Epizoic polychaetes (annelida: polychaeta) on Crassostrea rhizhophorae (guilding, 1828) from la restinga lagoon, Margarita island, Venezuela

Abstract

Species richness of epizoic polychaetes on the mangrove oyster, Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding 1828), was studied. Monthly collections (January-August, 2001) were made. Oysters were separated from mangroves roots by hand in La Restinga lagoon and put into plastic bags with seawater, taken to the laboratory and placed in aquariua. Two hundred and forty five oysters were examined, having 1229 polychaetes belonging to 56 species. The biogeographic composition of the species allows some grouping as cosmopolitan (32.3%), Atlantic Ocean (23.3%), amphiamericans (18.6%), pantropical (9.3%) and disjunct species (2.3%).