Observations and Experiments on the Biology and Life History of Riseriellus occultus (Heteronemertea: Lineidae)

Studies on the biology and life history of nemerteans are scarce, mostly because these animals are nocturnal. In order to broaden the knowledge base on the life history of nemerteans as a prerequisite for comparative analyses, we studied a population of Riseriellus occultus (Heteronemertea: Lineidae) inhabiting the rocky intertidal in southern Brittany near Concarneau (France) for more than 10 years. Our studies show that R. occultus is an iteroparous, perennial species exclusively inhabiting rocky shore crevices that result from onionskin weathering of the granite. From September through October R. occultus reproduces by external fertilization and develops via a planktonic pilidium larva, which, under laboratory conditions, metamorphoses after about six weeks. Adults of R. occultus are nocturnal macrophagous predators that preferentially feed on the gastropods Gibbula umbilicalis and Patella species, but also consume the bivalve Mytilus edulis. Since R. occultus devours the snail inside the shell, we fixed individuals while feeding, and serially sectioned them. Reconstruction of the sections shows that R. occultus swallows the entire soft body and finally detaches the columellar muscle from the shell. Estimates on the density of R. occultus inside the rock crevices provide evidence for clustered distribution and locally high abundance on the rocky shore. These data strongly suggest that R. occultus affects the structure of the rocky shore gastropod community. Although our data are still fragmentary with respect to the ecology of this species and its role in the local food web, our knowledge has grown to such extent that R. occultus can now be regarded as one of the few well characterized nemertean species.

Larval Development of Two N. E. Pacific Pilidiophoran Nemerteans (Heteronemertea; Lineidae)

Unique to the phylum Nemertea, the pilidium is an unmistakable planktonic larva found in one group of nemerteans, the Pilidiophora. Inside the pilidium, the juvenile develops from a series of epidermal invaginations in the larval body, called imaginal discs. The discs grow and fuse around the larval gut over the course of weeks to months in the plankton. Once complete, the juvenile breaks free from the larval body in a catastrophic metamorphosis, and often devours the larva as its first meal. One third of nemertean species are expected to produce a pilidium, but the larvae are known for very few species; development from fertilization to metamorphosis has been described in only one species, Micrura alaskensis. Known pilidia include both planktotrophic and lecithotrophic forms, and otherwise exhibit great morphological diversity. Here, we describe the complete development in two lineiform species that are common to the northeast Pacific coast, Micrura wilsoni and Lineus sp. "red." Both species possess typical, cap-shaped planktotrophic pilidia, and the order of emergence of imaginal discs is similar to that which is described in M. alaskensis. The pilidium of Lineus sp. "red" resembles pilidia of several other species, such as Lineus flavescens, and potentially characterizes a pilidiophoran clade. M. wilsoni has relatively transparent oocytes and a pilidium with what appears to be a unique pattern of pigmentation. The adults of both species are more commonly observed in intertidal zones than their larvae are in the plankton.