The diversity and ecology of Trichomycetes from lentic and lotic habitats in Nova Scotia, Canada

Abstract

Trichomycetes are endosymbiotic fungi and protists found in the guts of arthropods. Aquatic insects were collected from one lotic and one lentic site in each of three watersheds around the Halifax Regional Municipality and the trichomycetes present were documented. Weekly sampling over a 17 month period resulted in identification of 64 taxa of trichomycetes including 19 new species, five new continental and five new geographic records for Nova Scotia. Ecological results indicate that species richness and prevalence was higher at lotic sites than at lentic sites, primarily due to the presence of additional host types found only at lotic sites. Most trichomycete taxa occurred at relatively low prevalence at all sites. Watershed analyses suggested that differences in species richness and prevalence occur between watersheds. Several species exhibited seasonality and host preference over the course of the study.