Invertebrate Communities Associated to Parastacus pugnax (Decapoda, Parastacidae) Northern Patagonian Populations (38°S, Araucania, Chile): a First Exploratory Analysis

Abstract

The burrowing crayfish Parastacus pugnax (Poeppig, 1835) inhabits the flooded plains in the central part of Chile (32–38°S), where it coexists with another representaives of invertebrate fauna. The aim of this study was to give the first description based on exploratory data of invertebrates associated to P. pugnax habitats in the Araucanía region, Chile. For comparison, published data on two similar habitats without P. pugnax populations were considered as outgroups. The obtained results revealed marked differences in species composition among sites with presence of P. pugnax, and without this species. A small number of species (1–5) was identified in the studied sites; Cladocera Simocephalus expinosus group was the most numerous and inhabited five of seven sites. Ecological and biogeographical topics were discussed.