Abstract
Sampling of a wide range of intertidal habitats increased the number of marine enchytraeid species for Bermuda from 12 to 31, of which 15 are believed to be new to science. The new species are in the genera Enchytraeus, Achaeta and Marionina, predominantly of the last named genus (12 of 15 species). Probable reasons for the large number of new records are the inclusion of habitats not previously sampled, such as algal cushions on rocks and seawater outfalls from aquaria, as well as the use of a wet funnel extractor. The ecological distribution of the species illustrates their dependence on moisture and a good supply of oxygen and confirms the view that enchytraeids are unable to live in stagnant, wet habitats, in hot climates. Species richness is comparable with that recorded in faunal studies of temperate shores. It is proposed that estimates of enchytraeid species richness in the tropics and subtropics could be much higher if attention were paid to the physiological requirements of these worms when designing sampling programs.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Healy, B., Coates, K.A. (1999). Finding enchytraeid oligochaetes (Clitellata) in hot climates: species occurrence on the shores of Bermuda. In: Healy, B.M., Reynoldson, T.B., Coates, K.A. (eds) Aquatic Oligochaetes. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 139. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4207-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4207-6_11
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