Northern crayfish, Orconectes virilis (Hagen, 1870), were collected from 89 sites across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. The entocytherid ostracod Thermastrocythere riojai (Hoff, 1943) was found on O. virilis at 45 of the 89 sites, distributed primarily in the eastern and southern portion of the study area. These observations of T. riojai greatly extend the known range of the species. The widespread distribution of T. riojai suggests that the dearth of entocytherid records from other parts of Canada is a result of nontargeted sampling rather than true absence. In addition, we report on observations of 3 noteworthy associations of oligochaetes with their crayfish hosts.
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1 August 2011
Distribution of Entocytheridae (Crustacea: Ostracoda) in the Northern Prairies of North America and Reports of Opportunistic Clitellate Annelids on Crayfish Hosts
Bronwyn W. Williams,
Kathryn L. Williams,
Stuart R. Gelder,
Heather C. Proctor
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