Berkeley, Edith. (1935). Swarming of Odontosyllis phosphorea Moore and of other Polychaeta near Nanaimo, B.C. Nature. 136: December 28, 1935: 1029.

55729

Berkeley, Edith

1935

136: December 28, 1935: 1029

Publication

https://doi.org/10.1038/1361029b0

Annelidabase

[complete text] In his very interesting article on the "Possible Bearing of a Luminous Syllid on the question of the Landfall of Columbus" in NATURE of October 5 (p. 559) L. R. Crawshay mentions the swarming of Odontosyllis phosphorea, Moore, in this neighbourhood. He refers to the observations made by Potts in 1911, from which It was mferred that there was a periodicity in appearance of the swarming forms of the species in Departure Bay, and that this could be correlated with the phases of the moon. As a result of much more extended observations of the actual state of affairs in 1914, it was shown by that there is no such periodicity, and that swarmmg forms of both sexes may be taken on any day over a period of between three and four months provided the water is still at sundown, at which time exclusively, swarming occurs. In more recent years: I have had many opportunities of confirming Fraser's observations, and swarming forms have been taken at dates both earlier and later in the year than recorded by him. It is interesting to find this difference in the behaviour of 0. phosphorea from that of both 0. enopla Verrill, as recorded by Galloway and Welch and of the Bahamian species, as now described by Crawshay. The swarming form of 0. phosphorea has not yet been taken at any point in this neighbourhood far distant from that at which it was observed by Potts and Fraser, but there is little doubt that this is due to the lack of sufficiently intensive search, since the area of distribution of the atokous form has now been so. extended as to indicate that it is quite general in the Strait of Georgia. The conditions in Departure Bay are, due to its sheltered situation and to the set of the currents into it from around the adjacent islands, particularly favourable to finding epitokous polychretes and, as Fraser points out, these factors are, no doubt, partly responsible for the concentrations of swarming 0. phosphorea which occur at the entrance to the bay. It would, perhaps, be of interest in this connexion to record other species the epitokous forms of which have been taken in Departure Bay in recent years. These include Autolytus prismaticus, Fabricius, Syllis elongata, Johnson, Syllis armillaris, Muller, Syllis borealis, Malmgren, Autolytus magnus, Berkeley, Nereis virens, Sars, Platynereis Dumerilii (Aud. M-Edwards) var. Agassizi, Ehlers, Nereis pelagica, L., Nereis vexillosa, Grube, Glycera nana, Johnson, Armandia brevis, Moore. All these have been taken at or near the Station float at various seasons and at various times of day and night.

North Pacific

Biology
Bioluminescence

Annelida
Polychaeta

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