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Reproduction, larval development and settlement of the intertidal serpulid polychaete Spirobranchus cariniferus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2012

Louis A. Gosselin  and
Mary A. Sewell
Louis A. Gosselin*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops BC, V2C 0C8, Canada Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, V8W 3N3, Canada
Mary A. Sewell
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Louis Gosselin, Department of Biological Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops BC, V2C 0C8, Canada email: lgosselin@tru.ca
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Abstract

Serpulid polychaetes are often important components of marine communities, yet current knowledge of serpulid reproduction, development and settlement is largely based on the study of only a few species. This study examined whether spawning and sexual development of the mid-intertidal serpulid Spirobranchus cariniferus are typical of patterns observed in other serpulids, and also examined the effect of diet on larval development and identified cues that induce metamorphosis. Populations of S. cariniferus on the east and west coasts of New Zealand's North Island had an extended spawning season with a high proportion (75–100%) of individuals carrying ripe gametes at any given time from the late spring to early autumn, consistent with other serpulid species. However, contrary to proposed patterns of sexual development in serpulids, sex-ratios and average male and female body masses suggest S. cariniferus are not protandric hermaphrodites. A diet experiment revealed that larval growth was fastest when provided with a mixed diet of three algal species. Solutions of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine at a concentration of 10−4 M were potent inducers of metamorphosis in S. cariniferus larvae, revealing that competence is reached by 13–15 days after fertilization. When exposed to surfaces coated with conspecific tube or tissue homogenates, 6% of competent larvae settled and metamorphosed on surfaces coated with tube homogenate whereas none settled on tissue homogenate or in the controls, suggesting specific cues are required for settlement and the likely presence of a settlement cue in the tubes of adult worms, consistent with the highly gregarious distribution of the species.

Keywords

larval growthSerpulidaetubewormlife historyrecruitmentsettlement behavioursettlement cuespawningcompetencegregarious distribution
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 5 , August 2013 , pp. 1249 - 1256
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012 

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