的,我變成一顆灰塵般大小的胚胎

After a few hours of drifting,

漂泊數小時後

I cleaved in two, then four,

我分裂成兩個

then eight cells. Then so many I lost count.

然後四個

In less than a day,

八個細胞

I developed a gut and a skeleton.

然後很多,多到數不清了

I became a rocket ship,

一天內我長出了骨架、腸道

a pluteus larva.

變成了一個飛船狀的長腕幼蟲

I floated through the world of plankton,

我在浮游生物界中漂泊

searching for tiny algae to eat.

找海藻來吃

For weeks,

這好幾個星期的時間我處在各種有機體周遭

I was surrounded by all kinds of organisms,

被各類型的幼蟲所圍繞

larvae of all sorts.

這些幼蟲與牠們的成蟲長的完全不一樣

Most are so different from their adult form

使生物學家花了很長時間研究牠們的身分

that biologists have a tough time figuring out who they are.

試著找出牠們的父母是誰

Try matching these youngsters to their parents.

這隻緣膜幼蟲會變成蝸牛

This veliger larva

這是海蟹幼蟲

will turn into a snail.

這個實囊幼蟲則會變成水母

This zoea, into a crab.

有些年幼的水母很容易被誤認為成體

And this planula into a cnidaria jelly.

這些水母寶寶

Some of my young companions are easier to picture as grown-ups.

也就海蜇苗

These baby jellies, known as ephyrae

像極了牠們美麗卻帶刺的父母親

already resemble their beautiful but deadly parents.

在浮游生物界

Here in the plankton,

繁殖下一代的方法並不只一種

there's more than one way to get your genes into the next generation.

大多數的水母有特別的息肉構造

Most medusa jellies

使他們可經由無性生殖生下子代

make special structures called polyps

被囊動物也是

that simply bud off babies with no need for sex.

當食物充足時

Salps are similar.

牠們利用無性生殖使自己呈長鏈狀

When food is abundant, they just clone themselves into long chains.

而在交配方面

A plankton is full of surprises when it comes to sex.

浮游生物界充滿了驚奇

Meet the hermaphrodites.

看看這些雌雄同體的生物們

These comb jellies and arrow worms

櫛水母和箭蟲同時製造、儲存並釋放精子及卵子

produce, store and release both sperm and eggs.

牠們可以自己繁衍也可以有性生殖

They can fertilize themselves

當你在汪洋中遊蕩

or another.

不知道會遇見誰時

When you're floating in a vast sea,

同時扮演正反兩種角色非常值回票價

with little control over who you may meet,

這裡大多數的物種

it can pay to play both sides of the field.

不會把雞蛋放在同一個籃子裡

The majority of species here, however,

不會只交配一次

never mate, nor form any sort of lasting bonds.

這就是我父母使用的策略

That was my parents' strategy.

我們長腕幼蟲數量龐大

There were so many of us pluteus larvae,

當其他人被獵食時

I just hid in the crowd while most of my kin were devoured.

我藏身在群眾之中以自保

Not all parents leave the survival of their offspring to chance.

並不是所有的親代都會給他們的子代保留生存機會

Some have far fewer young,

有些物種生的子代較少

and take much better care of them,

但對他們的照顧也較多

brooding their precious cargo for days, even months.

花了幾天

This speedy copepod

甚至是幾個月的時間孵化他們的寶貝

totes her beautifully packaged eggs for days.

這種敏捷的橈足動物把她美麗的卵藏在嘴中數天

This phronima crustacean carries her babies on her chest,

這類甲殼動物把她的寶寶們帶在胸腔內

then carefully places them in a gelatinous barrel.

然後小心翼翼的將牠們放置在膠狀圓筒內

But the black-eyed squid takes the prize.

但在這方面黑眼烏賊不落人後

She cradles her eggs in long arms for nine months,

她把寶寶們包在她的觸手囊袋中九個月

the same time it takes to gestate a human infant.

跟人類的懷孕周期一樣長!

Eventually all youngsters have to make it on their own in this drifting world.

但最終這些孩子們還是得在汪洋中獨立

Some will spend their whole lives in the plankton,

有些就一輩子當個浮游生物

but others, like me, move on.

但包含我在內的其他人就不同

A few weeks after I was conceived,

我出生幾個星期後

I decided to settle down

我決定留在這裡

and metamorphosed into a recognizable urchin.

變成一隻真正的海膽

So now you know a bit of my story.

我的故事說完了

I may just be a slow-moving ball of spines,

也許我是個動作慢的刺球

but don't let my calm adult exterior fool you.

但請別被我冷靜成熟的外觀給騙了

I was a rocket ship.

我是個太空飛船

I was a wild child.

一個放蕩不羈的孩子