Aquatic oligochaetes (Annelida: Clitellata) of the Czech Republic: check-list, new records, and ecological remarks
Author
Schenková, Jana
Author
Pařil, Petr
Author
Petřivalská, Karla
Author
Bojková, Jindřiška
text
Zootaxa
2010
2676
29
44
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.199216
42053b6e-a32d-4d91-9031-852d83b81b5f
1175-5326
199216
Aulodrilus limnobius
Bretscher, 1899
Records.
Gránický Brook, Znojmo,
48°51'60"N
/
16°01'33"E
, lgt. PP, det. PP. (2005); Drietomice River, Starý Hrozenkov,
48°57'13"N
/
17°52'29"E
, lgt. PP, det. PP (2005); Trusovický Brook, Jívová,
49°42'27"N
/
17°21'40"E
, lgt. KB, det. PP; Olešná River, Zvole,
49°29'26"N
/
16°09'44"E
, lgt. KB, det. PP (2002); Nectava River, Březinky,
49°39'24"N
/
16°46'52"E
, lgt. KB, det. PP (2002); Okluky River, Uherský Ostroh,
48°59'38"N
/
17°24'07"E
, lgt. H, det. PP (2002); Farský Brook, Trhové Sviny,
48°50'24"N
/
14°37'55"E
, lgt. JZ, det. PP (2002); all specimens were immature.
Characteristics of sites.
All records were from small and middle-sized brooks (3rd and 4th Strahler order, river width up to
5 m
) with a bottom substrate dominated by sand, gravel, and stones. Most of these highland stretches had a natural morphology (with buffer strips) and extensively used (cropland, grassland), partially forested catchments. The brooks have good water quality (from oligo- to beta-mesosaprobity), with one exception of lowland stream (Okluky River, alpha-mesosaprobity).
Ecology.
Being a detritophagous species,
A. limnobius
occurs from hyporhithral to potamal, and also has been collected from standing water areas including deeper, profundal habitats (
Hörner
et al.
2002
;
Šporka 2003
;
Alves
et al.
2008
). It can tolerate intermediate eutrophication (
Verdonschot 2006
) and organic pollution from oligo- to alpha-mesosaprobity (
Hörner
et al.
2002
). Microhabitat preferences of fine substrates rich in organic material (pelal, psamal and argylal) have been reported (
Šporka 2003
;
Alves
et al.
2008
). Among oligochaetes,
A. limnobius
belongs to K-strategists (
Šporka 2003
) with one reproductive cycle per year, mostly realised by asexual reproduction (architomy); mature specimens are rare (Timm & Veldhijzen van
Zanten 2002
). Worms burrow in sediment, where they build reinforced tubes of silt (Timm & Veldhijzen van
Zanten 2002
).
Morphology.
Aulodrilus limnobius
has characteristic bifid crotchets, with up to 10 chaetae per bundle (all with shorter upper teeth, and occasionally with wing-like dilations of the distal ends of the chaetae in posterior segments), and an unsegmented tail, serving as a respiratory organ—typical for this genus. It can be distinguished from its congeners known to occur in the Czech Republic—
A. pigueti
,
A japonicus
, and
A. pluriseta
—by a lack of hair chaetae (Timm & Veldhijzen van
Zanten 2002
; van den
Hoek & Verdonschot 2005
).
Distribution.
This cosmopolitan species has been recorded in most of European countries, absent only in
Austria
, the
UK
,
Croatia
,
Denmark
,
Greece
,
Slovenia
, and
Portugal
(
Timm & Giani 2004
). According to Fauna Europaea (
Timm & Giani 2004
), the species was found also in the
Czech Republic
, but unfortunately, the source of this data is not available.