Macrozoobenthos of the Mukhavets River

Abstract

In the studied part of the Mukhavets River, 45 lowest defined taxa (LT) belonging to three phyla of macrozoobenthos: Mollusca – 15; Annelida – 3 and Arthropoda – 27. Among the collected aquatic invertebrates in the Mukhavets River, 18 species were noted for the first time. The observed species composition corresponded to the research season (October) and a traditional set of invertebrate species characteristic of the rivers in southern Belarus and varied from 18 (40.0 % of all collected animals) to 31 LT (68.9 %, respectively). The number of macrozoobenthos organisms varied from 503 specimens (41.9 % of all collected animals) to 107 specimens. (9.10 %, respectively) in the studied biotopes of the Mukhavets River. Among the identified animals, the species of invasive mollusks – Lithoglyphus naticoides (Pfeiffer, 1828) was noted, as well as a very rare species for Belarus, found only for the second time – Aulongyrus concinus (Klug, 1834). In addition, species protected in a number of Western European countries were identified in the studied site of the Mukhavets River.