Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida: Clitellata) from State of São Paulo, Brazil: Diversity and Occurrence review

Abstract

More than 5.000 species are described to Class Oligochaeta, and approximately 1650 aquatic species are recognized around the world. Knowledge regarding abundance and composition of limnic oligochaetes can be used as an indicator of water and sediment quality. Thus, this paper aims to summarize all published data on aquatic Oligochaeta from State of São Paulo (Brazil), in order to establish a cheklist of microdrili from the State. The list emphasizes the diversity of limnic oligochaetes and provides a general overview of their distribution and also ecological aspects. Were examined the bibliographical data on São Paulo aquatic Oligochaeta, including species catalogs and taxonomic and ecological literature. Were analyzed a total of 34 academic researches, 32 journal papers and two taxonomic catalogs. This analysis resulted in a list of 75 valid species, distributed in 24 genera and five families. This amount of taxa corresponds to 4.5% of the aquatic Oligochaeta worldwide valid species, and about 87% of the Brazilian species.