Substrate Selection by Tubificid Oligochaetes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Groups composed of Tubifex tubifex and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri collected from Keating Channel and Hanlan's Point in Toronto Harbor, Lake Ontario, preferred Keating Channel sediment over Hanlan's Point sediment in laboratory substrate selection experiments. The degree of preference did not differ between the two species. Substrate selection appears to be a taxic response to dispersing microbiota or molecules with molecular weight greater than 12 000–14 000. Percent organic content, concentrations of selected chemical elements and particle size do not account for the observed preference. However, there was a significant correlation between the abundance of heterotrophic aerobic bacteria in sediment and tubificid preference. We suggest that the microbial constituents of the sediment are more important than its physical and chemical properties in influencing substrate selection by tubificids.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: