Eisen, 1879b
Type genus Tubifex Lamarck, 1816
Number of species more than 270. In fresh waters of NWE, 14 genera with 35 species:
Aulodrilus japonicus Yamaguchi, 1953
Aulodrilus limnobius Bretscher, 1899
Aulodrilus pigueti Kowalewski, 1914
Aulodrilus pluriseta (Piguet, 1906a)
Embolocephalus velutinus (Grube, 1879)
Haber speciosus (Hrabe, 1931b)
Haber turquinae (Juget and Lafont, 1979)
Ilyodrilus templetoni (Southern, 1909)
Isochaetides michaelseni (Lastockin, 1936)
Krenedrilus sergei Giani et al., 1990
Limnodrilus cervix Brinkhurst, 1963
Limnodrilus claparedeanus Ratzel, 1868
Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparède, 1862
Limnodrilus maumeensis Brinkhurst and Cook, 1966
Limnodrilus profundicola (Verrill, 1871 in Smith and Verrill, 1871)
Limnodrilus udekemianus Claparède, 1862
Peipsidrilus pusillus Timm, 1977
Potamothrix bavaricus (Oschmann, 1913)
Potamothrix bedoti (Piguet, 1913)
Potamothrix hammoniensis (Michaelsen, 1901a)
Potamothrix heuscheri (Bretscher, 1900b)
Potamothrix moldaviensis Vejdovsky and Mrázek, 1903
Potamothrix vejdovskyi (Hrabe, 1941)
Psammoryctides albicola (Michaelsen, 1901a)
Psammoryctides barbatus (Grube, 1861)
Psammoryctides moravicus (Hrabe, 1934)
Quistadrilus multisetosus (Smith, 1900)
Spirosperma ferox Eisen, 1879b
Tubifex blanchardi Vejdovsky, 1891
Tubifex ignotus (Stolc, 1886)
Tubifex nerthus Michaelsen, 1908
Tubifex newaensis (Michaelsen, 1903a)
Tubifex smirnowi Lastockin, 1927
Tubifex tubifex (Müller, 1774)
Tubificoides heterochaetus (Michaelsen, 1926a)
Description
Large, medium or small tubificids, with smooth or armoured (with papillae or rings with adhering particles) body. Chaetae as bifid crotchets in most species, sometimes also simple-pointed crotchets; hair and pectinate bundles can occur in dorsal bundles. Modified genital (usually spermathecal but sometimes also penial) chaetae can occur in corresponding ventral bundles. Differing from the other subfamilies first of all in the structure of male duct: atrium is equipped with single, stalked prostate gland. Sperm in spermathecae is usually (but not in all genera) arranged in spematozeugmata, and spermathecal pores lie in the middle or posterior portion of X. No coelomocytes in body cavity.
Burrowing in sediment.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
Ecology
In fresh, brackish and marine water. The most common group in freshwater sediments.
Reproduction
Mostly sexual, with eggs laid in cocoons. In some separate genera and species also asexual reproduction by architomy (fragmentation).
Literature
Eisen, 1879b: 8-10; Hrabe, 1963: 54; Hrabe, 1967: 348; Hrabe, 1981: 76; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 445; Brinkhurst, 1991: 392-397, Fig. 1; Kasprzak, 1981: 153-154; Erséus, 1990: 60-61, Fig. 2.