Changes in aliphatic hydrocarbon tracer composition during the digestive process of the marine worm Nereis virens. Preliminary results

In the laboratory, marine worms were fed with a mixture of algae and several aliphatic hydrocarbons for 15 days. By comparing hydrocarbons in food and in faeces, it appeared that the wormʹs digestive process led to changes in the distribution of the n-alkanes mixture. These changes were different from those only due to physical processes in the experimental conditions, indicating that marine worm feeding could substantially affect the fate of hydrocarbons in the sedimentary marine ecosystem.