Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Állatrendszertani és Ökológiai Tanszék
Doi
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