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A new method to determine the reproductive condition in female tubeworms tested in Seepiophila jonesi (Polychaeta: Siboglinidae: Vestimentifera)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2008

Ana Hilário ,
Paul A. Tyler  and
David W. Pond
Ana Hilário*
Affiliation:
School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, SO14 3ZH, Southampton, UK Present address: CESAM, Departamento de Biologia, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Paul A. Tyler
Affiliation:
School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, SO14 3ZH, Southampton, UK
David W. Pond
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, CB3 0ET, Cambridge, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Ana HilárioCESAM, Departamento de Biologia Universidade de AveiroCampus Universitário de Santiago 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal email: ahilario@bio.ua.pt
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Abstract

Vestimentiferan tubeworms are significant members of deep-sea chemosynthetically-driven communities, including hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The reproductive condition in this taxon is rarely studied because of sampling constraints inherent to these environments, and the lack of a simple methodology to quantify gonad development in vestimentiferans.

We demonstrate that the amount of gonad found in the first 10 mm of trunk can be used as representative of the reproductive condition of the individual, and we establish a linear relationship between the amount of gonad and the proportion of wax ester in the trunk of female vestimentiferans. This relationship represents a new method for the determination of the reproductive condition in this group.

Keywords

Vestimentiferachemosynthetic ecosystemsreproductive conditionwax esters

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 5 , August 2008 , pp. 909 - 912
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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