Oligochaetes (Naididae, Tubificidae, Opistocystidae, Enchytraeidae, Sparganophilidae and Alluroididae) of Guyana

About 50 species in more than 20 genera of the microdrile oligochaete families Tubificidae, Naididae, Opistocystidae, and Enchytraeidae and the freshwater megadrile families Sparganophilidae and Alluroididae were identified in recent collections made in Guyana. Only seven species in these families were previously recorded from Guyana. The aquatic oligochaete fauna has similar components to those of the southeastern United States, other locations in South America, and across lower latitudes in the northern hemisphere. A high diversity of species is found in the naidids especially in the genera Pristina and Pristinella, especially considering the small number of locations that have been sampled. The collections include approximately 12 new species of rhyacodrilines (Tubificidae), Dero, Pristina, Pristinella (Naididae), Brinkhurstia (Alluroididae), Hemienchytraeus and Aspidodrilus (Enchytraeidae). This is the first record of Aspidodrilus from outside of Africa and the first new record since 1952.