Relationship between growth of Capitella sp. and organic enrichment of the sediment

Abstract

Laboratory colonies of Capitella sp., which 1s found densely distributed in organically enriched or polluted areas, were cultured in sediments with various levels of organic matter to examine the relationship between level of sediment organic matter and growth of individuals. Growth was independent of absolute levels of sediment organic matter, but was significantly correlated with increases in the level of sediment organic matter on addition of algal powder to the sediment. These results indicate that Capitella species predominating in organically enriched areas have a physiological requirement for organic materials discharged from sources of organic enrichment, e.g, abundant growth of algae, fish farming, industrial effluent, sewage, if they are to grow normally. Although associat~on of some Capitella species with sediment organic enrichment has been previously recognized as a reflection of their opportunistic characteristics, a physiological requirement for organic materials discharged from sources of organic enrichment may be the single factor most responsible for the concentration of CapiteNa species in organically enriched areas. However, it is unlikely that they can directly ingest and assimilate such organic materials. Since the additional organic materials are easily decomposed in the sediment, Capitella species may require either (1) some specific microorganisms, the levels of which increase with levels of the organic materials, or (2) certain substance(s) produced during decomposition of the organic materials.

Morphometric analysis of Capitella capitata (Polychaeta, Capitellidae)

“…After sample processing, most individuals of this important species are frequently broken into pieces or missing their posterior ends; however, the thoracic region is rarely damaged. Previous studies of the population dynamics and secondary production of C. capitata have estimated body size using parameters such as the width of various thoracic setigers (TSUTSUMI, 1987(TSUTSUMI, , 1990) and thoracic length (WARREN, 1976;MÉNDEZ et al, 1997). A review of the literature concerning estimating growth in C. capitata indicates that most authors used thoracic parameters such as thoracic length or the length or width of a single thoracic setiger.…”

“…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).…”

Regional patterns of continental shelf polychaete diversity: examples for the North Sea, English Channel, Irish Sea and Outer Bristol Channel areas

“…Growth, reproduction and abundance of a large number of marine soft-bottom faunal species are influenced by great environmental variability in littoral ecosystems (Rhoads & Young 1970). Depth-related sedimentary, hydrographical and biological variables are most likely to be the temporal controlling factors of the shallow water communities (Gray 1981;Tsutsumi et al 1990;Mcpherson 1991;Libes 1992;Karakassis & Eleftheriou 1997;Dernie et al 2003). In marine soft sediments, spatial and temporal distribution of species are important for the understanding of interactions of species with each other and with the environment (Dauvin et al 2004).…”