Population dynamics of Capitella capitata (Polychaeta; Capitellidae) in an organically polluted cove

Abstract

The population dynamics of a sibling species of CapiteUa capitata (Fabricius) in a cove organically polluted by fish farrn~ng were characterized by early recolonizahon m azoic areas, very rapid population growth, and extinction following development of extremely anaerobic conditions during summer. The remarkably high potential for population growth results from the short life cycle and continual reproduction as a population. Previously, the production of planktonic larvae with the ability to disperse over a wide area was considered one of the most important life history characteristics of opportunistic polychaetes in unpredictable habitats. In the present study, however, Capitella sp. exhibited opportunistic population dynamics during benthic recovery after defaunation in heavily polluted areas, despite production of a small number of large eggs with restricted dispersal ability via lecithotrophic larvae. The size cornposibon of the recolonizing population suggested that some of the worms were recruited as mature adults from a very small population maintalned in the immediate vicinity of the sampling station in an environment disturbed by organic pollution. Although the populahon dynamics of Capitella sp. appear to be characteristic of highly opportunisbc organisms, results suggest that populations may be maintained within each habitat by reliance only on a remarkably large potential for population growth. In general, organically polluted areas may not be temporary habitats that Capitella sp. can utilize only during benthic recovery immediately after defaunation, but rather such areas may be their native habitats.

Investigation of the fate and effects of acetyl cedrene on Capitella teleta and sediment bacterial community

“…Seven worms were added to each sample in the worm treatments to give a density of roughly 2000 worms m −2 in each crystallization beaker (diameter = 68 mm), which is within the range of population densities found in the field (Méndez et al 1997;Tsutsumi 1987Tsutsumi , 1990. Fourteen replicate crystallization beakers were prepared for each of the four treatments.…”

“…I (Blake et al 2009), was employed in this study. C. teleta is described as opportunistic and has a widespread distribution (Grassle 1980;Grassel and Grassel 1976) with population densities in the range of <100-400,000 worms m −2 (Méndez et al 1997;Tsutsumi 1987Tsutsumi , 1990. Several studies have examined the effects of chemical compounds on worm growth rate, sediment processing (Madsen et al 1997;Méndez et al 2001;Selck et al 1998Selck et al , 1999Selck et al , 2003, mortality (Méndez 2006) and life-history traits (Linke-Gamenick et al 1999, 2000aPedersen et al 2009;Ramskov et al 2009).…”

Morphometric analysis of Capitella capitata (Polychaeta, Capitellidae)

“…Capitella capitata is frequently found in high abundance in organically enriched environments (REISH, 1980), and is widely used as an indicator of organic pollution or environmental disturbances (GRASSLE & GRASSLE, 1974;WARREN, 1976WARREN, , 1977REISH, 1979;JAMES & GIBSON, 1980;GRIZZLE, 1984;TSUTSUMI & KIKUCHI, 1984;TSUTSUMI, 1987TSUTSUMI, , 1990TSUTSUMI et al, 1990;BRIDGES et al, 1994;MÉNDEZ et al, 1997;AMARAL et al, 1998). High densities of C. capitata can be attributed to an opportunistic life history that allows rapid colonization of organically enriched and/or disturbed habitats (GRASSLE & GRASSLE, 1974).…”

“…The population dynamics and the factors affecting the growth and secondary production of C. capitata have been studied by WARREN (1976), TENORE (1977TENORE ( , 1981TENORE ( , 1982, CHESNEY (1985), FORBES & LOPEZ (1987, 1990a, TSUTSUMI (1987TSUTSUMI ( , 1990, GRÉMARE et al (1989), TSUTSUMI et al (1990), BRIDGES et al (1994, BRIDGES (1996), MARTIN & GRÉMARE (1997) and MÉNDEZ et al (1997), and for other polychaete families by ZAJAC (1991), SANTOS (1991SANTOS ( , 1994, AMBROGI et al (1993), LARDICCI et al (1997), OMENA & AMARAL (2000) and SOUZA & BORZONE (2000), among others. These kinds of studies on sandy beaches are important for better understanding of the community structure in this ecosystem (HOLLAND & POLGAR, 1976).…”

“…Body-size relationships are essential in understanding population processes such as recruitment, growth and secondary productivity (TSUTSUMI, 1987(TSUTSUMI, , 1990QIAN et al, 1990;STEIMLE et al, 1990;MÉNDEZ et al, 1997;OMENA & AMARAL, 2000). However, with soft-bodied taxa such as marine polychaetes, body length can vary with the fixation process, and the field sampling procedures typically result in a large proportion of incomplete individuals for which body length cannot be determined directly (WARWICK & PRICE, 1975;DESROSIERS et al, 1988).…”