Fauna, Spatial Distribution, and Ecological Peculiarities of Oligohaetes (Oligochaeta) and Leeches (Hirudinea) in the Ob’ River Basin

Abstract

The fauna, spatial distribution, and ecological features of oligochaetes and leeches of reservoirs and watercourses of the Ob’ River basin (including Teletskoe Lake and Novosibirsk, Belovskoe, and Gilevskoe reservoirs) have been considered. Published and original data were summarized from 1903 to 2016. Various samplers were used: bottom grabs, scrapers and wash-off from the solid substrates. The assessment of the distribution of oligochaetes in the Ob’ River basin showed that oligochaeto and hirudofauna were formed mainly by eurybiont species, without significant zonal changes. The most common oligochaetes in the Ob’ River basin were Tubifex tubifex (Muller 1774), Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparede 1862, Spirosperma ferox Eisen 1879, Lumbriculus variegatus (Muller 1773), Stylaria lacustris (Linnaeus 1767), Nais variabilis Piguet. 1906, Chaetogaster diaphanus (Gruithuisen 1828), leeches, Glossiphonia complanata (Linnaeus 1758), Helobdella stagnalis (Linnaeus 1758), and Erpobdella octoculata (Linnaeus 1758). These species were the key components of benthic biocenoses of the water bodies and watercourses of the Ob’–Irtysh interfluve. The species diversity of oligochaetes and leeches in the Ob’ River basin was much less than that in the large basins of Europe (Volga River) and Eastern Siberia (Lake Baikal) and was comparable with the fauna of certain regions of Europe and the Urals. The largest number of species of oligochaetes and leeches was noted in the well-studied basins of the Upper and Middle Ob’ River.