Distribution of entocytheridae (Crustacea: Ostracoda) in the northern prairies of north america and reports of opportunistic clitellate annelids on crayfish hosts.

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Williams, B. W.
  • Williams, K. L.
  • Gelder, S. R.
  • Proctor, H. C.

• ABSTRACT.—Northern crayfish, Orconectes virilis (Hagen, 1870), were collected from 89 sites across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. The entocytherid ostracod Thermastrocythere riojai (Hoff, 1943) was found on O. virilis at 45 of the 89 sites, distributed primarily in the eastern and southern portion of the study area. These observations of T. riojai greatly extend the known range of the species. The widespread distribution of T. riojai suggests that the dearth of entocytherid records from other parts of Canada is a result of nontargeted sampling rather than true absence. In addition, we report on observations of 3 noteworthy associations of oligochaetes with their crayfish hosts.

• Date created

  2011

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Canada
  • Provinces
  • Freshwater Ostracodes
  • Branchiobde Llida Annelida

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3NV99C89

• License

  © 2011 Brigham Young University. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.