The employees of the laboratory of hydrobiology and hydroanalysts of the main unit of the “RPC of Fisheries” LLP keep watching the polychaete Hediste diversicolor (O.F. Müller, 1776).

The joint maintenance of oligochaetes and chironomids with polychaetes showed that the khedista, being a polyphage, prefers live food when given a choice. Pronounced selectivity was noted: first of all, small oligochaetes are eaten away. In the absence of oligochaetes, larger and tougher chironomid larvae are actively consumed, which may pose a threat of undermining the native fauna of chironomid-oligochaete type water reservoirs. Larvae of blood-sucking mosquitoes are eaten only by large polychaetes in the absence of other food.

The work is carried out within the the project “Development of scientifically based recommendations for increasing the productivity of fishery reservoirs through the introduction and reintroduction of fish and hydrobionts – components of the fodder base of fish”.