A limnological reconnaissance of the Falkland Islands; with particular reference to the waterfleas (Arthropoda: Anomopoda)

Abstract

Forty-eight freshwater bodies on the Falkland Islands, including 33 lakes and pools, and 12 rivers and streams, were sampled for freshwater invertebrates. This study yielded 129 species of invertebrates (79 Rotifera, 34 Arthropoda, six Platyhelminthes, three Gastrotricha, two Nematoda, two Annelida, two Mollusca, and one Tardigrada) plus two fish species bringing the known Falkland Islands freshwater fauna to more than 170 species. While the presence of fishes, molluscs, amphipods, caddis larvae, waterboatmen, parasitic cercaria, and truly planktonic rotifers make the Falkland Islands fauna markedly richer than any subantarctic, or maritime Antarctic island, it is nevertheless sparse when compared with other temperate and tropical locations.

The freshwater fauna of the South Polar Region: A 140-year review

“…These records should be coupled with Bayly & Burton's 1993 report of dwarf specimens from Beaver Lake, Prince Charles Mountains along with the juvenile Boeckella sp. from Lake Hoare (Hansson et al 2012) (table 1: Arthropoda: Crustacea: Calanoida) and the exceptionally variable specimens reported from the Falkland Islands (Dartnall & Hollwedel 2007). The unusual Continental Antarctic and sub-Antarctic distribution of Daphniopsis studeri also requires further investigation (table 1: Arthropoda: Crustacea: Cladocera).…”

“…Dartnall (1995b) also reported it from a number of freshwater lakes in the Larsemann Hills. Dartnall & Hollwedel (2007) ascribed this species to the smaller Diacyclops they found in the Falkland Islands, but acknowledged the species is inadequately described and in need of revision. More recently Karanovic et al (2013) examined cyclopoid copepods from three ice covered lakes on Continental Antarctica and erected three new species -Diacyclops kaupi from the epishelf Transkriptsii Gulf, Bunger Hills, D. walkeri from epishelf Pineapple Lake, Vestfold Hills, and D. joycei from proglacial Lake Joyce, McMurdo Sound Dry Valleys.…”

“…When I came to study the freshwater invertebrates of the Vestfold Hills I had no reason to query this identification, indeed I extended its then known range to include the Larsemann Hills (Dartnall 1995b). Dartnall & Hollwedel (2007) recorded both Diacyclops mirnyi and D. michaelseni from the Falkland Islands while calling for a review of this genus. More recently Karanovic et al (2013) described three new species -D. kaupi from Transkriptsii Gulf, an epishelf lake in the Bunger Hills close to where D. mirnyi was first recorded; D. walkeri from Pineapple Lake, an epishelf lake in the Vestfold Hills; and D. joycei from Lake Joyce, a permanently ice-covered lake in the McMurdo Sound region (table 1: Arthropoda: Crustacea: Cyclopoida).…”

Diacyclops (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) in Continental Antarctica, including three new species

“…Mrázek (1901 described D. michaelseni (as Cyclops michaelseni) from small freshwater ponds in Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, without defining the type locality. It has been regularly recorded from the Falkland Islands (Dartnall & Hollwedel 2007), and may also occur on Iles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean (Pugh et al 2002). Today there are two accepted synonyms of this species: Cyclops lobulosus Ekman, 1905, described also from Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands (Ekman 1905), and Cyclops michaelseni var.…”

“…Mrázek (1901) described D. michaelseni (as Cyclops michaelseni ) from small freshwater ponds in Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, without defining the type locality. It has been regularly recorded from the Falkland Islands (Dartnall & Hollwedel 2007), and may also occur on Iles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean (Pugh et al . 2002).…”