Aphelochaeta marioni and Tubificoides spp. in variable salinity
infralittoral mud Ecological and functional relationships The
biotope is characterized by tube-building or burrow-living
polychaetes and by oligochaetes, with errant polychaetes
foraging in the surrounding and underlying sediment. Mobile,
carnivorous polychaetes, including Nephtys hombergi, Anaitides
spp, Eteone longa, and Pholoe spp., predate the smaller annelids
and crustaceans. The dominant tube-builders are the deposit
feeding polychaetes Polydora ciliata and Lanice conchilega. In
areas of mud, the tubes built by Polydora ciliata can
agglomerate and form layers of mud an average of 20 cm thick,
occasionally up to 50 cm (Daro & Polk, 1973). The feeding
activities of high densities of Polydora ciliata may inhibit the
establishment of other benthic species by removing settling and
developing larvae (Daro & Polk, 1973). In some examples of the
biotope, the tube-building, suspension feeding amphipod
Ampelisca sp. and the burrowing Corophium voluta