Abstract
A Southampton Water (England) population of Melinna palmata Malmgren was studied from July 1978 to March 1980. M. palmata is a gregarious sedentary polychaete living in muddy substratum. The distribution of the polychaete in Southampton Water was related to the silt content of the sediment. The species occurs in sediments of <60% silt, it is dioecious, and the gametes are shed during a prolonged breeding season throughout the year, with peaks in March and July. Mature oocytes measure between 180 and 240 μm in diameter at spawning, and fertilization is external. Unshed oocytes are resorbed. Annual secondary ary production was 0.42 gC m−2yr−1 and the P:B ratio was 2.19.
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Communicated by J. Mauchline, Oban
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Oyenekan, J.A. Population dynamics and secondary production in Melinna palmata (Polychaeta: Ampharetidae). Mar. Biol. 98, 247–251 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391202
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391202