Interesting rotifers (Rotifera: Eurotatoria) from a subtropical wetland of Meghalaya, Northeast India: new records

Abstract

The plankton and semiplankton samples examined from a subtropical wetland of Shillong, Meghalaya, Northeast India (NEI), revealed seven new records of rotifers belonging to six genera and six families. These include five species new to the Indian Rotifera and two species new to the rotifer fauna of NEI, thus meriting interest in terms of biodiversity and distribution. All the species are illustrated to warrant validation. While a detailed account of the rich rotifer diversity of the wetland is continuing, this interim report raises the total tally of Rotifera known from Meghalaya to 141 species belonging to 41 genera and 20 families.

Zooplankton Diversity of a Sub-Tropical Small Urban Wetland of Meghalaya, Northeast India with Remarks on Spatial Variations

“…The salient features of poor Brachionidae richness and lack of Brachionus spp. noted in our collections are attributed to slightly acidic -circum neutral waters concurrent with the reports of Sharma and Pachuau (2013), Sharma et al (2016), and Sharma and Sharma (2020), while Brachionidae paucity concurs with the report from Arunachal Pradesh (Saikia et al 2017). Lecanidae > Lepadellidae collectively comprise ~57.0% of the rotifer richness and affirm the littoral-periphytic character of the taxon vides Sharma (2017a, 2019c).…”

“…Lecanidae > Lepadellidae collectively comprise ~57.0% of the rotifer richness and affirm the littoral-periphytic character of the taxon vides Sharma (2017a, 2019c). Additional details of Rotifera diversity vis-à-vis new reports (Sharma 2016), species composition, and elements of biogeographic interest are dealt with separately by Sharma et al (2016). Cladocera, the second speciose group, indicated 36 species belonging to 28 genera and 6 families; it depicts diverse nature in comparison with our conservative estimate of the occurrence of 60-65 species from the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian subcontinent (Sharma and Michael 1987;Sharma and Sharma 2017b).…”

“…All samples were screened with a Wild stereoscopic binocular microscope, zooplankton taxa were isolated and mounted in polyvinyl alcohol-lactophenol mixture, and were observed with Leica (DM 1000) stereoscopic microscope. Zooplankton species were identified following Michael and Sharma (1988), Sharma (1998Sharma ( , 2016, Sharma and Sharma (1999a, 1999b, 2000, 2008, and Sharma et al (2016). The community similarities were calculated vide Sørensen's index and the hierarchical cluster analysis was done using SPSS (version 20).…”

“…On the other hand, some notable studies from small wetlands of NEI are yet limited to surveys from Meghalaya (Sharma and Wanswet 2006), Arunachal Pradesh (Saikia et al 2017), and Assam (Deka and Goswami 2015). Also, Sharma et al (2016), Sharma and Kensibo (2017), and Sharma and Sharma (2019a, 2019b, 2019c highlighted small wetlands of NEI to be one of the Rotifera biodiversity hot-spots of the Indian sub-region. The literature from India thus reflects the overall paucity of extensive investigations till date on various aspects of zooplankton diversity of small wetlands of India and NEI in general and urban wetlands in particular.…”

“…The present study, a follow-up of our survey of the rotifer assemblage (Sharma et al 2016), endeavors to undertake detailed analyses of zooplankton diversity of a small urban wetland of Meghalaya state of NEI; it assumes biodiversity and limnology interest in light of the stated lacunae. Our study deals with the spatio-temporal variations of richness, species composition, community similarities, abundance, species diversity, equitability and dominance, and individual and cumulative influence of abiotic factors on zooplankton assemblages.…”