A case of cold kill of the nereid polychaete Neanthus succinea (Frey and Leuckart)

On Dec 16, 1972 dead Neanthes succinea were observed on a sand bar on the onrth shore of Trinity Bay, Texas, which, due to unusual conditions, had been exposed to air (min temp 'C2{degree}C) for {approx} 37 hr. The kill was not found on other bars. It is noted that this sand bar had become similar to a natural shell reef following scouring by currents caused by a nearby generating station. The author suggests that as temp dropped, worms on the normal siltysand substrates were able to burrow deeply enough to escape lethal temp, but those on the scoured compacted sand-shell substrate were unable to attain protective depths