Schoeman, Stephanie.; Simon, Carol A. (2023). Live to Die Another Day: Regeneration in Diopatra aciculata Knox and Cameron, 1971 (Annelida: Onuphidae) Collected as Bait in Knysna Estuary, South Africa. Biology. 12(3): 483: 1-15.

448131

10.3390/biology12030483 [view]

Schoeman, Stephanie.; Simon, Carol A.

2023

12(3): 483: 1-15

Publication

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/3/483

World Polychaeta Database (WPolyD).

The estuarine moonshine worm, Diopatra aciculata, is used extensively as bait in the Knysna Estuary in South Africa. During collection, the worm frequently breaks into multiple pieces. If discarded or unused pieces can regenerate to form separate individuals, the population may be maintained, or even increase, despite harvesting. This study investigated bait collecting habits of local fishermen and the natural incidence of regeneration in D. aciculata. Fishermen usually removed only part of the worm, leaving its tail in the tube and more than half the fishermen return up to 50% of bait collected to the estuary. Naturally occurring D. aciculata can regenerate missing anterior and posterior chaetigers, but only if amputation occurs before the 17th or after the 21st segment. Most unused fragments are probably too small to recover from damage inflicted during bait collection, so regeneration is unlikely to cause population expansion despite harvesting. However, some fishermen do move bait from the estuary. Range expansion can therefore occur if large fragments discarded at fishing sites in other estuaries do regenerate, forming new population

South Africa

Biology

Annelida
Polychaeta

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