Naididae (Annelida, Oligochaeta) associated with briophytes in Brotas, State of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Mosses and liverworts can be colonized by various invertebrates, including fresh water oligochaete worms. However, little information is available on the habits and habitats of this oligochaetes in Brazil. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine the occurrence of naidids in mosses, as well as to broaden the knowledge about the habitats of these oligochaetes. Sampling of bryophytes adhered to rock substrates in the rapids of the Jacaré Pepira River (municipality of Brotas, São Paulo, Brazil) and to a vertical rock wall of a waterfall near the river revealed 191 Naididae individuals of the species Naiscommunis Piguet, 1906, Pristinellajenkinae (Stephenson, 1931) and Pristinellamenoni (Aiyer, 1929). We believe this to be the first record of naidids associated with mosses in Brazil.

Aquatic oligochaeta (Annelida: Clitellata) in extractive reserve Lake Cuniã, Western Brazilian Amazon

“…For organism selection, small portions of the samples were put into translucent trays containing water and subsequently fixed in 10% formalin and preserved in 70% alcohol (Alves & Gorni, 2007). Semi-permanent slides were prepared and the taxonomic criteria adopted by Righi (1984) and Brinkhurst & Marchese (1989) were followed in order to identify Oligochaeta.…”

“…In Brazil, it has been found in the State of São Paulo associated with other organisms such as gastropods (Gorni & Alves, 2006), aquatic macrophytes (Alves & Gorni, 2007), and sponges (Gorni & Alves, 2008a). It has also been recorded in an urban stream by Alves et al (2006).…”

“…Registration in Brazil has already occurred in the States of Amazonas and Pará, as well as in São Paulo, in association with other organisms such as macrophytes (Alves & Gorni, 2007) and sponge specimens (Gorni & Alves, 2008a).…”

“…Dero digitata (O. F. Müller, 1773) (Figure 2d) In Brazil, this species has been registered in the State of São Paulo, in association with gastropods (Gorni & Alves, 2006) and macrophytes (Alves & Gorni, 2007), in reservoirs (Pamplin et al 2005) and in urban streams (Alves & Lucca, 2000). In the Amazon region, it has been registered in many rivers in the State of Pará, such as Tapajós River, Cururu River, Acara River, Cupari River, Juruena River and São Samuel River (Marcus 1942, Marcus, 1944, Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1947, 1949a, 1949b.…”

“…This results in fragmented and scarce information on the invertebrate fauna (Magurran, 2011), especially in continental aquatic ecosystems, where the information about this group is even more incomplete (Agostinho et al 2005). Biota Neotrop., 17(1): e20160232, 2017 http://www.scielo.br/bn http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611- BN-2016-0232 Aquatic Oligochaeta worms are one of the most abundant organisms in continental aquatic fauna and can be found in sediments, in water columns or associated to other organisms such as molluscs (Gorni & Alves, 2006), aquatic macrophytes (Alves & Gorni, 2007), insect larvae (Corbi et al 2004), bryophytes (Gorni & Alves, 2007), sponges (Gorni & Alves, 2008a) and amphibians (Oda et al, 2015). It is important to highlight that these organisms are important for organic matter cycling of freshwater ecosystems, bioturbation processes, biomonitoring research, aquatic ecotoxicology and test organisms (Chapman, 2001, Corbi et al 2015.…”