Freshwater Bryozoa of Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Abstract

We identified a collection of freshwater bryozoans from Tonle Sap (meaning Tonle Lake), Cambodia, a body of water fed by the Mekong River and characterized by extreme fluctuations in water level between the wet and dry seasons. The collection also included specimens from the moat of Angkor Wat, located at the north end of the lake. We found four phylactolaemate species (Plumatella bombayensis, Plumatella casmiana, Plumatella vorstmani, Hyalinella lendenfeldi) and one ctenostome species (Hislopia cambodgiensis) from the lake, and only a single, additional phylactolaemate species (Plumatella javanica) from the moat. We provide brief descriptions of these species, photographs of colonies for some, and photomicrographs by light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of statoblasts. None of the species encountered in this study is endemic to Cambodia, and the wide distributions of the species are possibly related to the dispersability of floatoblasts by birds. We briefly discuss some of the taxonomic problems surrounding Hislopia cambodgiensis.