Worm eggs and amphipods

[Edwin Cruz-rivera]

Hello all,
	I have stumbled across some mudflat worm gelatinous egg masses that 
are plagued with what seems to be the amphipod Microprotopus raneyi.  Before 
this, I had never seen it in large numbers anywhere around here, but we 
have collected this amphipod occasionally in plankton tows.  I have checked 
some of the obvious sources and, have only been able to find one 
reference dealing directly with amphipod-egg mass associations (Fox, 1980).
Has anyone observed similar phenomena in other annelids that put out 
gelatinous masses of eggs?

Edwin Cruz-Rivera				Ph  (919) 726-6841
Institute of Marine Sciences			Fax (919) 726-2426
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	email: ecruzriv at email.unc.edu
3431 Arendell Street
Morehead City, NC 28557