The aquatic Oligochaeta from the People's Republic of China

Abstract

Limnodrilus amblysetus sp.nov. (Tubificidae) is described and compared with other Chinese Limnodrilus species as well as Limnodrilus silvani which is recorded from California and Oregon, U.S.A. The presence of other previously known Chinese species is confirmed. Polymorphism in the development of dorsal chaetae, already known for the Naididae and for Tubificinae (Tubificidae), is now suspected for Rhyacodrilinae (Tubificidae). The oligochaete fauna of China resembles that of India, Japan,and the eastern Soviet Union. Some tropical and subtropical Naididae may yet be discovered from the southern provinces, some cold-water Tubificidae and Lumbriculidae from the northeast and those elevated parts of the far west of China that are not deserts.

A preliminary study of oligochaetes in Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake of China, and its vicinity, with description of a new species of Limnodrilus

“…nov., is new to science. It is similar to L. amblysetus Brinkhurst et al, 1990 in chaetal shape but differs in having short hooded penis sheaths. …”

“…Yamaguchi (1940) recorded this species from northeastern China and stated that the penis sheaths are hooded, and Liang (1979) later noted the same for the specimens from Huama Lake along middle Changjiang. However, Brinkhurst et al (1990) Figure 3. Limnodrilus paramblysetus sp.…”

“…Remarks: This species was initially identified as Limnodrilus amblysetus Brinkhurst et al, 1990, because of the bluntness of the teeth in some chaetae (Wang et al, 1999), but a careful examination later revealed distinct differences between the two taxa. In L. paramblysetus sp.…”

Studies on the Aquatic Oligochaete Fauna in Lake Biwa, Central Japan I. Checklist with Taxonomic Remarks.

“…The present list of Lake Biwa oligochaetes is made up primarily of widely distributed species (Table 2), but also includes several species (BRINKHURST et al, 1990). …”

Potamothrix scleropenis sp. nov. (Oligochaeta: Tubificidae) from Fuxian Lake, the Deepest Lake in Southwest China

“…Previous studies of freshwater oligochaetes in China have mainly been conducted in the east, whence 28 species and 14 genera of Tubificidae have been recorded so far (Chen, 1940;Liang, 1962, 1979, Erséus and Qi, 1985Brinkhurst et al ., 1990;Liang and Xie, 1997;Wang and Liang, 2001;Wang, 2002). Few taxa were hitherto known from the west.…”