Meeting Abstract

62.2  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Larval settlement, primary tube formation, and the role of the primary tube in the polychaete Hydroides elegans HADFIELD, M. G.*; HUGGETT, M.; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of Hawaii at Manoa hadfield@hawaii.edu

Larvae of the serpulid polychaete Hydroides elegans, a common member of tropical marine fouling communities, settle selectively on bacterial films. Immediately following behavioral settlement, the larvae rapidly secrete an uncalcified primary tube, which both attaches them to the substratum and provides a refuge within which they complete early stages in metamorphosis. In a recent paper we presented data showing that larvae that settle on a biofilm are more firmly attached than those on a clean surface. In the present study, we examined primary tube formation with electron microscopy and learned that the primary tube is secreted from the post-trochal body surface through small tubules that extend from the epidermal cells through the larval cuticle. Preliminary observations suggest that the primary tube material mixes with bacterial exopolymers in the biofilm to secure the larva more firmly to the substratum.