Abstract
Spatial and temporal changes in the body-size composition of a population of Armandia sp. (Opheliidae), a burrowing polychaete species with a planktonic larval phase, are described for an intertidal sand flat in west Kyushu, Japan. From spring to summer 1980, the recruitment of Armandia was by discrete settlement of larvae (every spring tide), which allowed the fate of a particular cohort to be followed easily. At the end of June, when the largest recruitment in the year occurred, the larvae settled exclusively in 2 particular zones. A part of the population emigrated from the settlement zones mainly in an offshore direction with growth of body size generating a size zonation, and the densities of Arrnandia adults became spatially uniform through July and August. The significance of following migration processes of mobile benthos for understanding the structure of soft-sediment benthic communities is discussed.
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