Poliquetos (Annelida: Polychaeta) epibiontes de Spondylus americanus (Bivalvia: Spondylidae) en el Parque Nacional Mochima, Venezuela

Abstract

Polychaetes (Annelida: Polychaeta) epibiont on Spondylus americanus (Bivalvia: Spondylidae) from Mochima National Park, Venezuela. The polychaetes epibiontic on the mollusk Spondylus americanus Hermann, 1781 were extracted from mollusks hand-collected at a depth of 10-30 m in Mochima National Park, Venezuela (10º21'00" N -63º23'36" W), using scuba diving gear. Forty-three polychaete species were identified on the 32 bivalve specimens analyzed.

Spondylus crassisquama Lamarck, 1819 as a microecosystem and the effects of associated macrofauna on its shell integrity: isles of biodiversity or sleeping with the enemy?

“…In the province of Esmeraldas, S. crassisquama is mainly free-living on sandy, muddy, or pebble bottoms. Studies on the biology and ecology of Spondylus species are still scarce, though more work has been done on the outer shell structure and the taxonomic composition of shell epibionts and endobionts (Zavarei 1973;Logan 1974;Feifarek 1987;de León-González 1988;de León-González et al 1993;CastroAguirre et al 1996;Stone 1998;Mienis 2001;Carlson Jones 2003;Linero-Arana and Diaz-Diaz 2006). Yet open questions remain about the nature of the coexistence between Spondylus and their associated species: are we dealing with a form of parasitism, commensalism, or is mutualism more likely?…”