Species composition,distribution, and abundance of oligochaetes in the Kanawha River,West Virginia

Species composition, distribution, and abundance of oligochaetes in the Kanawha River, West Virginia, were investigated. Eighteen taxa of oligochaetes including 7 tubificids, 8 naidids, and representatives of the families Enchytraeidae, Lumbriculidae, and Aelosomatidae were collected. While most of the species collected are cosmopolitan, Pristina synclites and Stephensoniana sp. previously reported only from Asia and Africa were collected in the Kanawha. Other peculiarities of the Kanawha oligochaete fauna included the common occurrence of specimens of Limnodrilus cervix and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri with atypical penis sheaths. The dominant and most widely distributed of the Kanawha River oligochaetes were immature tubificids lacking capilliform chaetae, Branchiura sowerbyi, Dero cf. obtusa, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, and Aulodrilus pigueti.Oligochaete densities ranged from 401–2403 individuals/m² in areas presumed to be nonpolluted, to 1–671 individual/m² at sites with suspected toxicity. The highest density of oligochaetes (2835 individuals/m²) occurred at a site of organic enrichment.