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A new method to determine the reproductive condition in female tubeworms tested in Seepiophila jonesi (Polychaeta: Siboglinidae: Vestimentifera)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2008
Abstract
Vestimentiferan tubeworms are significant members of deep-sea chemosynthetically-driven communities, including hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The reproductive condition in this taxon is rarely studied because of sampling constraints inherent to these environments, and the lack of a simple methodology to quantify gonad development in vestimentiferans.
We demonstrate that the amount of gonad found in the first 10 mm of trunk can be used as representative of the reproductive condition of the individual, and we establish a linear relationship between the amount of gonad and the proportion of wax ester in the trunk of female vestimentiferans. This relationship represents a new method for the determination of the reproductive condition in this group.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 5 , August 2008 , pp. 909 - 912
- Copyright
- Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008
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