04. Larval Settlement Patterns of Spirobranchus giganteus and Bispira brunnea

Abstract

This study expands our understanding of the relationship between polychaete worms that live on the surface of corals, Spirobranchus giganteus (Christmas tree worms) and Bispira brunnea (feather duster worms), and their coral hosts. The study’s focus was to characterize the distribution of the polychaete species with respect to coral host genus. Feather duster worms occured on Porites and Montastrea corals more than expected, and less than expected on Millepora and Diploria (χ²=9.299, df=2, p2=1.0857, df=2, 0.75Montastrea, Millepora, and Diploria than expected, and less likely to occur on Porites. This observation held for both individuals and clusters (χ²=36.3729, df=2, p2=12.1431, df=2, p