Formation and Function of the Primary Tube During Settlement and Metamorphosis of the Marine Polychaete (Haswell, 1883) (Serpulidae).

AbstractThe serpulid polychaete has emerged as a major model organism for studies of marine invertebrate settlement and metamorphosis and for processes involved in marine biofouling. Rapid secretion of an enveloping, membranous, organic primary tube provides settling larvae of firm adhesion to a surface and a refuge within which to complete metamorphosis. While this tube is never calcified, it forms the template from which the calcified tube is produced at its anterior end.

Acidification stress effect on umbonate veliger larval development in Panopea globosa.

Ocean acidification generates a decrease in calcium carbonate availability essential for biomineralization in organisms such as mollusks. This effect was evaluated on Panopea globosa exposing for 7 days umbonate veliger larvae to two pH treatments: experimental (pH 7.5) and control (pH 8.

The effect of filamentous turf algal removal on the development of gametes of the coral Orbicella annularis.

Macroalgae and filamentous turf algae (FTA) are abundant on degraded coral reefs, and the reproductive responses of corals may indicate sub-lethal stress under these conditions. The percentage of gametogenic stages (PGS) and the maximum diameter of eggs (MDE; or egg size) of Orbicella annularis were used to evaluate the effect of long- (7-10 months) and short-term (2.5 months) FTA removal (treatments T1 and T2, respectively) at both the beginning (May) and the end (August) of gametogenesis.