Rotifera of some lakes in the floodplain of the River Niger (Imo State,Nigeria)

The Rotifera of thirteen freshwater habitats in the upper floodplain of the River Niger were studied. Thirteen new species are described, viz. Lepadella berzinsi n. sp., L. discoidea n. sp., Squatinella lunata n. sp., Dipleuchlanis ornata n. sp., Euchlanis semicarinata n. sp., Itura deridderae n. sp., L. dumonti n. sp., L. nigeriensis n. sp., L. nwadiaroi n. sp., L. simonneae n. sp., L. stichoclysta n. sp., L. sylviae n. sp. and Trichocerca kostei n. sp., L. climacois Harring & Myers is reestablished as a valid species. The synonymy of Hemimonostyla Bartos and Monostyla Ehrenberg with Lecane Nitzsch is commented upon. The names Lecane myersi nom. nov. and L. robertsonae nom. nov. are proposed to replace L. ornata (Harring & Myers) non (Daday) and L. amazonica Koste & Robertson non (Murray) (new status), respectively. Lecane amazonica (Murray) and L. latissima Yamamoto replace L. murrayi Hauer non Korde and L. rotundata (Olofsson) non (Jakubski), respectively. The following new synonymies are proposed: Lepadella williamsi Koste & Shiel with L. vandenbrandei Gillard; Lecane longidactyla (Edmondson) comb. nov. (ex. Proales) with L. clara (Bryce); Lecane longidactyla Arora non (Edmondson) with L. curvicornis (Murray); L. truncata Yamamoto non (Leissling) nec (Turner) with L. brachydactyla (Stenroos); L. amazoniana Koste & Robertson with L. eutarsa Harring & Myers.