Spatial and seasonal variation in polychaete communities according to their trophic categories in Southwest Tobago, West Indies

Figures & data

Figure 1. The location of seagrass sample sites in Bon Accord Lagoon (BAL) with sampling stations labelled A-F and the hard bottom sample site taken from Gobin [25] in Mt. Irvine Bay (MIB).

Figure 2. Cumulative frequency curve for pre-sampling experiment conducted at William’s Bay.

Figure 3. Artificial Substrate unit used by Gobin (2010) to investigate the hardbottom communities of MIB.

Table 1. Polychaete families collected in Bon Accord Lagoon, (Total BAL) Tobago, Trophic Category (TC), (D) density average (ind/m²), Standard Deviation (SD), Biological Index of Dominance (Bid), DF: Deposit Feeder, C: Carnivore, FF: filter feeder, O: Omnivore and family counts collected at Mt.Irvine Bay (MIB) For full species table please see Appendix 1

Family	Total BAL	D ind/m2	S.D.	T.C.	BID dry	BID wet	BID total	MIB
Ampharetidae	2	56	0.00	DF	93	95	188	9
Aphroditidae								16
Capitellidae	88	2464	39.60	DF	582	381	963	0
Cirratulidae	54	1512	1.41	DF	565	377	942	0
Cossuridae	4	112	2.83	DF	178	0	178	0
Dorvilleidae	86	2408	2.83	O	474	483	957	0
Eunicidae	15	420	9.19	DF	371	94	465	2
Flabelligeridae	8	224	5.66	DF	183	0	183	0
Glyceridae	6	168	0.00	C	277	185	462	0
Hesionidae	2	56	1.41	C	0	92	92	5
Lumbrineridae	24	672	1.41	O	463	466	929	0
Magelonidae	9	252	2.12	DF	179	96	275	0
Maldanidae	218	6104	33.94	DF	494	493	987	0
Nephtyidae	1	28	0.71	O	85	0	85	0
Nereididae	99	2772	33.23	C	484	387	871	1
Oenonidae	1	28	0.71	DF	84	0	84	1
Onuphidae	7	196	3.54	C	191	90	281	0
Opheliidae	57	1596	9.19	DF	369	478	847	0
Orbiniidae	11	308	7.78	DF	363	0	363	0
Paraonidae	79	2212	33.23	DF	292	474	766	0
Pectinariidae	2	56	1.41	DF	88	0	88	0
Phyllodocidae	1	28	0.71	C	0	91	91	4
Pilargidae	4	112	2.83	O	174	0	174	0
Polynoidae	7	196	3.54	C	354	88	442	14
Sabellidae	60	1680	33.94	DF	561	280	841	29
Serpulidae	5	140	3.54	FF	0	97	97	94
Sigalionidae	1	28	0.71	C	0	90	90	0
Spionidae	9	252	6.36	DF	360	0	360	0
Sternaspidae	1	28	0.71	DF	83	0	83	0
Syllidae	145	4060	16.26	C	480	373	853	216
Terebellidae	6	168	2.83	DF	88	274	362	10

Table 2. Number of polychaete individuals belonging to different trophic categories found in stations A – F. (DF) deposit feeders, (O) omnivores, (C) carnivores, (FF) filter feeders

	DF		O		C		FF
	dry	wet	dry	wet	dry	wet	dry	wet
A	51	27	22	31	44	57	1	0
B	27	40	2	2	2	11	0	5
C	16	23	12	5	12	5	0	0
D	52	30	3	8	47	8	2	0
E	107	75	13	6	19	14	1	0
F	169	0	15	0	48	0	0	0
TOTAL	422	195	67	52	172	95	4	5

Table 3. Species Abundance, Richness, Evenness and Shannon’s Diversity for sampled stations across the wet and dry seasons in Bon Accord Lagoon

Sample	Abundance		Richness		Evenness		Shannon’s Diversity
	Dry	Wet	Dry	Wet	Dry	Wet	Dry	Wet
A	118	115	21	15	0.87	0.71	2.60	1.93
B	31	58	13	21	0.85	0.87	2.18	2.66
C	40	33	14	11	0.90	0.89	2.37	2.13
D	104	46	24	14	0.83	0.82	2.60	2.15
E	140	95	25	18	0.82	0.73	2.60	2.10
F	232	0	28	0	0.84	0	2.77	0

Figure 4. Polychaete individuals belonging to different trophic categories found in stations A – F where “d” denotes dry season and “w” denotes wet season.

Figure 5. Dendrogram of stations sampled in Bon Accord Lagoon for wet and dry seasons. Upper case letters refer to the location of the sampling station described in Figure 1. Lower case letters refer to the season sampled, where “d” denotes the dry season and “w” denotes the wet season.

Figure 6. Number of polychaete individuals and their trophic categories found in Bon Accord Lagoon (BAL) and Mt. Irvine Bay (MIB).

Table 4. Functional traits and pollution characteristics of the polychaete families found at BAL and MIB

Family	Functional Traits/ Pollution Characteristics	Reference
Maldanidae	absence is an indicator of poor conditions, i.e. their presence is an indicator of good quality	Dean 2008 [59]
Syllidae	decrease with increasing organic material	Dean 2008 [59]
Nereididae	polluted zone found in conjunction with Capitella	Pearson and Rosengberg 1987 [57]
Capitellidae	Indicator of organic enrichment	Pearson and Rosenberg 1987 [57]
Dorvilleidae	The genus Dorvillea are less pollution tolerant	Dean 2008 [59]
Paraonidae	found in non polluted mangroves	Dean 2008 [59]
Sabellidae	indicators of non-pollution	Dean 2008 [59]
Ophellidae	Armandia live in uncompacted surface sediments, undulatory burrowers, found in high intertidal, sandy beaches	(Law, Dorgan, & Rouse, 2014) [50]
Cirratulidae	Presence of Chaetozones setosa indicate stressed communities	Dean 2008 [59]
Lumbrineridae	characteristic of semi healthy bottom when present with Polydora, Neanthes, Dorvillea; absence is an indicator of poor conditions, i.e. their presence is an indicator of good quality	Pearson and Rosengberg 1987 [57]; Dean 2008 [59]
Eunicidae	found among Thalassia beds	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]
Orbiniidae	pollution indicator	Dean 2008 [59]
Magelonidae	found in non-polluted mangroves	Dean 2008 [59]
Spionidae	weakly associated with pollution, Streblospio influenced by pollution; Aricidea found in non polluted mangroves	Pearson and Rosenberg 1987 [57]; Dean 2008 [59]
Flabelligeridae	Found in diverse habitats, hard and soft bottoms.	(Oug, E; Bakken, T; Kongsrud, 2011) [51]
Onuphidae	refuge forming in shallow water, medium grained flats, positively correlated with abundance and species richness of associated infauna; negatively affected by industrial and sewage pollution	Diaz-Castenada and Reish 2009 [58]; Dean 2008 [59]
Polynoidae	absence of Harmothoe indicates low diversity due to detrimental environmental conditions	Dean 2008 [59]
Glyceridae	consume nereids which allows other genus such as: Polydora, Streblospio, Scoloplos to fluorish; Glycera correlated to high diversity	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]; Dean 2008 [59]
Terebellidae	good indicators of species richness; absence is an indicator of poor conditions, i.e. their presence is an indicator of good quality	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]; Dean 2008 [59]
Serpulidae	can be an indicator of stressed conditions (hypoxia)	Dean 2008 [59]
Cossuridae	burrowers normally able to escape predation	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]
Pilargidae	usually free-living, surface sediment dwellers	Dept of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Australia [51]
Ampharetidae	Their fragile tubes are constructed of mud or sand grains and attached to sponges, compound ascidians or the shells of living molluscs. Only a few of them live in shallow water but they are common in deep water	Day, 1967 [52]
Hesionidae	Hesionids are active carnivorous worms, found in crevices and amongst the plant and animal growths on hard substrata, with some species occur commensally on echinoderms and with other larger tube-dwelling worms.	annelida.net [53]
Pectinariidae	some genera are found associated with shoots of seagrass (Zostera noltii)	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]
Nephtyidae	indifferent to pollution; insensitive to heavy metals	Pearson and Rosenberg 1987 [57]; Dean 2008 [59]
Oenonidae	Live in sand and mud as free-living burrowers, can be parasitic.	Zanol & Ruta, 2015 [53]
Phyllodocidae	found in depressions and slopes at moderate depths (44–75 m) on very fine sand.	Anderson et al. 2010 [54]
Sigalionidae	the genus Pisione normally prefer fine gravel to coarse sand with low organic material.	Martins et al. 2012 [55]
Sternaspidae	active burrowers, subsurface deposit feeders	Diaz-Castaneda and Reish 2009 [58]
Aphroditidae	Active carnivores	Dept of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Australia [51]

Table A1. Families, species and trophic categories (TC) of polychaetes discovered in Tobago at a hard bottom side and at a seagrass bed site. Carnivores (C), Deposit Feeders (DF), Filter Feeders (FF), Herbivores (H), Omnivores (O)

Family	Species	MIB (hard bottom site)	BAL (seagrass site)	TC
Ampharetidae	Ampharetic sp 1	9	1	C
	Amphicteis sp.1	0	1	DF
Aphroditidae	Pontogenia sp 1	16	0	C
Capitellidae	Capitella capitata	0	57	DF
	Dasybranchus sp.1	0	17	DF
	Mediomastus sp.	0	4	DF
	Notomastus filiformis	0	3	DF
	Notomastus latericeus	0	7	DF
Cirratulidae	Caulleriella sp. 1	0	20	DF
	Chaetozone sp.1	0	19	DF
	Cirratulus sp.1	0	1	FF
	Cirriformia sp.1	0	12	DF
	Cirriformia sp. 2	0	2	DF
Cossuridae	Cossura sp.1	0	4	DF
Dorvilleidae	Dorvillea sp.1	0	86	O
Eunicidae	Eunice websteri	1	15	DF
	Marphysa mortensi	1	0	DF
Flabelligeridae	Brada sp.1	0	8	DF
Glyceridae	Glycera sp.1	0	6	C
Hesionidae	Gyptis sp.1	0	2	C
	Hesionid genus a	4	0	DF
	Podarke sp 1	1	0	DF
Lumbrineridae	Lumbrineries sp.1	0	20	O
	Lumbrineris fragilis	0	1	O
	Lumbrineris latreilli	0	3	O
Magelonidae	Magelona sp. 1	0	8	DF
	Magelona sp. 2	0	1	DF
Maldanidae	Axiothella sp.1	0	1	DF
	Euclymene sp.1	0	55	DF
	Maldane sp.1	0	152	DF
	Maldane sp. 2	0	10	DF
Nephtyidae	Aglaophamus sp.1	0	1	O
Nereididae	Ceratonereis sp.1	0	12	C
	Nereid sp 1	1	57	C
	Nereis lamellosa	0	13	C
	Nereis sp. 1	0	6	C
	Nereis sp. 2	0	7	C
	Pseudonereis sp.1	0	4	C
Oenonidae	Arabella iricolor	1	1	DF
Onuphidae	Diopatra sp.1	0	1	DF
	Onuphis sp.1	0	6	C
Ophellidae	Armandia agilis	0	1	DF
	Armandia maculata	0	19	DF
	Armandia sp.1	0	36	DF
	Armandia sp. 2	0	1	DF
Orbiniidae	Leitoscoloplos sp.1	0	1	DF
	Leodamas sp.1	0	9	DF
	Scoloplos sp.1	0	1	DF
Paraonidae	Aricidea sp.1	0	36	DF
	Aricidea sp. 2	0	36	DF
	Aricidea sp. 3	0	6	DF
	Paradoneis sp.1	0	1	DF
Pectinariidae	Pectinaria sp.1	0	2	DF
Phyllodocidae	Eteone lacteal	1	0	C
	Mystides borealis	3	1	C
Pilargidae	Sigambra tentaculata	0	4	O
Polynoidae	Harmothoe sp 1	12	6	C
	Lepidonotus sublevis	2	1	C
Sabellidae	Branchiomma sp.1	0	3	FF
	Chone americana	17	0	DF
	Jasmineira sp.1	0	1	DF
	Sabella melanostigma	10	1	DF
	Sabella sp 1	1	32	DF
	Sabella sp 2	1	3	DF
	Sabella fusca	0	20	DF
Serpulidae	Pseudovermilia occidentalis	94	5	FF
sigalionidae	Pisione sp.1	0	1	C
Spionidae	Polydora sp.1	0	4	O
	Prionospio sp.1	0	5	DF
Sternaspidae	Sternaspis scutata	0	1	DF
Syllidae	Amblyosyllis sp.1	2	0	C
	Eusyllis lamelligera	13	0	C
	Eusyllis sp. 1	9	0	C
	Exogone dispar	1	0	H
	Exogone lourei	8	0	H
	Haplosyllis spongicola	5	0	H
	Myrianida dentalia	10	0	C
	Myrianida sp 1	4	0	C
	myrianida sp 2	7	0	C
	myrianida sp 3	5	0	C
	Odontosyllis sp.1	5	0	C
	Opisthodonta sp. 1	4	0	C
	Pionosyllis sp. 1	80	0	C
	Pionosyllis wiesmanni	6	0	C
	Sphaerosyllis sp. 1	2	0	C
	Syllides sp. 1	13	0	C
	Syllis prolifera	15	11	C
	Syllis sp. 1	16	126	C
	Syllis sp. 2	4	0	C
	Trypanosyllis sp. 1	7	8	C
Terebellidae	Terebellid sp. 1	6	6	DF
	Terebellid sp. 2	4	0	DF
TOTAL		401	1012

Table

Pearson Correlation and p values for shoots and different variables of the benthic populations
	Biomass	Richness	Diversity	Abundance
Pearson Correlation	0.003	0.433	0.135	0.091
p value	0.204	1.48E-0.5	1.46E-0.5	0.08
Paired t test (one tail values)for various parameters between seasons
	Abundance	Richness	Evenness	Diversity
p value	0.11	0.08	0.11	0.09

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