Abstract
The paper presents the results of rotiferological studies carried out during the set of the Belarusian Antarctic Expeditions (2007–2017) in East Antarctica (Enderby Land and Prydz Bay). The plankton samples were collected from 52 water bodies (lakes and meltwater ponds), and from terrestrial habitats (lichen fouling, algal mats) from several sites. A total of 20 species were found, 12 of them belonging to Monogononta, 8 – to Bdelloidea. Despite the presence of some cosmopolitan species and Antarctic endemics, the set of species and forms seems to be the firstly noted taxa in East Antarctica.
Highlights
The history of rotifers studies in Antarctica originates in 1900s and is related to registrations of numerous bdelloids from unidentified taxa, which were allocated by F. Richters (1904, 1907) from moss samples
The most comprehensive dataset was used in the article of Fontaneto et al cited above (2015b) which is devoted to analysis of rotifer biogeography patterns in Antarctica
The survey area is still small in comparison to habitats available on the continent (Convey 2010; Convey et al 2014), we may assume that the rotifer species list in Antarctica will be much bigger
Summary
The history of rotifers studies in Antarctica originates in 1900s and is related to registrations of numerous bdelloids (subclass Bdelloidea) from unidentified taxa, which were allocated by F. Richters (1904, 1907) from moss samples. There we can gather information about 16 species (12 of them are bdelloids and four are monogononts). From the beginning of 20th century, the rotifer species list of Antarctic biodiversity realm (i.e. including Maritime Antarctica and Subantarctica) has been increased significantly (Sudzuki 1964; 1979; 1988; Dartnall 1983 and many others). The number of known species is 153 (Fontaneto et al 2015b). All these studies were carried out in different types of habitats, both aquatic (inland lakes with different degrees of salinity, meltwater ponds, maritime coastal) and terrestrial (mosses, lichens, and soil). Species composition varies according to type of the habitat, with monogonont species (subclass Monogononta) mostly in planktonic samples and bdelloids primarily in terrestrial habitats. The survey area is still small in comparison to habitats available on the continent (Convey 2010; Convey et al 2014), we may assume that the rotifer species list in Antarctica will be much bigger
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