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Reproduction and development of three symbiotic scale worms (Polychaeta: Polynoidae)
Author(s) -
Pernet Bruno
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
invertebrate biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.486
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1744-7410
pISSN - 1077-8306
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7410.2000.tb00173.x
Subject(s) - biology , metamorphosis , larva , biological dispersal , zoology , host (biology) , ecology , reproduction , marine larval ecology , population , demography , sociology
. The reproduction and development of symbiotic polynoid polychaetes in the genus Arctonoe were examined with light and electron microscopy. Around San Juan Island, Washington, the 3 described Arctonoe spp. have very similar reproductive periods and ontogenies. Free‐spawned eggs 80 μm in diameter fuse with sperm and develop into planktonic, feeding larvae that bear a prototroch, but no metatroch or food groove cilia. Larvae begin feeding only after the development of episphere ciliary bands and an oral brush, consistent with the hypothesis that these structures are involved in particle capture and handling. Metamorphosis occurs in the laboratory in the absence of hosts after 6–12 weeks of feeding and growth. Juveniles begin feeding using the pharyngeal jaws several days after metamorphosis is complete. In the laboratory, worms reach sexual maturity 4–6 months after metamorphosis. The long planktonic larval period of Arctonoe spp. probably leads to high dispersal, suggesting that geographic differentiation in host preferences is unlikely except over large spatial scales. Naive juveniles of Arctonoe spp. can now be obtained from laboratory cultures to test the hypothesis that genetically based host preferences are important in determining host‐use patterns in these symbionts.