Abstract
In this study, water quality parameters and zooplankton fauna were investigated from 14 different water wells in Yayladağı District of Hatay Province. The study was conducted seasonally between October 2015 and July 2016. A total of 51 species were identified, including 30 species of rotifers, 9 species of cladocerans, and 12 species of copepods. The most abundant species, Keratella cochlearis, Bosmina longirostris, and Tropocyclops prasinus, were found in 11, 13, and 12 wells, respectively. However, species such as Cephalodella catellina, Cephalodella ventripes, Filinia longiseta, Lecane lunaris, L. pumila, Lophocharis salpina, Mytilina unguipes, Platyias quadricornis, Trichocerca tigris, Ceriodaphnia pulchella, Diaphanosoma birgei, Alona guttata, Leydigia acanthocercoides, Simocephalus vetulus, Cyclops vicinus, Bryocamptus zschokkei, Diacyclops bicuspidatus, Canthocamptus microstaphylinus, and Nitocra hibernica were each observed in only one well. The highest abundance of species was found in Well 1 with 22 species, followed by Well 14 with 19 species and Well 4 with 18 species. Only 4 species were found in Well 10. At the end of this study, the most abundant species, Synchaeta stylata, Keratella quadrata, Bosmina longirostris, Tropocyclops prasinus, and Eudiaptomus drieschi, were observed in Wells 1-3, 1, 4, 3-10, and 1-4, respectively. The monogonont rotifer Lecane pumila, collected from Well 4 (Yayladağı, Hatay), was reported for the first time from Turkish inland waters.
Highlights
The primary source of freshwater in the hydrological cycle is groundwater
Groundwater and dependent ecosystems contain various organisms dominated by freshwater zooplankton, including rotifers, cladocerans, and copepods (Galassi et al, 2009; Brancelj et al, 2013)
Materials and methods Zooplankton samples were collected by vertical hauls of a standard net (60 μm mesh size) on 21 October 2015, as well as on 14 February, 23 April, and 16 July 2016, during routine surveys in 14 different water wells located within the boundaries of Yayladağı District of Hatay Province
Summary
The primary source of freshwater in the hydrological cycle is groundwater. Groundwater is an important natural resource, providing water for human consumption and many groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Groundwater fauna from fractures and intergranular aquifers have been investigated for more than 250 years (Botosaneanu, 1986). Ecological studies of groundwater ecosystems, especially in intergranular aquifers, became much more numerous in the 1990s (Gibert et al, 1990; Danielopol et al, 2001; Gibert, 2001; Gibert and Deharveng, 2002; Hancock et al, 2005; Danielopol and Griebler, 2008). The few faunistic and ecological studies carried out to date have revealed that the deeper areas of the phreatic zone are habitats with very specific fauna (Marmonier et al, 1993; Stoch et al, 2009; Di Lorenzo et al, 2013), but detailed information is still lacking
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