PREDATION BY POLYCHAETE WORMS ON LARVAL AND POSTSETTLEMENT ABALONE HALIOTIS-IRIS (MOLLUSCA, GASTROPODA)

Predation on post-settlement abalone (Haliotis iris) by polychaete wor ms inhabiting the crusts of non-geniculate coralline algae was examine d experimentally. In the subtidal habitat of H. iris, the warty Mesoph yllum printzianum supported dense assemblages (> 0.5 cm(-1)) of the ci rratulid Dodecaceria berkeleyi and the spionid Boccardia chilensis, bu t few polychaetes were found in the encrusting Spongites yendoi. Survi val rates for inocula of hatchery-reared larvae of H. iris (n = 10) on experimental substrata (M. printzianum) were 29.0 + 9.2% with D. berk eleyi, and 52.4 + 10% with B. chilensis after a 24 h trial. There was no significant density effect (1-4 individuals per 10 cm(2) vs. 6-10 i ndividuals per 10 cm(2)) for either species of polychaete. The results indicate that refugia from water currents and piscivorous predators o ffered by coralline surfaces are offset by the biological hazards asso ciated with resident infaunal predators. This interaction will determi ne levels of recruitment of abalone and other benthic invertebrates to coralline surfaces. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.