SPECIES COMPOSITION AND DENSITY OF GASTROTRICHA OCCURRING ON TWO SPECIES OF MACROPHYTES IN A MESOTROPHIC LAKE

The research was carried out on species diversity, density and similarity of Gastrotricha living on two species of macrophytes Myriophyllum spicatum L. and Elodea canadensis Michx. in a mesotrophic lake. Gastrotricha occurring on the studied macrophytes were represented by 23 species (21 on M. spicatum L. and 22 on E. canadensis Michx.). Species diversity (expressed by the Shannon index) for the Gastrotricha occurring on the two studied species of macrophytes amounted to 2.70 for M. spicatum L. and 2.81 for E. canadensis Michx., what suggests equal distribution of the gastrotrich species revealed in the studied species of macrophytes. The definite dominants inhabiting the two species of macrophytes were: Heterolepidoderma macrops Kisielewski, 1981, Heterolepidoderma ocellatum (Mečnikow, 1865), Lepidoderma squamata (Dujardin, 1841) and Aspidiophorus squamulosus Roszczak, 1936, and their inclusive percentage participation in the whole gastrotrich fauna for M. spicatum L. and E. canadensis Michx. was 41.8 and 40.3% respectively. The domination structure of the gastrotrich fauna of the two species of macrophytes was similar for each gastrotrich species (G-test, for all p > 0.05). Average density of Gastrotricha inhabiting M. spicatum L. amounted to 588.0 103 indiv. m, and density of Gastrotricha occurring on E. canadensis Michx. amounted to 670.0 103 indiv. m. Statistic analysis based on the Mann-Whitney test showed that differences of the gastrotrich density on the studied species of macrophytes: M. spicatum L. and E. canadensis Michx. (Z = -1.9282; p = 0.05) are statistically insignificant.

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