Report on a collection of cladocera and copepoda from Nepal

22 species of Cladocera and 14 species of Copepoda are reported, mainly from Kathmandu valley, Central Nepal and some from high-altitude lakes in the Khumbu area, East Nepal. Two species are new to science; neither can, however, be named due to inadequate material. The relation between Macrothrix laticornis (Jurine, 1820), M. spinosa King, 1853 and M. goeldii Richard, 1897 is discussed; M. goeldii is set as synonym to M. spinosa; new morphological criteria, permetting a separation to M. laticornis and M. spinosa, are given. Some biogeographical aspects of the fauna encountered are: 1) among Copepoda two calanoïds of oriental origin and one of supposed palaearctic origin reach Kathmandu valley; all other Copepoda are circumtropical or cosmopolite species; no oriental Cyclopoïda were found; 2) at higher altitudes, no Cyclopoïda were found, and the Calanoïda were endemic species of the palaearctic genus Arctodiaptomus; 3) no oriental Cladocera were found in Kathmandu valley; the majority of species were cosmopolitan, the remainder circumtropical; 4) at high altitudes, endemic species of palaearctic genera exist next to a set of cosmopolitans.Contribution no 21 from the Netherlands Centre for Alpine Biological Research