Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T14:38:33.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Life-Cycle of the Polychaete Nereis Virens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

N. R. Bass  and
A. E. Brafield
A. E. Brafield
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Queen Elizabeth College (University of London), Campden Hill Rd., London, W. 8
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Adult males of Nereis virens (Sars) spawn while swarming in mid-water and show epitokous changes which include enlarged parapodia, natatory chaetae and histolysis of the body wall. Females spawn while in their burrows and do not show such changes. An artificial rise in temperature can induce premature spawning. Seminal fluid is ejected through pygidial pores, but no such pores occur in the female. Both lunar period and temperature rise seem to be involved in initiating spawning, which generally occurs in early May in the Thames populations. Gravid worms show a peculiar method of swimming in which the anterior region is held rigid. A pair of flagellar vanes and other features characterize the fine structure of the spermatozoon. The mature oocytes bear microvilli, and some express a jelly-like layer after fertilization which traps excess spermatozoa. Many unit-membraned vesicles, of uncertain function, occur in the periphery of the nucleus of the mature oocyte. At fertilization the acrosomal contents are discharged on to the surface of the oocyte. The structure and behaviour of the monotrochophore, trochophore and nectochaete larvae, and the details of the nature and rate of development of such structures as the parapodia, cirri, palps and jaws, differ in some ways from the known larval development of certain other nereids. A very brief planktonic phase occurs in larval life, and young worms migrate from the sublittoral to the littoral regions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , August 1972 , pp. 701 - 726
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Banse, K. 1954. Über Morphologie und Larvelentwicklung von Nereis (Neanthes) succinea (Leuckart, 1847), Polychaeta, Errantia. Zool.Jb., Abt. 2, Bd. 74, pp. 160–71.Google Scholar
Bass, N. R.Chapman, G. & Chapman, J. M. 1969. Uptake of leucine by larvae and adults of Nereis. Nature, Lond., Vol. 221, pp. 476–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogucki, M. 1954. Rozrod i rozwoj wieloszczeta Nereis diversicolor (O. F. Müller) w Baltyku. Polskie Archwm Hydrobiol., Vol. 1, pp. 251–70.Google Scholar
Brafield, A. E. & Chapman, G. 1967. Gametogenesis and breeding in a natural population of Nereis virens. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 47, pp. 619–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, G. & Taylor, A. G. 1968. Uptake of organic solutes by Nereis virens. Nature, Lond., Vol. 217, pp. 763–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, R. B. 1960. Fauna of the Clyde Sea Area. Polychaeta, 71 pp. Millport: Scottish Marine Biological Association.Google Scholar
Clark, R. B. 1961. The origin and formation of the heteronereis. Biol. Rev., Vol. 36, pp. 199–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dales, R. P. 1950. The reproduction and larval development of Nereis diversicolor. O. F. Müller. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 29, pp. 321–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dales, R. P. 1951. An annual history of a population of Nereis diversicolor. O. F. Müller. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole, Vol. 101, pp. 131–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. M. 1966. Non-associative avoidance learning in nereid polychaetes. Anim. Behav., Vol. 14, pp. 102–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fallon, J. F. & Austin, C. R. 1967. Fine structure of the gametes of Nereis limbata (Annelida) before and after interaction. J. exp. Zool., Vol. 166, pp. 225–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fauvel, P. 1923. Polychètes errantes. Faune Fr., T.5, 488 pp. Paris.Google Scholar
Franzen, A. 1956. On spermogenesis and morphology of the spermatozoon and biology of fertilization among invertebrates. Zoo. Bidr. Upps., Vol. 31, pp. 355–482.Google Scholar
Gilpin-Brown, J. B. 1959. The reproduction and larval development of Nereis fucata. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 38, pp. 65–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, J. 1939. Studies in animal locomotion. VIII. Nereis diversicolor. J. exp. Biol., Vol. 16, pp. 9–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauenschild, C. 1956a. Neue experimentelle Untersuchungen zum Problem der Lunarperiodizitat. Naturwissenschaften, Bd. 16, pp. 361–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauenschild, C. 1956b. Hormonale Hemmung der Geschlechtstreife und Metamorphose bei dem Polychaeten Platynereis dumerilii. Z. Naturf., Bd. 11b, pp. 125–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hempelmann, F. 1911. Zur Naturgeschichte von Nereis dumerilii. Aud. und Edw. Zoologica, Stuttg., Bd. 62, pp. 1–135.Google Scholar
Herpin, R. 1923. Ethologie et développement de Nereis (Neanthes) caudata delle Chiaje. C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris, T. 177, pp. 542–4.Google Scholar
Herpin, R. 1925. Recherches biologiques sur la reproduction et le développement de quelques Annelides Polychètes. Bull. Soc. Sci. nat. Ouest Fr., ser. 4, T. 5, pp. 1–250.Google Scholar
Horridge, G. A. 1959. Analysis of the rapid response of Nereis and Harmothoe (Annelida). Proc. R. Soc. B., Vol. 150, pp. 245–62.Google ScholarPubMed
Jørgensen, C. B. & Dales, R. P. 1957. The regulation of volume and osmotic regulation in some nereid polychaetes. Physiologia comp. Oecol., Vol. 4, pp. 357–74.Google Scholar
Kinne, O. 1954. Über das Schwarmen und die Larvalentwicklung von Nereis succinea Leuckart. Zool. Anz., Bd. 153, pp. 114–26.Google Scholar
Korringa, P. 1957. Lunar periodicity. Mem. geol. Soc. Am., Mem. 67, Vol. 1 (ch. 27), pp. 917–34.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. B. & Whitney, P. J. 1968. Cellulase in Nereis virens. Nature, Lond., Vol. 220, pp. 603–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mcintosh, W. C. 1908–1910. A Monograph of the British marine Annelids, Vol. 2, Parts 1 and 2. London: Ray Society.Google Scholar
Muus, B. J. 1967. The fauna of Danish estuaries and lagoons. Distribution and ecology of dominating species in the shallow reaches of the mesohaline zone. Meddr Danm. Fisk.- og Havunders., Bd. 5, pp. 1–316.Google Scholar
Pasteels, J. J. 1966. La réaction corticale de fécondation de l'œuf de Nereis limbata, étudiée au microscope électronique. Acta Embryol. Morph. exp., T. 6, pp. 155–63.Google Scholar
Pettibone, M. H. 1963. Marine polychaete worms of the New England region. 1. Aphroditidae through Trochochaetidae. Bull. U.S. natn. Mus., Vol. 227, pp. 1–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranzi, S. 1931. Ricerche sulla biologia sessuale degli Anellidi. Pubbl. Staz. zool. Napoli, Vol. 11, pp. 271–92.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, E. 1956. Faunistic and biological notes on marine invertebrates. III. Biol. Meddr, Vol. 23, No. 1.Google Scholar
Reish, D. J. 1954. The life history and ecology of the polychaetous annelid Nereis grubei (Kinberg). Occ. Pap. Allan Hancock Fdn, No. 14, pp. 1–46.Google Scholar
Reish, D. J. 1957. The life history of the polychaetous annelid Neanthes caudata (delle Chiaje) including a summary of development of the nereid family. Pacif. Sci., Vol. 2, pp. 216–28.Google Scholar
Smith, R. I. 1953. The distribution of the polychaete Neanthes lighti in the Salinas River estuary, California, in relation to salinity, 1948–1952. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole, Vol. 105, PP. 335–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, R. I. 1964. On the early development of Nereis diversicolor in different salinities. J. Morph., Vol. 114, pp. 437–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sveshnikov, V. A. 1955. Reproduction and development of Nereis virens Sars. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR (Zoologiya), 103 pt., pp. 165–7. [Translated by B. J. McAlice, Ira C. Darling Center, Maine, U.S.A].Google Scholar
Sveshnikov, V. A. 1960. Pelagic larvae and larval development of the White Sea. Zool. Zh., Vol. 39, pp. 343–55.Google Scholar
Thorson, G. 1946. Reproduction and larval development of Danish invertebrates. Meddr Kommn Danm. Fisk.- og Havunders., ser. Plankton, Bd. 4, No. 1, pp. 1–523.Google Scholar
Thorson, G. 1957. Bottom communities (sublittoral or shallow shelf). Mem. geol. Soc. Am., No. 67, Vol. 1, pp. 461–534.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. P. 1932. The development of Nereis pelagica Linnaeus. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 18, pp. 203–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar