Morphological and systematic studies of an Autolytus population (Polychaeta, Syllidae, Autolytinae) from the Oosterschelde estuary
Schiedges, K.-L. (1980). Morphological and systematic studies of an Autolytus population (Polychaeta, Syllidae, Autolytinae) from the Oosterschelde estuary. Neth. J. Sea Res. 14(2): 208-219
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406, more
|  |
| Abstract |
Material was collected from the Oosterschelde near Yerseke, The Netherlands from a habitat characteristic for the subfamily Autolytinae (Polychaeta, Syllidae). The following features were used to characterize the specimens: type of stolonization, male and female stolons, variations in the position and denticulation of the trepan, proventricle, anterior appendages, dorsal cirri, epidermis and setae. The great range of variation in characteristics used for species diagnosis by the original authors made it difficult to classify the material. Part of it belongs clearly to the species Autolytus prolifer and Autolytus brachycephalus but most specimens showed intermediate characteristics in a wide variety of combination. Classification could only be based, if at all, on the denticulation of the trepan. It is discussed as being unlikely that the material includes two distinct coexistant species(Autolytus prolifer, A. brachycephalus). The specimens may belong either to one polymorphous species or to a hybrid population of two neighbouring races. Hybridization experiments are proposed to test the assumption. |
|
