Idoteas are the sea’s bees

The crucial role of insects in the pollination of flowering plants is well known, but algal fertilization assisted by marine animals was hitherto deemed non-existent. Our paper published published in Science (29 July 2022) reports on the discovery that small crustaceans known as idoteas contribute to the reproductive cycle of the red alga Gracilaria gracilis. We suggest that animal-mediated fertilization is much older than once thought.