ANDERSON-STYGLES, J.P.*; BIESIOT, P.M.; CURRY, K.J.; Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg: A histological study of reproduction in Leitoscoloplos foliosus (Polychaeta, Orbiniidae) from the northern Gulf of Mexico

Leitoscoloplos foliosus is an infaunal orbiniid polychaete reported from sandy beaches of Mississippi and Florida and from mud flats of Mississippi and Texas. Few records of L. foliosus exist, and much of its biology is unknown. Reproductive biology within the Orbiniidae varies among the few species for which such information is known. The objectives of the present study are to determine the spawning period and the mode of oviposition of L. foliosus from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and to document the reproductive systems of this species at the tissue level. Monthly collections were made at East Beach in Ocean Springs, MS; L. foliosus seems to be both larger and more abundant in warmer months. Oviposition has been reported for 13 other orbiniid species and includes deposition into cylindrical or pear-shaped cocoons or jelly masses as well as spawning freely into water. Although spawning and oviposition were not observed in the field or the laboratory, one female L. foliosus was collected with developing embryos in a cylindrical jelly cocoon surrounding the middle portion of the body. Worms were fixed in Allen-Bouin�s fixative, dehydrated in alcohol, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned. Sections were stained for light microscopy and photography with either hematoxylin and eosin or a trichrome stain and used to describe the reproductive anatomy of male and female L. foliosus.