Distribution and species composition of zooplankton (rotifers and crustaceans) in the Basin of the Middle Volga River, Russia

Abstract

The presented dataset contains information on the distribution and species composition of zooplankton (rotifers and crustaceans) registered in the Basin of the Middle Volga River, Russia. The studies have been performed in the Kuibyshev Reservoir (Samara Oblast and the Republic of Tatarstan), the Saratov Reservoir (Samara Oblast), in several lakes (Raifskoe, Gniloe, Krugloe and Lenevo) in the Volzhsko-Kamsky State Biosphere Reserve (Republic of Tatarstan) and in Lake Aslikul, one of the largest lakes of the Middle Volga River Basin, located in the Asly-Kul Natural Park (Republic of Bashkortostan). The hydrobiological data were obtained and published from 1957 to 2020. In total, the dataset includes 5141 records of 111 zooplankton species (including 17 subspecies), belonging to 45 genera. These are mainly native species - 98.5%, while the naturalised, including invasive species, accounts for less than 1.5%. A total of 5141 records have been published on the taxonomic diversity and occurrence of zooplankton (rotifers and crustaceans) in the Middle Volga River Basin. Each record includes information about the place and date of finding the specimen, its taxonomy, occurrence and abundance and the collector. If the information about the find has been published, a link to the corresponding reference is provided. The presented dataset supplements the data on the distribution of zooplankton species in the European part of Russia. Data on zooplankton in the Middle Volga River Basin are published for the first time.

Biodiversity of zooplankton (Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda) in the tributaries of Cheboksary Reservoir (Middle Volga, Russia)

“…To compare our data with the species richness of zooplankton from the basins of other Volga reservoirs: small rivers of the Upper Volga basin – 157 species ( Krylov 2005 ), Rybinsk Reservoir – more than 350 species ( Lazareva 2010 ), Kuibyshev Reservoir Basin – 111 species ( Mukhortova et al 2021 ). Significant differences in the number of species from different regions are related to several problems: different years of research, different types of water bodies and different study sites.…”

“…A large number of works have been devoted to the study of zooplankton in the Middle Volga Basin. However, there are very few collections with records of species abundance ( Mukhortova et al 2021 ). There is a certain gap in documenting data on zooplankton species occurrence and abundance in the Middle Volga Basin.…”