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Rates of seasonal sediment reworking in Axiothella rubrocincta (Polychaeta: Maldanidae)

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Abstract

Sediment reworking rates of Axiothella rubrocincta (Johnson, 1901) (Polychaeta: Maldanidae) were measured in situ in Tomales Bay, California (USA), from August, 1969 through July, 1970. On the average, each adult worm (approximate fresh weight=1 g) reworks about 5 g dry sediment d-1 at a mean temperature of 13.4°C and a mean salinity of 31.8‰.Reworking rates are positively correlated with temperature and salinity, and negatively with sediment organic carbon, sedimentation rates and grain size. An inverse correlation exists between sediment reworking rates (g dry sediment g-1 wet wt of worm d-1) and g wet weight of worm. Sediment parameters deseribing unworked sediments are not significantly different from those for fecal sediments. Although these data suggest this species to be a “non-selective” deposit-feeder, it is more likely that it is faculatively selective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska at Anchorage, 3221 Providence Drive, 99508, Anchorage, Alaska, USA

    J. D. Kudenov

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  1. J. D. Kudenov
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Communicated by N. D. Holland, La Jolla

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Kudenov, J.D. Rates of seasonal sediment reworking in Axiothella rubrocincta (Polychaeta: Maldanidae). Mar. Biol. 70, 181–186 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397683

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