Rich freshwater rotifer fauna of small lentic ecosystems of south Andaman, Andaman Sea, India (Rotifera: Eurotatoria)

Sharma, Bhushan Kumar and Raghunathan, Chelladura and Sharma, Sumita (2017) Rich freshwater rotifer fauna of small lentic ecosystems of south Andaman, Andaman Sea, India (Rotifera: Eurotatoria). Opuscula Zoologica, 48 (2). pp. 185-192. ISSN 0237-5419 (print), 2063-1588 (online)

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Abstract

Small lentic ecosystems are hypothesized to be interesting habitats for metazoan diversity. This study is undertaken to document Rotifera of small freshwater bodies of south Andaman, India. A total of 11 2 species (S), belonging to 32 genera and 19 families, recorded i n our intensive February 2017 collections, indicate rich and diverse assemblage of the taxon. Total richness comprises ~ 27 % of the rotifer species known from India and thus affirms biodiversity interest and habitat diversit y of the sampled habitats. This report adds 42 species, seven genera and three families to the taxa reported till date from freshwaters of the Andaman and Nicorbar islands. Rotifera meta - analysis indicates distinct increase in richness of Lecanidae > Brachionidae > Trichocercidae and tw o - fold increase in Brachionus species. The biogeographically interesting elements comprise 8.0 % of S and several species indicate regional distribution importance. The rotifer fauna shows high richness of cosmopolitan species (~68% of S) and a number of t ropical and subtropical species (~22 % of S). The present study highlights distinct scope to augment Rotifera diversity of the Andaman and Nicorbar islands freshwaters vis - à - vis intensive sampling of varied habitats.

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