Dero digitata (Müller, 1773)

Righi, Gilberto & Hamoui, Viviane, 2002, Oligochaeta, Naididae Of The West Indies And Adjacent Regions, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 42 (6), pp. 119-167 : 126-127

Dero digitata (Müller, 1773)

Nais digitata Müller, 1773: 22 .

Dero (D.) digitata ; Sperber,1948:165, figs.19A-E, 27A, pl.XIV, figs. 2-5, pls. XV-XVII, XVIII, figs. 1-3, 6; Naidu, 1962a: 531 A-H; Howmiller, 1974:6; Harman, 1974:20; 1982a: 292; Di Persia, 1977a: 11, figs. 1-4; 1980a: 90; Botea, 1983: 28, fig. 10A-D; Dumnicka,1986:268.

Dero limosa Leidy, 1852:226 ; 1880: 422, figs. 1-2; Stieren, 1892: 122; Michaelsen, 1905a: 354; Cordero, 1931a: 334; 1931b: 350; 1951: 235.

Material: Montserrat 839: 43 specimens. Marie Galante 749, 4 specimens; 754, 6 specimens. Martinique 767, 1 specimen. Grenada 860: 379 specimens ; 861: 5 specimens. Trinidad 648: 1 specimen . Margarita 12: 18 specimens. Bonaire 54: 4 specimens : 54a: 10 specimens; 54b: 4 specimens; 54c: 4 specimens; 376a: 1 specimen; 379: 9 specimens; 379b: 5 specimens; 379c: 1 specimen; 379f: 3 specimens; 379h: 4 specimens; 379i: 9 specimens; 384: 1 specimen; 641: 4 specimens; 890: 55 specimens. Klein Bonaire 61a: 14 specimens; 61b: 25 specimens; 61c: 16 specimens; 61d: 490 specimens. Klein Curaçao 64A: 75 specimens. Curaçao 339: 8 specimens ; 893: 5 specimens; 894: 5 specimens. Venezuela 920: 7 specimens . Suriname 927: 3 specimens . Habitat: Limnetic to polyhaline; salinity 0.03-23.6%.

Distribution: Cosmopolite. Neotropical occurrences: Argentina: Prov. Missiones and Corrientes ( Di Persia, 1977a; 1980a). Uruguay ( Cordero, 1931b). Paraguay ( Michaelsen, 1905a). Peru: Dept. Loreto ( Harman et al. 1988). Brazil: States Pará and Amazonas ( du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1947; 1949). Surinam ( Harman, 1974). Costa Rica ( Harman, 1982a). Guatemala ( Howmiller, 1974). Bonaire ( Michaelsen, 1933). Haiti ( Dumnicka, 1986). Cuba ( Botea, 1983). Curaçao, Margarita, Grenada, Montserrat (Righi & Hamoui).

Remarks: On comparing the setal length registered in the literature to this cosmopolite species it is seen that the Gondwanian specimens have shorter setal length. The teeth of the needles are 2 times shorter than in European or North-American specimens. This, associated with the variability of the branchial fossa in preserved specimens, makes the identification of the species difficult. According to Botea (1983), the Cuban specimens have “finament serrées” hairs, but this is not showed in his fig. 10 and needs confirmation. Dero cooperi Stephenson (1932) , D. bonairensis Michaelsen (1933) and; D. quadribranchiata Cernosvitov (1937) are distinguished from D. digitata only by their needles with teeth of equal length.