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The energetics of growth and reproduction in the brackish water serpulid Mercierella enigmatica (Fauvel)
Dixon, D.R. (1976). The energetics of growth and reproduction in the brackish water serpulid Mercierella enigmatica (Fauvel), in: Persoone, G. et al. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 10th European Symposium on Marine Biology, Ostend, Belgium, Sept. 17-23, 1975: 2. Population dynamics of marine organisms in relation with nutrient cycling in shallow waters. pp. 197-209
In: Persoone, G.; Jaspers, E. (Ed.) (1976). Proceedings of the 10th European Symposium on Marine Biology, Ostend, Belgium, Sept. 17-23, 1975: 2. Population dynamics of marine organisms in relation with nutrient cycling in shallow waters. IZWO/Universa Press: Wetteren. ISBN 90-6281-002-0. 712 pp., more
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Document type: Conference paper
Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
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  • Dixon, D.R.
Abstract
    Mercierella enigmatica (Fauvel) is a polytelic and protandrous, hermaphroditic filter-feeding serpulid which can easily be kept in the laboratory. The species is of considerable importance as a fouling organism in the middle reaches of estuaries and other brackish regions. In this study its somatic and gamete production was investigated using microbomb calorimetry. The somatic tissue had a mean caloric value of 4.32 cal/mg dry wt. Eggs and sperm had values of 4.5 +/-0.26 cal/mg dry wt and 3.8 +/-0.025 cal/mg dry wt, respectively. The somatic standing crop averaged over the year, was 993.64 cal/m² and total production 1,793.97 cal/m²/ year giving a P: S.C. ratio of 1.8:1. Gamete production accounted for 44.2 % of the total production/m²/ year. The significance of these values in relation to Mercierella's life history and reproductive strategy are discussed.
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