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Reproduction of the biogenic reef-forming honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

S.C. Culloty*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
E. Favier
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
M. Ní Riada
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
N.F. Ramsay
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
R.M. O'Riordan
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S.C. Culloty, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Enterprise Centre, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland email: s.culloty@ucc.ie

Abstract

The stage of development of the gametes of both male and female honeycomb worms Sabellaria alveolata (L.) was examined, using histology, over a 14-month period. Samples came from Howes Strand and Garrettstown, County Cork in south-west Ireland. A clear cycle of both male and female gametogenesis was evident, with a distinct peak in the summer (June–September) when the majority of them were ripe. During October–January a small proportion of males contained abundant spermatozoa, but no mature oocytes were found. Over the whole sampling period the ratio of males:females was 1.4:1. Further south in Roches de la Fosse in France at the centre of its range, two spawnings and an even sex-ratio have been reported.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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