Oligochaete fauna of Lake Baikal

Oligochaetes are one of the most abundant groups of invertebrates in Lake Baikal. They compose up to 70–90% of the biomass and numbers of zoobenthos and are distributed from the water edge to the maximum depth. There are 207 identified species and subspecies belonging to 44 genera and seven families, of which 160 species and 13 genera are endemic. Many are relict species. The main peculiarities of oligochaete fauna of Lake Baikal are: immiscibility of its ecologically different complexes (Palaearctic and Baikalian), its antiquity and heterogeneity, and intense radiation of the species.