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STUDIES ON SPECIATION IN MALDANID POLYCHAETES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ATLANTIC COAST. II. DISTRIBUTION AND COMPETITIVE INTERACTION OF FIVE SYMPATRIC SPECIES 1
Author(s) -
Mangum Charlotte Preston
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1964.9.1.0012
Subject(s) - sympatric speciation , sympatry , ecology , genetic algorithm , biology , range (aeronautics) , competition (biology) , materials science , composite material
The geographic and ecological distributions of five species of maldanid polychaetes have been characterized. Maximum density of each species occurs in areas where the species does not live sympatrically with other maldanids, even though these areas may not occupy the central portion of its geographic range. A more intensive investigation in Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina, indicates that the sympatry of all five species is accompanied by the reduction of total maldanid density. In the sympatric situation, three species are differentiated ecologically with respect to depth, sediment composition, and substratum utilization. The remaining two species, Clymenella torquata and C. zonalis, are completely sympatric yet undiversified in their utilization of the substratum for tube‐building and feeding. The possible importance of an algal pigment, accumulated by C. torquata but not by C. zonalis, is discussed.