Life Cycle, Demography and Secondary Production of the Polychaete Hediste ­diversicolor in a Non-Polluted Estuary in the Bay of Biscay

Abstract. Population dynamics and secondary somatic production data of a population of the polychaete Hediste diversicolor (O. F. Müller) are reported. Monthly samples were taken in a small muddy-sand flat in the Gernika estuary (Basque Country, North Iberian Peninsula) from May 1991 to May 1992. In addition to H. diversicolor abundance, temporal variation of the infauna and sediment conditions were analysed. Size measurements were employed to estimate H. diversicolor biomass and several cohorts were differentiated based on the size distribution. Secondary production was estimated based on cohort summation of growth increments following individual cohorts through time. Results are compared with those of other H. diversicolor populations located along the whole latitudinal gradient of distribution of the species.