Abstract
Chironomid larvae and adults were collected from rock pool and intertidal sites between 1990 and 1994 on the exposed Atlantic coast and in more sheltered bays near St. John's. From several thousand specimens collected, 16 chironomid taxa were identified. Two were from intertidal habitats and the remainder occurred in rock pools. In intertidal habitats Halocladius variabilis was abundant in summer among clumps of fine filamentous algae, e.g. Pilayella littoralis. The previous Nearctic records of this chironomid were from Hudson Bay and Greenland although it is widespread in northern Europe. The other intertidal species, Telmatogeton japonicas, was recorded from one site, a rock outcrop on a beach in the mouth of a small stream. This Holarctic species has not been reported previously north of New York on the Atlantic coast. The rock-pool communities were dominated by Psectotanypus dyari, Cricotopus sylvestris, Psectocladius sordidellus gp, Orthocladius dubitatus, Chironomus riparius, and Tanytarsus sp. These taxa are known to tolerate sites with elevated salinity and/or conductivity and thus are present in polluted sites inland. The other eight chironomid species were rare and most were found at only one site. An exception was the Metriocnemus sp. collected in very low numbers at three sites and also collected previously during a survey of rock pools for larval mosquitoes in the same area. The current study shows that a diverse coastal chironomid community is present in the cold ocean habitats of eastern Newfoundland. The community is made up of both arctic and temperate faunal elements with widespread distributions not confined to coastal habitats. Ranges of temperature, salinity, conductivity and pH for the common species occurring in the rock pools are provided. The results suggest that coastal rock pool habitats could be a natural laboratory for studies on the evolutionary ecology of pollution tolerance in chironomids.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cannings, R. A. & G. G. E. Scudder, 1978. The littoral Chironomidae (Diptera) of saline lakes in central British Columbia. Can. J. Zool. 56: 1144–1155.
Cranston, P. S., 1987. Metriocnemus (Diptera: Chironomidae) — an ecological survey and description of a new species. J. New York Entomol. Soc. 95: 534–546.
Cranston, P S., 1989. The adult males of Telmatogetoninae (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Holarctic region - Keys and Diagnosis. In T. Weiderholm (ed.), Chironomidae of the Holarctic region — Keys and Diagnosis. Part 3. Adult males. Ent. scand. Suppl. 34: 17–21.
Epler, J. H., 1992. Identification manual for the larval Chironomidae (Diptera) of Florida. Biological Section, Bureau of Laboratories, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, Tallahasse, USA. 302 pp.
Hashimoto, H., 1976. Non-biting midges of marine habitats (Diptera: Chironomidae). In L. Cheng (ed.), Marine Insects. North Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam: 377–414.
Heliövaara, K. & R. Väisänen, 1993. Insects and pollution. CRC Press, Boca Raton. 393 pp.
Hellawell, J. M., 1986. Biological indicators of freshwater pollution and environmental management. Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, London. 546 pp.
Hirvenoja, M., 1973. Revision der Gattung Cricotopus vander Wulp und ihrer Verwandten (Diptera: Chironomidae). Ann. zool. fenn. 101: 1–363.
Morley, R. L. & R. A. Ring, 1972a. The intertidal Chironomidae of British Columbia. I. Keys to their life stages. Can. Ent. 104: 1093–1098.
Morley, R. L. & R. A. Ring, 1972b. The intertidal Chironomidae of British Columbia. II. Life history and population dynamics. Can. Ent. 104: 1099–1121.
Neumann, D., 1976. Adaptations of chironomids to intertidal environments. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 21: 387–414.
Oliver, D. R., M. E. Dillion & P S. Cranston, 1990. A catalog of the Nearctic Chironomidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. Publication 1857/B: 89 pp.
Ring, R. A., 1991. The insect fauna and some other characteristics of natural salt springs on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. Mem. ent. Soc. Can. 155: 51–61.
Saunders, L. G., 1928. Some marine insects of the Pacific coast of Canada. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 21: 521–545.
Tudorancea, C. & R. M. Baxter & C. H. Fernando, 1989. A comparative limnological study of zoobenthic associations in lakes of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. Arch. Hydrobiol. Suppl. 83: 121–174.
Waterhouse, I. C. & M. P. Farrell, 1985. Identifying pollution related changes in chironomid communities as a function of taxonomic rank. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 42: 406–413.
Wirth, W. W., 1947. A review of the genus Telmatogeton Schiner, with descriptions of three new Hawaiian species (Diptera: Chironomidae). Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 13: 143–191.
Wirth, W. W., 1949. A revision of the Clunionine midges with descriptions of a new genus and four new species (Diptera: Tendipedidae). Univ. Calif. Publs. Ent. 8: 151–182.
Wirth, W. W., 1952., Notes on the marine midges from the eastern United States (Diptera, Chironomidae [=Chironomidae]). Bull. mar. Sci. Gulf Carib. 2: 307–312.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Colbo, M.H. Chironomidae from marine coastal environments near St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Hydrobiologia 318, 117–122 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014137
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014137