OLIGOCHAETES (NAIDIDAE, TUBIFICIDAE, ENCHYTRAEIDAE AND ALLUROIDIDAE) OF GUYANA, PERU AND ECUADOR

More than 41 species in 23 genera of the microdrile oligochaete famili es Tubificidae, Naididae, Opistocystidae, and Enchytraeidae and the fr eshwater megadrile family Alluroididae have been identified in recent collections made in Peru, Guyana and Ecuador. Just less than 70% of ou r species records are new for one or more of these countries and one i s a new, albeit tentative, generic record for the South American conti nent. About 16 species new to science remain to be described. One of t hese is only the second reported species of Brinkhurstia (Alluroididae ) and possesses unusual, single, very elongate penial setae. All of ou r species records are pertinent to tests of different hypotheses about historical and phylogenetic relationships among organisms of northern and southern South America and North America. The species, including new ones, with limited distributions are of particular significance to such hypotheses.