Giant pelagic larvae of Phyllodocidae (Polychaeta, Annelida)

The microscopic anatomy of giant pelagic larvae of Phyllodocidae was studied using routine histological, SEM, and TEM techniques. The larvae consist of two distinct regions: a large spherical trochophore measuring up to 2 mm in diameter and a posterior, long (up to 10 mm length), narrow rudiment of the adult body with up to 120 segments. The larvae have an unusual mixture of larval and adult features, including a very complex, well-developed brain and ganglia in the ventral nerve cord, and only a single pair of protonephridia located in the hyposphere of the trochophore. A muscular pharynx is not developed. The intestinal wall, especially in the trochophore region, consists of endodermal cells containing considerable nutritive material in the form of yolk-like globular inclusions. The digestive tract of all larvae was empty. The position of the frontal sensory organ and the prototroch, the structure of the parapodia and setae, and the three pairs of tentacular cirri dictate inclusion of the larvae in the family Phyllodocidae. The relatively enormous size and unusual pattern of development of the adult body may be adaptations for a long pelagic life and rapid settlement of the species, which inhabits slopes of islands and underwater mounts located far apart. J. Morphol. 238:93-107, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.