Rotifera, Cladocera, Copepoda, and Ostracoda from coastal wetlands in northeast Algeria

Two wetland complexes in the El Kala area, northeast Algeria, were sampled for zooplankton over a two-month period (mid-May to mid-July 1993). Some samples from 1976 and 1978 were also studied. A total of 98 taxa (51 species of Microcrustacea and 47 species of Rotifera) are recorded. Twenty-seven of these (26.5% overall) are new to Algeria and/or to the Maghreb and Africa. A significant fraction of Afrotropical species was found in all four groups, beside species of northern (European) origin, and at least one cyclopoid copepod with an Irano-Turanian range. These results confirm the El Kala wetlands as an important relict pocket of species of various historical and geographical origin, and highlight the urgency of safeguarding these sites. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rotifera from Burundi: the Lepadellidae (Rotifera: Monogononta)

We studied the distribution of Lepadellidae (Rotifera) in freshwater habitats in the floodplain of the River Rusizi in northwest Burundi. Twenty-three species belonging to ColurellaBory de St. Vincent, 1824 (3 species), Lepadella Bory de St. Vincent, 1826 (18 species) and Squatinella Bory de St. Vincent, 1826 (2 species) are recorded, 22 of them are new to Burundi. One of the taxa encountered probably represents an unnamed species. Lepadella arabicaSegers & Dumont, 1993 is recognised as junior subjective synonym of Lepadella eurysterna Myers, 1942 (syn. nov.). Most of the taxa recorded are cosmopolitan or tropicopolitan, two are restricted to the tropical regions of the Old World and Australia, and one, Squatinella lunata Segers, 1993 is an Ethiopian endemic.     

Thermocyclops dumonti sp. n. (Crustacea,Copepoda), from a Temporary Waterbody in China

Six species of the genus Thermocyclops have hitherto been known from Chinese freshwaters. A new species is here recorded from a sample collected from an eutrophic pool in central China. It is described and compared using classical morphology and mapping of its pore signature. Thermocyclops dumonti differs from T. kawamurai by absence of ornamentation on prominences of intercoxal plates of P₁‐P₃, by relative length of apical spines of Enp₃P₄ and caudal ramus. It differs from T. dybowskii by ornamentation of P₄ intercoxal plate, relative length of Enp₃P₄ and caudal ramus, by shape of Tmi. As in other species of Thermocyclops, the perforations are bilaterally symmetrical and, species‐specific patterns occur on the cephalosome, metasome, and urosome. Conserved patterns are found elsewhere on the rostrum, cephalosome, metasome, and furcal branches. Based on pore pattern, Thermocyclops dumonti is separated from two close relatives, T. schmeili and T. dybowskii.     

The integumental pore signature of Thermocyclops schmeili (Poppe & Mrázek, 1895); Thermocyclops dybowskii(Landé, 1890); Thermocyclops hooki Löffler, 1968; Thermocyclops incisus Kiefer, 1932 and Thermocyclops inopinus (Kiefer, 1926)

Integumental pore signatures supplemented by routine morphological characters were studied in the females of five species of Thermocyclops Kiefer, 1927. Both techniques reveal structures with potential significance to taxonomy. Examples of these include a protruding spine of the sixth antennular segment, and a big opening near the genital pore. Bilaterally symmetrical, species-specific pore groups are found on the cephalosome, metasome and urosome, while conserved pores exist on the rostrum, on well-defined zones of the cephalosome, metasome, urosome and on the furcal rami. Exceptionally, asymmetry in these pore patterns may occur.     

On Lecane tanganyikae new species (Rotifera: Monogononta, Lecanidae)

A new species of rotifer, Lecane tanganyikae n.sp., is described from the littoral of Lake Tanganyika and some water bodies in the plain of the Rusizi river near Lake Tanganyika, Bujumbura Province, Burundi. The affiliation of the new species, especially in relation to L. elsa Hauer, is discussed.     

Some Freshwater Cyclopoids (Crustacea: Copepoda) of the Island of Soqotra (Indian Ocean), with the Description of Three New Species

Copepods from Soqotra Archipelago, a largely unstudied microplate in the north‐west Indian Ocean, were investigated. Seven species of six cyclopoid genera: Ectocyclops Brady , 1904; Halicyclops Norman , 1903; Mesocyclops Sars , 1914; Microcyclops Claus , 1893; Paracyclops Claus , 1893 and Tropocyclops Kiefer , 1927 were identified. Three of them are new to Science, viz. Mesocyclops wraniki sp. n., Halicyclops soqotranus sp. n., and Ectocyclops mozhae sp. n. They are described and figured.