Polychaeta |
Aciculata |
Hesionidae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Benthic. Temperate
Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean: Germany and Ireland.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Inhabits sandbanks in clean to generally medium-grained sand. An herbivorous epistratum-feeder; microvore that feeds on organic detritus (Ref. 96352). Feeds on diatoms, detritus, copepods, foraminiferans and on a variety of small invertebrates (based on the feeding ecology of the family Hesionidae; Ref. 87179).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Members of the class Polychaeta are mostly gonochoric (sexual). Mating: Females produce a pheromone attracting and signalling the males to shed sperm which in turn stimulates females to shed eggs, this behavior is known as swarming. Gametes are spawned through the metanephridia or body wall rupturing (termed as "epitoky", wherein a pelagic, reproductive individual, "epitoke", is formed from a benthic, nonreproductive individual, "atoke"). After fertilization, most eggs become planktonic; although some are retained in the worm tubes or burrowed in jelly masses attached to the tubes (egg brooders). Life Cycle: Eggs develop into trocophore larva, which later metamorph into juvenile stage (body lengthened), and later develop into adults.
Gollasch, S. and S. Nehring. 2006. (Ref. 3700)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
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Tools
More information
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Price category
Unknown.
