Species composition and biomass of annelids of Wular Lake, a Ramsar site in Kashmir, India

摘要

During the present investigation of Wular lake in terms of species composition and biomass of annelids, 10 taxa were recorded which belonged to two major classes namely Oligochaeta (7) and Hirudineae (3). The class Oligochaeta included Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, Tubifex tubifex, Branchiura sowerbyii, Nais sp., Aelosoma sp., Pristina sp. and an unidentified taxion. Similarly, the class Hirudinaea was comprised by Erpobdella sp., Placobdella sp. and Glossiphonia sp. The seasonal mean value for biomass of annelids fluctuated between 0.31 g/m2 at site I in winter to 14.92 g/m2 at site III in summer. The annual mean biomass was highest at site IV (10.82±2.02 g/m2), followed by site III (10.47±2.07 g/m2), site II (8.94±1.90 g/m2), site I (1.85±0.94 g/m2) and site V (1.71±0.50 g/m2).