The long-held belief that animal-mediated pollination is absent in the sea has recently been contradicted in seagrasses, motivating investigations of other marine phyla. This is particularly relevant in red algae, in which female gametes are not liberated and male gametes are not flagellated. Using experiments with the isopod Idotea balthica and the red alga Gracilaria gracilis , we demonstrate that biotic interactions dramatically increase the fertilization success of the alga through animal transport of spermatia on their body. This discovery suggests that animal-mediated fertilization could have evolved independently in terrestrial and marine environments and raises the possibility of its emergence in the sea before plants moved ashore.

中文翻译：

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海洋传粉者：海藻中动物介导受精的发现

长期以来一直认为海洋中不存在动物介导的授粉的观点最近在海草中被反驳，这激发了对其他海洋门的研究。这在红藻中尤其重要，其中雌配子没有被释放，雄性配子没有鞭毛。使用等足类动物实验紫檀和红藻江蓠，我们证明了生物相互作用通过动物将精子输送到它们的身体上，显着提高了藻类的受精成功率。这一发现表明，动物介导的受精可能在陆地和海洋环境中独立进化，并提高了其在植物上岸之前出现在海洋中的可能性。