Abstract
Individual Axiothella rubrocincta Johnson on the Californian coast live in U-shaped tubes, feed on the surface of the sediment, attain densities of 100 m-2, attain lengths of 140 mm, have maximum oocyte diameters of 220 μm and produce demersal larvae. Individuals from Washington populations live in vertical tubes, feed 10–15 cm below the sediment surface, reach densities of 5000 m-2, attain lengths of 60 mm, have maximum oocyte diameters of 385 μm and brood their young in their tubes to at least the 7-setiger stage. Individuals from California have a scalloped posterior margin of the cephalic plate, while individuals from Washington have entire margins. There are no other consistent morphological differences between populations. The population from Eagle Cove, Washington has individuals similar in size and oocyte diameter to individuals from California, but which maintain vertical tubes. A. rubrocincta represents a sibling species complex.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Literature cited
Akesson, B.: Incipient reproductive isolation between geographical populations of Ophryotrocha labronica (Polychaeta: Dorvilleidae). Zool. Scripta 1, 207–210 (1972)
Day, J. H.: A monograph on the Polychaeta of Southern Africa. Part 2. Sedentaria. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Publ. 656, 459–878 (1967)
Dobbs, F. C. and R. B. Whitlatch: Aspects of deposit-feeding by the polychaete Clymenella torquata. Ophelia 21, 159–166 (1982)
Dobzhansky, T., F. J. Ayala, G. L. Stebbins and J. W. Valentine: Evolution, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company 1977
Fauchald, K.: The polychaete worms. Definitions and keys to orders, families and genera. Los Angeles County Mus. nat. Hist., Sci. Ser. 28, 1–190 (1977)
Fauchald, K. and P. A. Jumars. The diet of worms: a study of polychaete feeding guilds. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 17, 193–284 (1979)
Feder, H. M., G. J. Mueller, M. H. Dick and D. B. Hawkins: Preliminary benthos survey. In: Environmental studies of Port Valdez. Ed. by D. W. Hood, W. E. Shiels and E. J. Kelley. Inst. mar. Sci. Alaska Occ. Publ. 3, 305–386 (1973)
Gibson, P. H.: Systematics of Dodecaceria (Annelida: Polychaeta) and its relation to the reproduction of its species. J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) 63, 275–287 (1978)
Grassle, J. P. and J. F. Grassle: Sibling species in the marine pollution indicator Capitella (Polychaeta). Science, N.Y. 192, 567–569 (1976)
Johnson, H. P.: The Polychaeta of the Puget Sound region. Proc. Boston Soc. nat., Hist. 29, 381–437 (1901)
Johnson, R. G.: Varations in diversity within benthic marine communities. Am. Nat. 104, 285–300 (1970)
Kudenov, J. D.: Sedentary polychaetes from the Gulf of California, Mexico. J. nat. Hist. 9, 205–231 (1975)
Kudenov, J. D.: The functional morphology of feeding in three species of maldanid polychaetes. J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) 60, 95–109 (1977)
Kudenov, J. D.: The feeding ecology of Axiothella rubrocincta (Johnson) (Polychaeta: Maldanidae). J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 31, 207–221 (1978)
Kudenov, J. D.: Rates of seasonal sediment reworking in Axiothella rubrocincta (Polychaeta: Maldanidae). Mar. Biol. 70, 181–186 (1982)
Levin, L. A.: Population and community studies of Axiothella rubrocincta in False Bay, San Juan Island, WA. Zoology 533 Research Report, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, 14 pp. 1977
McDaniel, N. and K. Banse: A novel method of suspension feeding by the maldanid polychaete Praxillura maculata. Mar. Biol. 55, 129–132 (1979)
Mayr, E.: Populations, species and evolution, 453 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press 1963
Mayr, E.: Principles of systematic zoology, 428 pp. New York: McGraw Hill 1969
Pesch, G.: Protein polymorphism in the hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria and Mercenaria campechiensis. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab. Woods Hole 146, 393–403 (1974)
Pilgrim, M.: The functional morphology and possible taxonomic significance of the parapodia of the maldanid polychaetes Clymenella torquata and Euclymene oerstedi. J. Morph. 152, 281–302 (1977)
Rice, S. A. and J. L. Simon: Intraspecific variation in the pollution indicator polychaete Polydora ligni (Spionidae). Ophelia 19, 79–115 (1980)
Ronan, Jr., T. E.: Structural and paleoecological aspects of a modern soft-sediment community: an experimental field study. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis 1975
Scheibling, R. E. and J. M. Lawrence. Differences in reproductive strategies of morphs of the genus Echinaster (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Biol. 70, 51–62 (1982)
Spies, R. B. The functional morphology of Axiothella rubrocincta. Master's Thesis, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California 1969
Tucker, J. Gametogenic cycles in the maldanid polychaete, Axiothella rubrocincta (Johnson, 1901). West. Soc. Naturalists (Abstract) (1969)
Weinberg, J. R.: Ecological determinants of spionid distributions within dense patches of deposit-feeding polychaete Axiothella rubrocincta. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 1, 301–314 (1979)
Woodin, S. A.: Polychaete abundance patterns in a marine softsediment environment: the importance of biological interactions. Ecological Monographs 44, 171–187 (1974)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilson, W.H. Life-history evidence for sibling species in Axiothella rubrocincta (Polychaeta: Maldanidae). Marine Biology 76, 297–300 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393032
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393032