Development of Capitella sp. G from Galveston Bay, Texas

Abstract Polychaetes belonging to the Capitella ‘capitata’ species complex thrive in polluted or disturbed marine sediments. Sibling species differ in their reproductive and developmental features. Here we examine the life cycle of Capitella sp. G from Galveston Bay, TX. This species was collected in Galveston Bay and cultured in the laboratory. Brooding tubes were isolated from the culture and observed every 24 h. In addition to documenting normal development, we manipulated three brooding tubes by cutting them in half transversely and freeing the larvae in one of the fragments. In the unmanipulated cultures, development was direct, with the offspring emerging from the tubes after an average of 8 days as juveniles, following a trochophore and metatrochophore stage inside the brood tube. Individuals that were freed from the brood tubes in an early trochophore stage went through the same developmental stages as their siblings from the same brood; however, they showed large variation within a single brood and remained in the larval stage up to 33% longer.

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