Marine Tubificidae (Oligochaeta) from a mangrove habitat in Kenya

Two species of Tubificidae (both subfamily Rhyacodrilinae) are described fr om a hypersaline, high intertidal, mangrove site at Gazi Bay in southern Ke nya indicating that mangrove sediments of tropical East Africa contain mari ne Tubificidae, as do similar habitats studied on other continents. One spe cies is identified as Ainudrilus mediocris Erseus 1997, originally describe d from similar habitats in northern Australia. The genitalia of the Kenyan specimens differ in some dimensional features from those of the Australian material. The second taxon, Monopylephorus parvus Ditlevsen 1904, is report ed from many parts of the world, from tropical as well as temperate regions ; it possibly should be regarded as a group of (very similar) species rathe r than a single species.