Meeting Abstract
78.2 Wednesday, Jan. 6 Effects of repeated injury on the activity and condition of a maldanid polychaete PAGE, J.L.**; LINDSAY, S.M.; University of Maine, Orono; University of Maine, Orono jennifer.page82@gmail.com
Polychaetes and other marine infauna frequently experience tissue loss to browsing predators. Such non-lethal tissue losses can represent a significant energetic input to higher trophic levels. Past research and modeling have shown that tissue loss has immediate effects on the organism and secondarily reduces sediment disturbance rates. The degree to which sediment disturbance and the community are affected will depend on the frequency of injury, whether injured individuals can regenerate and the speed at which they do so. Similarly, the degree to which infauna provide a “renewable” food resource for consumers higher in the food chain will depend on their capacity to regenerate after repeated injuries, and on the energetic quality of regenerated individuals. The goal of this study is to test the effects of repeated injury on the activity and nutrition of a head down deposit feeding polychaete, Clymenella torquata (Maldanidae). In laboratory experiments, we examined the effects of repeated anterior or posterior injury on the survival, activity, growth, and nutritional condition of C. torquata. Loss of anterior segments in single or repeated events resulted in higher mortality, less defecation and tube building, and low to no growth in both juvenile and adult worms. One-time loss of posterior segments resulted in increased defecation and tube building by both juveniles and adults. Survival and growth of injured juveniles was greater than or equal to that of controls. In contrast, adults that lost posterior segments once experienced higher mortality and lost weight compared to controls. Losing posterior tissue multiple times decreased weight gain but increased defecation and tube building by both juveniles and adults. Analysis of glycogen and lipid content in regenerating and intact worms is ongoing.
