Abstract
Definitions of the species, especially those that are applicable to uniparental species, are reviewed. Characters used to distinguish species may be qualitative or quantitative: the former are possibly more useful than the latter. Among the purely sexual taxa, species determinations are likely to be based upon the genital apparatus; while in the Naididae, the genus is likely to have as a primary character the gonadal placement. At the slightly higher subfamily, or in some cases family, we strongly consider the number of segments formed in anterior regeneration.
Examples of ecologically induced variation in Naididae are cited and their taxonomic implications discussed.
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© 1980 Plenum Press, New York
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Harman, W.J. (1980). Specific and Generic Criteria in Freshwater Oligochaeta, with Special Emphasis on Naididae. In: Brinkhurst, R.O., Cook, D.G. (eds) Aquatic Oligochaete Biology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3048-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3048-6_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3050-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3048-6
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