Morphological variation in Polydora ciliata complex (Polychaeta: Annelida)

Abstract

Intraspecific variation in Polydora ciliata uohnston) was assessed on the basis of evidence from morphological characters, which were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Differences were observed betwccn populations of P. ciliata with respect to the setae of the fifth modified segment and in the caruncle. Two other species, namely P. Iignz Webster and P. limicola (Annenkova), were also studied in order to assess interspecific variation. The two forms of P. ciliata, that is boring and nonboring, were found to be different morphologically.

The occurrence of the alien speciesPolydora cornutaBosc, 1802 (Polychaeta: Spionidae) in North Adriatic lagoons: an overlooked presence

“…A closer inspection showed that the antenna was damaged and lost in six specimens, and completely lacking in five individuals. However, the absence of the antenna in some of the smaller specimens is in line with expected intraspecific variation (Rice & Simon 1980;Mustaquim 1986).…”

The Polydora cornuta complex (Annelida: Polychaeta) contains populations that are reproductively isolated and genetically distinct

“…The basis of a practical method for distinguishing between these separate species remains problematic. Mustaquim (1986) used SEM to assess morphological variation in three species of Polydora (P. ciliata, P. cornuta [as P. ligni], and P. limicola) from British coastal waters and reported significant variation in most traditional characters within and between species. In a similar study, Rice (1991) reported considerable variation in most taxonomically important morphological characteristics within three populations of P. cornuta.…”

“…They occur in most of the world's oceans, excluding polar regions, often in dense populations. Populations of P. cornuta have been reported in parts of California (Rice 1975;Light 1978;Blake 1996), Washington State (Ferner & Jumars 1999), New England (Webster & Benedict 1884;Mortensen 1945;Dean 1965;Grassle & Grassle 1974), North Carolina (Day 1973;Levin & Creed 1984), throughout western Europe (Soderstrom 1920;Hartman 1959;Rasmussen 1973;Ramberg & Schram 1982;Mustaquim 1986), the Mediterranean (Cinar et al 2005), the Caribbean, South America (Foster 1971), Taiwan (Radashevsky & Hsieh 2000), southeastern Australia (Blake & Kudenov 1978, as P. ligni), and New Zealand (Read & Gordon 1991). A rigorous morphological investigation of global populations of P. cornuta (Radashevsky 2005) concluded that insufficient differentiation has occurred to warrant unique species status for any of the geographically separated populations.…”

Cryptic polychaete diversity: a review

“…; Kruse & Reise ; Kruse et al . ; Sato & Nakashima ; Lewis & Karageorgopoulos ; Paxton & Åkesson ), life history characteristics (Grassle & Grassle ; Rice & Simon ; Wilson ; Mustaquim ; Westheide & Rieger ; Manchenko & Radashevsky , ; Bonse et al . ; Bastrop et al .…”