Nachweis der epitokie als fortpflanzungsmodus des polychaeten Eunice siciliensis (Polychaeta: Annelida)

Eunice siciliensis (Grube)¹ is a sedentary polychaete with separate sexes; its germ cells develop only in the posterior part of the body. In March and April, females with whitish or even dark-green oocytes, males with only few spermatogonia, and individuals with no germ cells at all were discovered in the “coralligène” of the Banyuls region (European Mediterranean Sea). In august, besides immature and sexually non-differentiated worms, mature individuals of both sexes were captured: females with dark bluish-green oocytes of diameters up to 250μm, and males with milky genital segments containing spermatozoa. Soon after isolation from the substrate, these individuals performed characteristic movements with their posterior body parts, which then autotomized, and released ova and spermatozoa. Evidence is given that the anterior, atokous body parts survive in their tubes in the “coralligène” after separation from the epitokous portions, and regenerate new genetal segments. The development of gametes observed in these regenerated segments indicates the ability of E. siciliensis to reproduce more than once during its lifetime. Not only caudal, but also prostomial regeneration was observed; the formation of a (morphologically different) secondary prostomium appears to be essential for any development of germ cells in worm fragments. E. siciliensis exhibits surprising similarities in habits and in formation of an epitokous form with Eunice viridis (Gray), the “palolo” worm of the South Pacific Ocean, but nevertheless, lacks the prominent criteria of this famous species: the ventral eye spots on each genital segment in males and females, and the paired areas with brown pigmentation on the ventral side of each epitokous segment in the males.