Larvae of ~100 species of benthic invertebrates were obtained from the vicinity of Tomales Bay and Dillon Beach, California, over a 6-year period (1971–1977). This study reports on larvae of 14 species in eight families of polychaetes: Micronereis nanaimoensis, Nereis vexillosa, Sthenelais fusca, Nephtys caecoides, Nephtys californiensis, Boccardia berkeleyorum, Polydora pygidialis, Polydora spongicola, Dipolydora cardalia, Mediomastus californiensis, Ampharete labrops, Phragmatopoma californica, Sabellaria cementarium and Pectinaria californiensis. Some species were cultured from embryos obtained from laboratory fertilizations or field-collected egg masses or capsules. Larvae of other species were obtained from meroplankton and some of these were cultured through metamorphosis. A summary table is presented documenting seasonal occurrence of 60 polychaete taxa in the meroplankton. |
