Population dynamics and secondary production in an estuarine population ofCaulleriella caputesocis(Polychaeta: Cirratulidae)

✍ Scribed by J. A. Oyekan

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 588 KB
• Volume: 95
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00409014

✦ Synopsis

Between July 1978 and March 1980, the distribution, population dynamics and secondary production of Caulleriella caputesocis St. Joseph, 1864, in Southampton Water, South England, were investigated. The distribution of the polychaete was related to amount of silt and copper-content of the sediment, the highest densities occurring in sediment containing 60 to 100% silt and less than 50 ppm copper. Breeding occurred at a low level throughout the year, usually when the worms were over one year old, with peak breeding between May and September. C. caputesocis in Southampton Water is monotelic, and oocytes measured 120 to 160 ktm in diameter at spawning. Unshed oocytes were resorbed. Annual secondary production varied between 0.01 and 5 . 9 0 g C m -2yr -1 and P:B ratio of the species ranged between 0.84 and 7.09.