Morphological characterization of Chironomidae (Diptera) larvae in Anzali Wetland, Southwest Caspian Sea: First record of Chironomus plumosus

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Biology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

2 Young Researchers and Elite Club, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Chironomids (Diptera) include the most abundant group of macroinvertebrates. They are usually collected from aquatic environments for quality evaluation. Tolerant aquatic organisms such as Chironomids are more abundant in polluted sites. This note makes the Chironomids as an excellent bioindicators. This group is not characterized in Anzali Wetland as well. So that, the aim of this study was to recover and characterize chironomidlarvae in this wetland. Hence, Chironomidlarvae were collected on the seasonal basis from 13 stations in the wetland. The main characteristics for their identification were eye spot, mentum, ventromental plate, antenna, and ventral tubules. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was applied to simplify the identification of Chironomus species by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing method. The nucleotide sequence alignments were used for construction of the phylogenetic trees based on maximum likelihood method. Six genera were identified in three subfamilies, including: Chironominae (1 genus), Orthocladinae (1 genus), and Tanypodinae (4 genera). Based on ventral tubules, the dominant population of Chironomus larvae found in this study, lie in thummi and plumosus types.  Five genera were reported for the first time from Anzali Wetland. The dominant genus was Chironomus.  These groups of larvae were ultimately identified as Chironomus plumosus reporting for the first time from the wetland. It was also found that the Chironomids diversity is higher than those described in few studies before, however, further studies are still needed.

Keywords


Ahmadi, R, Mohebbi, F, Haghighi,  P, Esmailly,  L & Salmanzadeh, R 2011, Macro- invertebrates in the wetlands of the Zarrineh estuary at the south of Urmia Lake (Iran). International Journal of Environmental Research, 5: 1047-1052.
Barbosa, AC, Garcia, AM, & DE Souza, JR 1997, Mercury contamination of riverine population of Apiacas reserve in the Brazilian Amazon. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 97: 1-8.
Boore, IL & Brown, WM 2000, Mitochondrial genomes of Galathealinum, Helobdella, and Platynereis: Sequence and gene arrangement comparisons indicate that Pogonophora is not a phylum and Annelida and Arthropoda are not sister taxa. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 300:1703-1706.
Butler,  MG, Kiknadze,  II, Golygina, VV, Martin, J, Istomina,  AG, Wülker,  WF, Sublette, JE & Sublette, MF 1999, Cytogenetic differentiation between Palearctic and Nearctic populations of Chironomus plumosus L. (Diptera, Chironomidae). Genome, 42: 797-815.
Chutter, F M 1972, An empirical biotic index of the quality of water in South African streams and rivers. Water Research, 6: 19-30.
Ebrahimzadeh, M & Allahbakhshi, E 2013, A study on chironomid larvae (Insecta- Diptera) of Golpayegan River (Isfahan-Iran) at generic level. Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transaction A, 1: 45-52.
Esmaeilzadeh, M, Karbassi, A & Moattar, F 2016, Assessment of metal pollution in the Anzali Wetland sediments using chemical partitioning method and pollution indices. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 35: 28-36.
Failla, AJ, Vasquez, AA, Fujimoto, M & Ram, JL 2015, The ecological, economic and public health impacts of nuisance chironomids and their potential as aquatic invaders. Aquatic Invasions, 10: 1-15.
Folmer, O, Black, M, Hoeh, W, Lutz, R & Vrijenhoek, R 1994, DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular marine biology and biotechnology, 3: 294-299.
Ghazban, F & Khosheghbal, Z 2011, An investigation of sediment pollution in Anzali Wetland. Journal of Environmental Science, 57: 45-56
Guryev, VP & Blinov, AG 2002, Phylogenetic relationships among Holarctic populations of Chironomus entis and Chironomus plumosus in view of possible horisontal transfer of mitochondrial genes. Russian Journal of Genetics, 38: 239-243.
Guryev, V, Makarevich, I, Blinov, A & Martin, J 2001, Phylogeny of the genus Chironomus (Diptera) Inferred from DNA sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 19: 9-21.
Henriques–Oliveira, AL, Dorvillé, LFM & Nessimian, JL 2003, Distribution of Chironomidae larvae fauna (Insecta: Diptera) on different substrates in a stream at Floresta da Tijuca, RJ, Brazil. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia, 15: 69-84.
Jica, Doe & Moja 2005, The study on integrated management for ecosystem conservation of Anzali Wetland in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Draft final report NipponKoei Co., Ltd., 161 p.
Jafari, N 2009, Ecological integrity of wetland, their functions and sustainable use. Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment, 1: 45-54.
Javanshir,  A, Shapoori, M & Jamili, S 2008, Diversity of benthic invertebrates fauna and secondary production in Southern Caspian Sea basin: Case study on Tajan River Estuary. Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 3: 353-365.
Johnson, RK, Widerholm, T & Rosenberg, DM 1993, Freshwater biomonitoring using individual organisms, populations, and species assemblages of benthic macroinvertebrates. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 40-158.
Karami, A, Ebrahimzad, M & Zamanpour, M 2014,Checklist and key identification of Chironomidae larvae (Insecta: Diptera) in Marbor River (Isfahan, Iran).Journal of Taxonomy and Biosystematics, 6: 49–64.
Kiknadze,  II, Shilova,  AI, Kerkis,  IE, Shobanov,  NA, Zelenkov, NI, Grebenchov, LP, Istomina, AG & Prasolov, BA 1991, Karyotype and morphology of larvae of the tribe Chironomini ATLAS, Novosibirsk, 114 p.
Kubeka, J, Seda, J & Matena, J 1998, Fish-zooplankton interactions during spring in a deep reservoir. International Review of Hydrobiology, 83: 431-442.
Madden, CP 2010, Key to genera of larvae of Australian Chironomidae (Diptera). Museum Victoria Science Reports, 12: 1-31.
Martin, J 1979, Chromosomes as tools in taxonomy and phylogeny of Chironomidae (Diptera). Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement, 10:67-74.
Marques, MM, Barbosa, FAR & Callisto, M 1999, Distribution and abundance of Chironomidae (Diptera, Insecta) in an impacted watershed in south-east Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 59: 553-561.
Marziali, L, Armanini, DG, Cazolla, M & Erba, S 2010, Responses of chironomid larvae (Insecta, Diptera) to ecological quality in Mediterranean river mesohabitats (South Italy). River Research and Applications, 26: 1036–1051.
Mirzajani, AR, Khodaparastsharifi, H, Babaei, H, Abedini, A & Dadai Ghandi, A 2010, Eutrophication trend of Anzali Wetland based on 1992 to 2002 data. Journal of Environmental Studies, 35: 19-21.
Nazarhaghighi, F, Timm, T, Nadoushan,  RM, Shabanipour,  N,  Fatemi, MR & Moradia, AM  2014,Oligochaetes  (Annelida,  Clitellata)  in  the  Anzali International  Wetland,  north-western  Iran. Estonian Journal of Ecology. 63: 130-144.
Oliver, DR 1983, The larvae of Diamesinae (Diptera, Chironomidae) of the Holarctic region-keys and diagnoses. Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement, 19: 115-138.
Orlova, M, Golubkov, S, Kalinina, L & Ignatieva, N 2004, Dreissena polymoprha (Bivalvaia: Dreissenidae) in the Neva Estuary (eastern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea): Is it a biofilter or source for pollution? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 49: 196-205.
Polukonova, NV, Djomin, AG, Mugue, NS & Shaikevich, EV 2009, Comparison of Chironomus usenicus and Chironomus curabilis with species of the group plumosus (Diptera) inferred from the mitochondrial DNA gene COI and by the polytene chromosomes banding pattern. Russian Journal of Genetics, 45: 899-905.
Proulx, I, Martin, J, Carew, M & Hare, L 2013, Using various lines of evidence to identify Chironomus species in eastern Canadian lakes. Zootaxa, 3741: 401-458.
Rosenberg, DM & Resh, VH 1993, Freshwater biomonitoring and benthic macroinvertebrates. Chapman &​ Hall, New York, 488 p.
Santos, M T D, Callil, CT, Fantin-Cruz, I & Girard, P 2013. Factors structuring the spatial distribution of Chironomidae larvae community in the floodplain of the Northern Pantanal, Brazil. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia, 25: 131-139.
Shobanov, NA 2002, Evolution of the genus Chironomus (Diptera, Chironomidae). 1. Ancestral form and major lines of phylogenesis. Entomological Review, 82: 487-493.
Siri, A, Donato, M, Orpella, G & Massaferro, J 2011, Alotanypus vittigera (Edwards) comb. nov.: Adult re-description, immature description and a phylogenetic analysis of the genus (Diptera: Chironomidae: Tanypodinae). Zootaxa, 2795: 46-64.
Strixino, G & Trivinho-Strixino, S 1998, Povoamentos de Chironomidae (Diptera) emlagos artificiais. In: Nessimian, JL & Carvalho, L (eds.) Ecologia de insetos aquáticos. UFRJ/IB/PPGE, Rio de Janeiro. pp.141-154.
Valypoor, A 1997, Abundance and distribution of Chironomidae larvae in Anzali Swamp [in Persian]. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences. 2: 22-75.
Webb, CJ & Scholl, A 1985, Identification of larvae of European species of Chironomus Meigen (Diptera: Chironomidae) by morphological characters. Systematic Entomology, 10:353-372.
Zanjani, JA & Saeedi, M 2013, Metal pollution assessment and multivariate analysis in sediment of Anzali International Wetland. Environmental Earth Sciences, 70: 1791-1808.
Zhimulev, IF & Koryakov, DE 2009, Polytene Chromosomes. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: New York. pp. 1-10.