Larval development ofAutolytus alexandriMalmgren 1867 (Polychaeta, Syllidae)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Autolytur alexandri were collected from plankton at Bamfield Marine Station on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada from April to June, 1986. All females were sexually mature and had developed brooding pouches which were divided into a number of chambers (one chamber of each sexual segment). Over 5,000 embryos and larvae were found in the brooding pouch of a single female. Larval development was asynchronous in different chambers, but was synchronous within the same chamber. Larvae emerged from the pouch at 1–2 segment stages, were benthopelagic and swam close to the bottom of the culture dish for 2–3 days. Metamorphosis followed settlement and was complete within 5 to 6 weeks after fertilization. This paper is the first reporting the details of larval development in this very large genus (over 100 species), as well, it represents a new record that this animal has been collected from the coastal water of British Columbia, Canada.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: