Oligochaeta community of the main Serbian waterways

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a checklist and the distribution of Oligochaeta in Serbia’s major rivers: the Danube, the Sava, and the Tisa. The data presented serve as principal inputs for the design of an effective biomonitoring system, as a part of routine monitoring of water status under the EU Water Framework Directive. The rivers under investigation flow through numerous industrial and urban centers and receive significant amounts of pollution. The effects of pollution and hydromorphological alterations are important for the distribution of Oligochaeta, which are one of the principal members of the macroinvertebrate community. A total of 52 taxa of aquatic worms from 32 genera, belonging to 9 families, have been recorded. Most of the observed species are typical of potamon-type rivers in the region, adapted to high and moderate organic loads. The recorded community is dominated by limnophylous and limno to rheophilous, as well as pelophylous, argillophylous and psammophylous taxa. Although the investigated river stretches are considered to be of similar water types, characterized as large lowland rivers, a certain differences within the Oligochaeta species composition has been identified.