I am a teacher and researcher by love. Marine sciences and ecology have been renewing work. I am a Camdoblecist and LGBT woman, fighting for more black girls and women to be scientists!

Some species of marine annelids may, in certain circumstances, metamorphose, from immature benthic forms (atoke) to pelagic reproductive forms (epitoke). Male and female epitokes often recognize each other through pheromones, and in some species show pulses of bioluminescence, as well. The genus Laeonereis Hartman, 1945 is characterized by species with predatory feeding behavior, living in the sediment. The purpose of this work is to describe an epitoky event in August 2022 on the southern coast of Bahia in Canavieiras Extractive Reserve (RESEX), flagged by an alert issued by fishermen. Several nereidids were collected in 1.5L of estuary water corresponding to the same species in epitoky and immature form. The average physicochemical parameters of the water in Rio Pardo estuary during the event were measured to determine pH, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and nitrite. The individuals were identified and subsequently deposited in the Collection of Aquatic Invertebrates of Southern Bahia (CIASB) and in the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) Polychaeta Collection (UERJ-Pol). This is the first recorded and identified occurrence of an epitoky reproductive event for the State of Bahia (NE Brazil). Based on the analysis of key morphological characteristics, all individuals were determined as Laeonereis cf. listen. In addition to the presence of fertilized oocytes and zygotes, we observed the hypertrophy of the prostomium, a markedly junction of the eyes, the hypertrophy of parapodia, and very long chaetae with the terminal region lacking clear ring separation. 

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