Abstract
Distribution and ecology of continental shelf oligochaetes are poorly understood From 1975 through 1977 baseline ecological studies were conducted in the Middle Atlantic Bight prior to oil exploration activities. A total of 38 species in three oligochaete families were collected. Of this total one fannly and 29 of the species were undescribed at the time of collection. The most abundant and widely distributed species were Limnodriloides monothecus, L. medioporus, Bathydrilus longus, Phallodrilus biprostatus, and Tubificoides diazi No single species dominated the oligochaete fauna. All the oligochaete species responded to changes m physica parameters over the shelf similarly to the total macrofauna. Seasonal trends within the oligochaetes were not found Species that preferred coarser sand sediments were all small interstitial forms. The finer sand and eurytopic species were all burrowers. Zoogeographically the Middle Atlantic Bight oligochaetes were predominantly temperate (16 species) with some southern species (8). Seven species were broadly distributed from the Caribbean to Massachusetts or around the world. Seven species were only known from the area studied.
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© 1987 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht
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Diaz, R.J., Erséus, C., Boesch, D.F. (1987). Distribution and ecology of Middle Atlantic Bight Oligochaeta. In: Brinkhurst, R.O., Diaz, R.J. (eds) Aquatic Oligochaeta. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 40. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3091-9_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3091-9_29
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