Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida) of Balıkdamı Wetland (Turkey), with Description of Two New Species of Phallodrilinae
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Biologia, Bratislava, 62/3: 323—334, 2007 Section Zoology DOI: 10.2478/s11756-007-0055-y Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida) of Balıkdamı wetland (Turkey), with description of two new species of Phallodrilinae Naime Arslan1, Tarmo Timm2 &ChristerErséus3 1Eski¸sehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Biology, 26480 Eski¸sehir, Turkey; e-mail: [email protected] 2Estonian University of Life Science, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, EE61101 Rannu, Tartumaa, Estonia; e-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Zoology, G¨oteborg University, Box 463,SE-40530 G¨oteborg, Sweden; e-mail: [email protected] Abstract: The Balıkdamı Wetland, an impoundment of the upper course of the Sakarya River located near Sivrihisar (Eski¸sehir, Central Anatolia), is one of the most important bird conservation areas in Turkey. This area also encompasses the mouth of the torrential G¨oksu Stream, which is partly hyporheic. During this study (2001–2003), 1,471 specimens representing 34 taxa of aquatic Oligochaeta were collected from the Balıkdamı Wetland. All the species identified are new records for Balıkdamı. Two species, Coralliodrilus amissus sp. n. and Gianius anatolicus sp. n., are new to science, and five species, Stylodrilus parvus (Hrabě et Černosvitov, 1927), Chaetogaster diastrophus (Gruithuisen, 1828), Peipsidrilus libanus (Giani et al., 1982), Tubifex acuticularis Martinez-Ansemil et Giani, 1983, and Epirodrilus moubayedi Giani et Martinez-Ansemil, 1983, are new records for Turkey. Two other species, Peipsidrilus libanus and Tubifex acuticularis,are re-described. The oligochaete fauna of the wetland was dominated by widely distributed tubificid taxa. The lumbriculid Stylodrilus parvus was the most abundant species in the G¨oksu stream. The two new phallodriline species are remarkable since most representatives of this subfamily live in the marine environment. Due to the species richness and diversity of Oligochaeta, as well as of several other animal groups, the Balıkdamı wetland area deserves conservation. Key words: Oligochaeta; taxonomy; new species; conservation; biodiversity; wetland; Turkey Introduction al. 2000). Among them Balıkdamı is one of the few re- maining wetlands along the Sakarya River, the second The Ramsar Convention (Anonymous 2002) defined longest river in Turkey. Turkey is rich in areas impor- wetlands as “areasofmarsh,fen,peat-landorwa- tant for wetland birds of the Palaearctic (Magnin & ter, whether natural or artificial, permanent or tempo- Yarar 1997). However, along with those in the other rary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brack- Circum-Mediterranean countries, many Turkish wet- ish or salty, including areas of marine water the depth lands and lakes are under increasing human impact (wa- of which at low tide does not exceed six meters”. Wet- ter abstraction, pollution) and the increasing effects of lands have values and functions that cannot be com- climatic aridity (Altınsa¸clı & Griffiths 2001). Signifi- pared with other ecosystems. Turkey has been recog- cant changes in the Balıkdamı Wetland are now occur- nized as one of the most important countries of both ring because of water allocations or water removal from Europe and the Middle East referring to wetlands. The the system for irrigation, degeneration of water quality primary reason is the presence of rich and widespread from agricultural pollution, sediment transport and un- wetland habitats with different ecological conditions. controlled reed cutting. Seventy-one wetlands of international importance have Aquatic Oligochaeta are benthic animals living ei- been determined in Turkey (Magnin & Yarar 1997) ac- ther on or within the substrates of streams and wet- cording to Ramsar’s fish and waterfowl criteria to date, lands, although a few species are nektobenthic. They and this number is likely to increase. Second, the geo- are often used for passive and active biomonitoring, as graphical characteristics unique to Turkey are such that well as in hazard and risk assessments (e.g., Brinkhurst the two most important migratory flyways for birds in & Jamieson 1971; Rosenberg & Resh 1993; Lang 1998). the western Palaearctic region (Magnin et al. 2000) oc- Aside from early, occasional faunistic and taxonomic cur here. works (Sperber 1958; Geldiay & Tareen 1972; S¸ahin Turkey encompasses an area of 779,452 km2 and & Baysal 1972; Pop 1974), there has been little re- has 97 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) covering a total search directed towards the aquatic oligochaete fauna of 29,978 km2 or 4% of the total land area (Magnin et of Turkey. In recent years, however, some studies have c 2007 Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences 324 N. Arslan et al. Fig. 1. Geographical location of the Balıkdamı Wetland and sampling stations in west-central Turkey. The Important Bird Area (IBA) part of Balıkdamı is delineated by a thick line. focused on the freshwater Oligochaeta of the Turkish extracted from raw samples in lab, under a dissecting mi- lakes (e.g., Ustao˘glu 1980; Kırgız 1988; Balık et al. 2000, croscope, and transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol. Specimens 2001) and rivers (e.g., Kazancı & Girgin 1998; Balık were prepared for study by mounting them on microscope et al. 1999; Polatdemir Arslan & S¸ahin 2003; Arslan slides under cover slips, either in glycerin, polyvinyl lac- &S¸ahin 2003, 2006). Unfortunately, along with those tophenol, or (after dehydration with alcohol) Canada bal- sam. Some tubificid and lumbriculid specimens were studied in other circum-Mediterranean xeric habitats, many as serial sections stained after Hauser (1969). Holotypes of Turkish wetland sites are under increasing pressure – both newly described species and voucher specimens of the through anthropogenic impacts (water abstraction, pol- species new for the fauna of Turkey are deposited in the lution) coupled with the (possibly increasing) effects of Eski¸sehir Osmangazi University, Museum of Hydrobiology climatic aridity (Altınsa¸clı & Griffiths 2001). The entire Department, Turkey (ESOGU); paratypes of the newly de- area of Balıkdamı was declared a Natural Monument in scribed species are deposited in ESOGU and in the Centre 1988 and a Permanent Wildlife Reserve in 1994. for Limnology, Rannu, Estonia (CL), and other material in The objective of the present study was to exam- CL. ine both the taxonomic composition and distribution Hereinafter, segment range numbers are marked with of Oligochaeta in the Balıkdamı Wetland as a means Roman numerals (e.g., X, XI) and the respective interseg- mental furrows or dissepiments with Arabic numerals (e.g., to evaluate the contribution of this component to the 10/11). All measurements and observations were made on diversity of an important Turkish wetland fauna. preserved specimens. Study sites Faunistic results The Balıkdamı Wetland lies on the Sakarya River in the southern Eski¸sehir Province, West-Central Anatolia, Turkey During this study, a total of 34 oligochaete taxa rep- (about 799 m a.s.l.), and has a surface area of 1,470 hectares resenting 22 genera were identified; these include 29 (Fig. 1). The International Bird Area includes two parts tubificids (13 of which are naidines), two lumbriculids, here: the eastern portion commonly known as Balıkdamı, one haplotaxid, one enchytraeid, and one lumbricid comprising 503 hectare of extensive reed beds (Phragmites (Table 1). All taxa collected during the study are australis) with an area of temporary open water (during new records for Balıkdamı. Two species, Coralliodrilus winter and spring) and mudflats; and the western part, 967 amissus sp. n. and Gianius anatolicus sp. n., are new hectare, consisting of marsh and grassland of the villages of to science, and likely associated with sites influenced Kurt¸seyh and Ahiler (Magnin and Yarar 1997). by groundwater discharge; they are probably associ- ated with groundwater but closely related to marine Material and methods taxa (see systematic part below). Several other species collected during the study (Chaetogaster diastrophus, During the present study, 1,471 specimens of aquatic Stylodrilus parvus, Epirodrilus moubayedi, Peipsidrilus Oligochaeta were collected in Balıkdamı from October 2001 libanus, Tubifex acuticularis through June 2003 (October 2001, April 2002, June 2002, and ) are recorded from November 2002, May 2003 and June 2003). The samples Turkey for the first time. The genera Trichodrilus and were collected with a dip net or an Ekman grab sampler. Achaeta are also new to the Turkish fauna. Rhya- After the samples were processed in the field using a se- codrilus coccineus (Vejdovský, 1875) was recently re- ries of sieves with decreasing mesh sizes, specimens were ported for the first time from G¨um¨u¸sstream(Mardin) Aquatic Oligochaeta of Balıkdamı wetland in Turkey 325 Table 1. Sampling site details and species composition of Oligochaeta and number of collected specimens in Balıkdamı Wetland, Turkey (Stations 1 and 5 are the G¨oksu stream sampling sites). Sampling stations 1234567 Hydrogen ion concentration (as pH) 7–7.5 7.7–8 7.5–7.9 7.4–7.9 7.2–7.8 7.1–7.7 6.8–7.3 (min–max) Dissolved oxygen (mg L −1) (min–max) 4.8–6 6–7.4 6.7–8 7.8–9 6.1–6.5 5.9–6.4 6.1–8 Depth (m) (min–max) 1–1.2 1–2 1.5 1 0.4–0.8 0.6–1 1 Temperature ( ◦C) in autumn, spring and 17–19 9–20 11–21 10–20 17–18 9–19 7–18 summer (min–max) Substrate s, m m m, p m s, p m, p m, p Vegetation a, sa r – r a, sa r r Tubificidae (without Naidinae) 1 Tubifex tubifex (M¨uller, 1774) – – – – – 20 – 2 Tubifex acuticularis Martinez-Ansemil et 40 – – – 17 – – Giani, 1983 3 Tubifex ignotus (Štolc, 1886) – – –5––– 4 Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Clapar`ede, 1862 – 5 166 32 12 18 11 5 Spirosperma velutinus (Grube, 1879) – – –2––– 6 Haber speciosus (Hrabě, 1931) – 10 ––––– 7 Peipsidrilus libanus (Giani et al., 1982) 45 – – – 14 – – 8Tubificinaegen.sp. 11––––– 9 Potamothrix hammoniensis (Michaelsen, – 5 6 3 – 18 21 1901) 10 Potamothrix bavaricus (Oschmann, 1913) – – 4–––3 Potamothrix spp.