Survey of the Branchiobdella (Annelida: Clitellata) or crayfish worms in the GSMNP.
Gelder S. 2016. Survey of the Branchiobdella (Annelida: Clitellata) or crayfish worms in the GSMNP.. National Park Service
"PI proposes to conduct a survey of the Branchiobdella (Annelida: Clitellata) or crayfish worms in the park. This group of worms is found on crayfish shells and in their gill cases, looking like little leaches. The intention of the proposed study is to provide a species distribution list of the branchiobdellidans in the park. This will be achieved by sampling sites (a minimum of 12) that are considered most representative of the park’s drainages and various accessible freshwater habitats. Selected branchiobdellidans will be preserved and mounted on microscope slides to form a voucher and a working collection deposited at the park for future research use. The crayfish hosts collected will be identified and deposited directly onto the park’s collection. Six species of crayfish were collected from a total of 15 sites distributed across 13 major watersheds in the park. PIs identified a total of 10 species of crayfish worms: one Bdellodrilus, one Oedipodrilus, two Pterodrilus, one Xironodrilus, and five species of Cambarincola. The composition and number of species per site varied, and individual crayfish worm species occurrence ranged from one to eleven sites. Although there was no consistent pattern of species distribution or host preference, these results suggest that multiple factors affect crayfish worm species composition."
- Type
- Generic Dataset
- Authors
- Gelder, Stuart
- Date of Issue
- 2016-10-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Annelida, APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, Bdellodrilus, Branchiobdella, Clitellata, crayfish worms, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, Oedipodrilus, Origin:External, Pterodrilus, SER, Southeast Region, StudyID:GRSM-01002, Xironodrilus
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Terrestrial Invertebrates