Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2016) 4(2): 69-79; DOI:  

ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956

Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com 
© 2016 Iranian Society of Ichthyology 

Original Article 
Loktak Lake, Manipur, northeast India:  a Ramsar site with rich rotifer (Rotifera: Eurotatoria) 

diversity and its meta-analysis 

  
Bhushan Kumar Sharma*,1Telsing Paongam Haokip, Sumita Sharma 

 
Freshwater Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793 022, Meghalaya, India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article history: 
Received 9 November 2015 

Accepted 4 January 2016 

Available online 2 5 April 2016 

Keywords:  
Composition 

Distribution 

Interesting species 

New records 

Richness 

Wetland 

Abstract: A total of 162 species (S) of Rotifera belonging to 40 genera and 20 families examined 
from Loktak Lake, an important floodplain lake of northeast India (NEI) that is one of the richest 

assemblages of the taxon known from the Indian sub-region. It merits biodiversity value as ~40.0% 

and ~62.0% of species recorded from India and NEI, respectively. One species is new to India, 23 

species are new to Manipur and 14 species are new to Loktak basin. Biogeographically interesting 

elements included three Australasian, five Oriental, ten palaeotropical and one cosmo-subtropical 

species. Lecanidae > Lepadellidae > Brachionidae > Trichocercidae collectively comprised 65.4% 

of S; Lecane > Lepadella > Trichocerca are diverse genera; and paucity of Brachionus spp. is distinct. 

Loktak Rotifera indicated importance of cosmopolitan, the littoral-periphytonic and small-sized 

species, and ‘tropical character’. ANOVA recorded significant variations of the rotifer richness 

amongst three sampling sites of Loktak during June 2010–May 2012 survey. The richness followed 

osscillaring monthly variations and indicated lack of significant influence of any individual abiotic 

parameter at all three stations. 

 
 

Introduction 

Segers et al. (1993) hypothesized tropical and 

subtropical floodplain lakes to be globally rich 

habitats for the rotifer diversity. Sharma and Sharma 

(2014a, 2014b) extended this hypothesis to the 

floodplains lakes (beels) of the Brahmaputra river 

basin of northeast India (NEI) with Deepor beel, a 

Ramsar site and an important wetland of this basin, 

as one of the globally interesting Rotifera habitat 

(Sharma and Sharma, 2015).  

Realizing biodiversity value of the floodplain 

lakes of NEI vis-a-vis the role of extensive sampling, 

we undertook meta-analysis of Rotifera diversity of 

Loktak Lake, a Ramsar site of India and another 

important floodplain lake of NEI, based on recent 

collections and our earlier reports (Sharma, 2007, 

2009a). An inventory of 162 species recorded till 

date from this floodplain lake (pat) of Manipur is 

presented and interesting species are illustrated. The 

                                                           
* Corresponding author: Bhushan Kumar Sharma                                                                 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7508/ijab.2016.02.001 

E-mail address: profbksharma@gmail.com 

nature and composition of the rotifer diversity are 

discussed with remarks on richness, new records and 

species of global and regional distribution value. 

This study merits importance for ecosystem 

diversity, biogeography and for following meta-

analysis of the rotifer diversity of this second well 

sampled freshwater ecosystem of India. 

 

Materials and Methods 

The present study is a part of limnological survey 

undertaken (June 2010 - May 2012) and collections 

on several occasions during 2013-2015 from Loktak 

Lake (93°46'–93º55'E, 24º25'–24º42'N; area: 286 

km2; max. depth: 4.58 m, mean depth: 2.07 m) 

located in Bishnupur / Imphal districts of Manipur 

state (NEI). This wetland is characterized by floating 

mats of vegetation called “Phumdi” which are 

inhabited by an endangered brow-antlered deer 

(Rucervus eldi eldi). The common aquatic plants of 



70 
 

Sharma et al./ Rotifer diversity of Loktak Lake, Manipur, northeast India 

this Ramsar site included Ceratophyllum demersum, 
Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, Salvinia  
cucullata, Savinia natans, Euryale ferox, Hydrilla 
verticillata, Nymphoides cristatum, Trapa natans, 
Potamogeton crispus, Alternanthera philoxeroides, 
Rumex nepalensis, Ipomoea arguta, Polygonum 
pulchrum, Utricularia sp., Valllissnaria sp., Oryza 
rufipegon, Spiranthus sinesis and Nelumbo nucifera. 

Water samples and qualitative plankton were 

collected, at regular monthly intervals during June 

2010 - May 2012 limnological survey, at three 

sampling sites namely Loktak A (93°45'56.3''E; 

24°32'13.5''N; alt. 726 m ASL), Loktak B 

(93°47'58.1''E; 24°30'39.1''N; alt. 714 m ASL) and 

Loktak Barrage (93°45'43.5''E; 24°32'46.9''N; alt. 

718 m ASL). In addition, qualitative plankton 

samples were collected from different parts of 

Loktak basin during the study period. Water 

temperature, specific conductivity and pH were 

recorded with field probes; dissolved oxygen was 

estimated by Winkler’s method; and total alkalinity, 

total hardness, calcium and chloride were analyzed 

following APHA (1992).  

The plankton samples were collected by towing a 

nylobolt plankton net (#50 μm) and preserved in 5% 

formalin; aquatic vegetation was disturbed before 

each sampling to facilitate collection of planktonic 

and semi-planktonic rotifers. Individual collections 

were screened with a Wild stereoscopic binocular 

microscope; the rotifers were isolated and mounted 

in Polyvinyl alcohol-lactophenol, and observed with 

Leica (DM 1000) stereoscopic phase contrast 

microscope fitted with an image analyzer. The 

measurements were given in micrometers (μm).  The 

rotifer taxa were identified following Koste (1978), 

Segers (1995), Sharma (1983, 1998a), Sharma and 

Sharma (1997, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2013). The rotifer 

community similarities were calculated vide 

Sørensen’s index (Sørensen, 1948) and Two-way 

ANOVA was used to analyze the significance of 

temporal variations of richness. Ecological 

relationships between abiotic factors and the rotifer 

richness were determined by Pearson’s correlation 

coefficients (r); P values were calculated vide 

http://faculty.vassar.edu/ lowry/tabs.html and signi-

ficance was ascertained after use of Bonferroni 

corrections. 

 

Results 

The variations (ranges, mean ±SD) of the recorded 

abiotic factors are presented in Table 1 in 

comparison with the report of Sharma (2009a). 

Water temperature at three sampling stations of 

Loktak Lake varied between 22.6±3.2 – 23.4±3.4°C, 

pH ranged between 6.8±0.2 – 7.0±0.3 and specific 

conductivity varied between 80.9±21.7 – 113.1±24.1 

µS cm-1 while dissolved oxygen and free carbon 

dioxide fluctuated between 4.6±2.0 – 6.0±2.7 mg l-1 

and 8.8±3.1 - 13.5±5.6 mg l-1, respectively. Total 

alkalinity, total hardness, calcium and chloride 

ranged between 65.2±16.5–72.8±24.7 mg l-1; 51.0± 

12.8 - 73.1±17.9 mg l-1; 33.7±9.8 - 38.1±9.6 mg l-1 

and 19.3±5.5 - 23.7±6.2 mg l-1 between three 

sampling stations of Loktak, respectively. 

We report a total of 162 species spread over 40 

genera and 20 families from Loktak Lake (Appendix 

 June 2010 – May 2012 (Present study) Sharma (2009a) 

Parameters↓            Stations→ Loktak A Loktak B Loktak Barrage Nov. 2002-Oct. 03 

 Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD 

Water temperature (°C) 23.1±3.0 22.6±3.2 23.4±3.4 21.4 ± 4.0 

pH 6.9±0.3 6.8±0.2 7.0±0.3 6.38 ± 0.23 

Specific Conductivity (µS cm-1) 80.9±21.7 86.1±21.7 113.1±24.1 98.9 ± 19.7 

Free Carbon dioxide (mg l
-1) 10.6±4.3 13.5±5.6 8.8±3.1 9.5 ± 2.1 

Dissolved oxygen (mg l-1) 5.2±1.6 4.6±2.0 6.0±2.7 6.2 ± 1.1 

Total Alkalinity (mg l-1) 65.2±16.5 72.8±24.7 72.6±12.3 16.0 ± 4.4 

Total Hardness  (mg l-1) 51.0±12.8 59.2±18.4 73.1±17.9 38.1 ± 8.2 

Calcium (mg l-1) 33.7±9.8 37.4±18.9 38.1±9.6 8.9 ± 3.0 

Chloride (mg l-1) 23.7±6.2 23.4±7.8 19.3±5.5 14.9 ± 3.1 

 

Table 1. Variations in certain abiotic factors of Loktak Lake. 



71 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2016) 4(2): 69-79 

 

1) and interesting taxa are illustrated; of these, 152 

species are observed in 2010-2015 collections. 

Further, 135 species are observed at three sampling 

stations namely Loktak A, Loktak B and Loktak 

Barrage during June 2010 - May 2012 survey. The 

rotifer richness (Figs. 1, 2) ranged between 44-79 

(60±8), 46-72 (58±7) and 39-67 (50±8) species at 

three stations, respectively and recorded 73.2-78.5% 

community similarities vide Sørensen’s index.  Peak 

richness is observed during December 2011, 

November 2011 and January 2012 at Loktak A, 

Loktak B and Loktak Barrage, respectively. 

Mytilina lobata (Fig. 3a) is a new record to the 
Indian Rotifera.  Brachionus caudatus, B. durgae, 
B. kostei (Fig. 3b), E. meneta, Keratella tecta, 
Lecane aspasia (Fig. 3c), L. bifurca, L. rhenana (Fig. 
3d), L. rhytida (Fig. 3e), L. undulata, Lepadella 
minuta, L. quadricarinata (Fig. 3f), L. 
quinquecostata (Fig. 3g), Mytilina acanthophora 
(Fig. 3h), M. michelangellii (Fig. 3i), Trichocerca 
edmondsoni (Fig. 3j), T. hollaerti (Fig. 3k), T. maior 
(Fig. 3l), T. scipio, T. weberi (Fig. 3m), Sinantherina 

Figure 1. Species richness of Loktak Rotifera (2010-2011). 

Figure 2. Species richness of Loktak Rotifera (2011-2012). 



72 
 

Sharma et al./ Rotifer diversity of Loktak Lake, Manipur, northeast India 

semibullata,   Testudinella   amphora  (Fig.  3n)  and  
Wolga spinifera (Fig. 3o) are new records from 
Manipur. Brachionus bidentatus, Epiphanes 
brachionus, E. incisa, K. lenzi, Lecane aeganea, 

L. arcula, L. bulla diabolica, L. haliclysta, L. pusilla, 
L. thienemanni, Lepadella desmeti, L. triba, Platyias 
leloupi and Trochosphaera aequatorialis are new 
records from Loktak Lake. Euchlanis semicarinata, 

Figure 3. (a) Mytilina lobata Pourriot (lateral view), (b) Brachionus bennini Leissling (dorsal view), (c) Lecane aspasia Myers  (dorsal view), (d) 
Lecane rhenana  Hauer (dorsal view), (e) Lecene rhytida Harring & Myers (dorsal view), (f) Lepadella quadricarinata  (Stenroos) (ventral view), 
(g) Lepadella quinquecostata (Lucks) (dorsal view), (h) Mytilina acanthophora Hauer (lateral view), (i) Mytilina michelangellii Reid & Turner 
(lateral view), (j) Trichocerca edmondsoni (Myers) (ventral view), (k) Trichocerca hollaerti De Smet (lateral view), (l) Trichocerca maior Hauer 
(lateral view), (m) Trichocerca weberi (Jennings) (lateral view); (n) Testudinella  amphora Hauer (dorsal view), and (o) Wolga  spinifera 
(Western) (dorsal view) . 



73 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2016) 4(2): 69-79 

 
Filinia brachiata, Floscularia ringens, Habrotrocha 
angusticollis, Lecane acanthinula and L. solfatara, 
Macrochaetus danneelae, Rotaria macroceros and 
R. tardigrada are not observed in 2010-2015 
collections. 

 

Discussion 

Water temperature affirmed sub-tropical nature of 

Loktak Lake concurrent with its location. The 

slightly acidic-slightly alkaline, marginally hard and 

calcium-poor waters are characterized by low ionic 

concentration as indicated by specific conductivity at 

all three sampling stations; the latter warranted their 

inclusion under ‘Class I’ category of trophic 

classification vide Talling and Talling (1965). This 

study indicated well-oxygenated waters, low free 

CO2 and low chloride content.  Our report differed in 

pH, alkalinity, hardness and marginal increase in 

calcium and chloride values than an earlier report 

(Sharma, 2009a) based on sampling at one station 

(Sendra). 

The present collections revealed a total of 152 

rotifer species, including one species new to India, 

23 species new to Manipur and 14 species new to 

Loktak basin. This is in contrast to an earlier report 

of 120 species from this wetland (Sharma, 2009a) 

with ~82% community similarity between two lists. 

Our report raised total richness (S) known to date 

from this Ramsar site to 162 species which, in turn, 

is one of the richest Rotifera assemblage known from 

any freshwater ecosystem of the Indian sub-region 

following the report of 171 species from Deepor beel 

(Sharma and Sharma, 2015) - another Ramsar site of 

India. The rotifer fauna of Loktak reflected 78.7% 

community similarity with the latter because of 

common occurrence of several cosmopolitan, 

cosmotropical and pantropical species. Total 

richness (S) merits biodiversity value as ~ 40.0% and 

~ 62.0% of species of Rotifera known from India and 

NEI, respectively. The report of 40 genera and 20 

families from Loktak Lake reflected rich higher 

diversity as compared with 50 genera and 23 families 

as well as 65 genera and 25 families of this phylum 

known from NEI (Sharma and Sharma, 2014a) and 

India (BKS, unpublished), respectively while it 

broadly concurred with 38 genera and 20 families 

known from Deepor Beel (Sharma and Sharma, 

2015). The rich and diverse assemblage of Loktak 

Rotifera, affirming biodiversity value of this ‘hot-

spot’, is hypothesized to habitat diversity and 

environmental heterogeneity of this Ramsar site. 

This generalization supported hypothesis of Segers 

et al. (1993) indicating (sub) tropical floodplains to 

be the world’s rotifer rich habitats and also concurred 

with reports from the floodplains of Argentina (Jose 

De Paggi, 1993, 2001), Brazil (Bonecker et al., 

1998), Australia (Shiel et al., 1998), and the 

Brahmaputra river basin of India (Sharma and 

Sharma, 2014b). 

Mytilina lobata is a new addition to the Indian 
Rotifera. Known from Neotropical region (Segers, 

2007), the present report extended its distributional 

limit to the Oriental region. Twenty-three species are 

new records from Manipur. Besides, this study 

extended distribution of fourteen species to Loktak 

Lake basin (Appendix 1). 

A total of nineteen globally interesting elements 

(~12.0% of S) now known from Loktak Lake is of 

biogeography value than twelve species listed by 

Sharma (2009a). These included the Australasian 

Brachionus kostei, Macrochaetus danneelae and 
Notommata spinata; five Oriental endemics, namely 
Filinia camasecla, Lecane acanthinula, Lecane bulla 
diabolica and L. niwati and L. solfatara; the 
palaeotropical Euchlanis semicarinata, Lecane 
lateralis, L. simonneae, L. unguitata, Lepadella 
bicornis, L. discoidea, L. vandenbrandei, 
Testudinella brevicaudata, Trichocerca abilioi and 
T. hollaerti are palaeotropical species; and 
Brachionus durgae is a cosmo (sub) tropical species.  
Of these, Brachionus kostei, Euchlanis semicarinata, 
Notommata spinata, Lecane niwati, L. solfatara 
Lepadella vandenbrandei, Notommata spinata, 
Testudinella brevicaudata, Trichocerca abilioi and 
T. hollaerti are interestingly restricted in their 
distribution in India exclusively to NEI. 

Ascomorpha ecaudis, Brachionus mirabilis, 
Filinia brachiata, F. saltator,  Keratella lenzi, Lecane 



74 
 

Sharma et al./ Rotifer diversity of Loktak Lake, Manipur, northeast India 

aeganea, L. aspasia, L. bifurca, L. doryssa, 
L. elegans, L. haliclysta, L. rhenana, L. rhytida, 
L. simonneae, L. pusilla, L. tenuiseta, 
L. thienemanni, Lepadella benjamini, L. bicornis, 
L. costatoides, L. dactyliseta, L. desmeti, 
L. elongata, L. quadricarinata, L. quinquecostata, 
Lophocharis salpina, Mytilina acanthophora, 
M. bisulcata, M. michelangellii, Macrochaetus 
longipes, Platyias leloupi, Testudinella amphora, 
T. parva, T. emarginula, T. tridentata, Trichocerca  
bicristata, T. edmondsoni, T. insignis, T. flagellata, 
T. maior, T. scipio, T. tenuior, T. weberi, 
Tripleuchlanis plicata and Trochosphaera 
aequatorialis are examples of regional distributional 
importance in the Indian sub-continent.  Of these, 

Testudinella amphora is a recently reported from 
India from Assam (Sharma et al. 2015); Lecane 
aeganea, Trichocerca hollaerti and T. maior are new 
additions to the Indian Rotifera from Mizoram state 

of NEI (Sharma and Sharma 2015).  

Our present tally of 152 species of Loktak 

Rotifera reflected its diverse nature than the reports 

of 111 species from the floodplains of Argentina 

(Jose De Paggi, 1993); 124 species (lake) and 136 

species from Oguta and Iyi-Efi lakes, respectively of 

the Niger delta (Segers et al., 1993); 130 species 

from Lake Guarana, Brazil (Bonecker et al., 1994); 

106 taxa from Thale-Noi Lake, a Ramsar site in 

Thailand (Segers and Pholpunthin, 1997); 104 

species from Laguana Bufeos, Bolivia (Segers et al., 

1998); and 114 taxa examined from the Rio 

Pilcomayo National park (a Ramsar site), Argentina 

(Jose De Paggi, 2001). The richness is higher than 

67-103 species (Sharma, 2005), 69-93 species 

(Sharma and Sharma, 2008) and 60-100 species 

(Sharma et al., 2015) examined from various beels 

of the Brahmaputra river basin, Assam; and 62-73 

species reported from 14 floodplain lakes (pats) of 

Manipur (Sharma, 2009b). We caution on over-

emphasis on comparisons of richness as it was likely 

to be influenced by sampling intensity (Dumont and 

Segers, 1996). We attribute high richness of Rotifera 

of Loktak to the rotiferologist effect following 

Fontaneto et al. (2012) though our biodiversity 

update is also the result of the sampling intensity. 

Loktak Rotifera is characterized by diverse 

Lecanidae (47 species) > Lepadellidae (27 species) 

> Brachionidae (17 species) > Trichocercidae (15 

species) which collectively formed 65.4% of S. It 

differed from the importance of Lecanidae > 

Lepadellidae > Trichocercidae > Brachionidae listed 

earlier from this Ramsar site (Sharma, 2009a) with 

distinct increase in the richness of the first two 

families in our recent collections. Nevertheless, 

marginal increase in the brachionid diversity 

deserved caution due to their yet restricted 

occurrence and of Brachionus spp. in particular. This 
feature differed from high Brachionidae richness (28 

species) reported from Deepor beel (Sharma and 

Sharma, 2015). Notommatidae = Euchlanidae > 

Testudinellidae = Trochosphaeridae = Mytilinidae, 

other diverse families (~20.0% of S), deserved 

attention in Loktak Lake. 

The littoral-periphytonic Lecane (47 species) > 
Lepadella (22 species) > Trichocerca (17 species), 
together, included ~52.0% of S of Loktak Rotifera 

and thus supported hypothesis of Green (2003) on 

the possibility of assemblage rules for the periphytic 

community. Interestingly, their significance broadly 

concurred with the reports from the floodplains of 

Niger delta (Segers et al., 1993), Broa reservoir, 

Brazil (Segers and Dumont, 1995), River Nan, 

Thailand (Sanoamuang, 1998), Bolivia (Segers et al., 

1998) and Okavango Delta of South Africa (Green, 

2003); it also concurred with the report from Deepor 

beel (Sharma and Sharma, 2015).  

The rich diversity of ‘tropic-centered’ Lecane, 
more cosmopolitan species (~60% of S), and 

collective importance (~24% of S) of cosmotropical 

and pantropical species assigned ‘tropical character’ 

to Loktak Rotifera. This conclusion is concurrent 

with several tropical faunas (Green, 1972; Pejler, 

1977; Fernando, 1980; Dussart et al., 1984; Segers, 

1996, 2001) globally as well as from India (Sharma, 

1996, 1998b, 2005; Sharma and Sharma, 2008; 

2014a, 2014b, 2015). These remarks are supported 

by relative paucity of ‘temperate-centered’ Keratella 
in our collections. 



75 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2016) 4(2): 69-79 

 
High richness of the littoral-periphytonic and 

fewer euplanktonic species in Loktak are 

hypothesized to paucity of definite limnetic habitats 

(De Manuel, 1994). The occurrence of both non-

planktonic species and planktonic taxa in the littoral 

weedy margin of this Ramsar site affirmed 

occupation of different niches as hypothesized by 

Bonecker et al. (1998). These features concurred 

with the reports from Deepor beel (Sharma and 

Sharma, 2013, 2015) and other floodplain lakes of 

the Brahmaputra river basin (Sharma and Sharma, 

2014b). Loktak Rotifera is notable for large number 

of small-sized species particularly of Lecane, 
Lepadella, Trichocerca and Colurella. This feature is 
hypothesized to predation by juvenile fish and 

invertebrates (Baumgartner et al., 1997) but specific 

observations are desired to confirm predation effect.   

Our June 2010 - May 2012 limnological survey 

registered significant variations of the rotifer 

richness amongst three Loktak stations during the 

study period (F2, 46=11.473, P=9.07E-05) as well as 

during two successive years (F 2, 22=4.327, P=0.026; 

F2, 22=7.051, P=0.004) as against insignificant variat-

ions reported earlier (Sharma, 2009a). Further, it 

recorded significant monthly variations at two 

sampling sites: Loktak B (F1, 11=3.536, P=0.023) and 

Loktak Barrage (F1, 11=6.618, P=0.002) and follow-

ed osscillaring variations with maxima during 

December 2011, November 2011 and January 2012 

at Loktak A, Loktak B and Loktak Barrage, 

respectively. This study indicated lack of significant 

influence of any individual abiotic factor on the 

richness in contrast to inverse correlation with 

rainfall, pH, hardness, nitrate, chloride and total 

dissolved solids and positive correlation with 

dissolved oxygen recorded vide Sharma (2009a). 

The differences suggested that the rotifers are 

generalists in terms of abiotic factors vs. their 

occurrence with factors associated with microhabitat 

being more important. 

To sum up, the specious and diverse Rotifer 

assemblage of Loktak Lake, with various new 

records and species of global and regional interest, 

imparted biodiversity and biogeography merit to our 

meta-analysis. With our bias towards inclusion of 

monogonont plankton and semi-plankton taxa,  this 

study suggested scope for further up-date of the 

rotifer inventory of this ‘hot-spot’ based on specific 

sampling of periphytic, sessile, colonial and benthic 

communities. We estimate the report of 220+ species 

from this Ramsar site while analysis of the ‘rotifer-

macrophytes associations’ merits biodiversity 

interest due to lack of such studies in India. 

 

Acknowledgements 

We thank the Head, Department of Zoology, North-

Eastern Hill University, Shillong for laboratory 

facilities. The samples for this study were collected 

by TPH. The authors have no conflict of interests. 

 

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Sharma et al./ Rotifer diversity of Loktak Lake, Manipur, northeast India 

 
Class: Monogononta 
Order: Ploimida 
Family:  Brachionidae    
1. Anuraeopsis fissa Gosse, 1851 
2. Brachionus angularis Gosse, 1851  
3. B. bidentatus Anderson, 1889 *** 
4. B. calyciflorus Pallas, 1766  
5. B. caudatus Barrois & Daday, 1894 **  
6. B. falcatus Zacharias, 1898 
7. B. durgae Dhanapathi, 1974 **   
8. B. kostei Shiel, 1983 **   
9. B. mirabilis Daday, 1897 
10. B. quadridentatus Hermann, 1783  
11. Keratella cochlearis (Gosse, 1851) 
12. K. lenzi Hauer, 1953 ***  
13. K. tropica (Apstein, 1907)  
14. K. tecta (Gosse, 1851) **   
15. Platyias leloupi (Gillard, 1967) *** 
16. P. quadricornis (Ehrenberg, 1832) 
17. Plationus patulus (O.F. Müller, 1786) 
 
Family:  Epiphanidae   
18. Epiphanes brachionus (Ehrenberg, 1837) ***  
 
Family:  Euchlanidae 
19. Beauchampiella eudactylota (Gosse, 1886) 
20. Dipleuchlanis propatula (Gosse, 1886) 
21. Euchlanis dilatata Ehrenberg, 1832   
22. E. incisa Carlin, 1939 ***    
23. E. meneta Myers, 1930 **                 
24. E. semicarinata Segers, 1993 #   
25. E. triquetra Ehrenberg, 1838 
26. Tripleuchlanis plicata (Levande, 1894) 
 
Family: Mytilinidae    
27. Lophocharis salpina (Ehrenberg, 1834)  
28. Mytilina acanthophora Hauer, 1938 **  
29. M.  bisulcata (Lucks, 1912)    
30. M. lobata Pourriot, 1996 *     
31. M. michelangellii Reid & Turner, 1988 **  
32. M. ventralis (Ehrenberg, 1830) 
 
Family: Trichotriidae    
33. Macrochaetus danneelae Koste & Shiel, 1983 #  
34. M. longipes Myers, 1934)    
35. M. sericus (Thorpe, 1893)    
36. Trichotria tetractis (Ehrenberg, 1830)  
37. Wolga spinifera (Western, 1894) **   
 
Family: Lepadellidae    
38. Colurella adriatica (Ehrenberg, 1837)   
39. C. obtusa (Gosse, 1886)    
40. C. sulcata (Stenroos, 1898)    

41. C. uncinata (O. F. Müller, 1773) 
42. Lepadella acuminata (Ehrenberg, 1834)  
43. L. apsicora Myers, 1934  
44. L. apsida Harring, 1916  
45. L. bicornis Vasisht & Battish, 1971  
46. L. benjamini Harring, 1916    
47. L. costatoides Segers, 1992    
48. L. dactyliseta (Stenroos, 1898) 
49. L. desmeti Segers & Chittapun, 2001 ***  
50. L. discoidea Segers, 1993  
51. L. eurysterna Myers, 1942 
52. L. ehrenbergi (Perty, 1850)  
53. L. heterostyla (Murray, 1913) 
54. L. lindaui Koste, 1981       
55. L. minuta (Weber & Montet, 1918) **  
56. L. ovalis (O.F. Müller, 1786)  
57. L. patella (O.F. Müller, 1773) 
58. L. quadricarinata (Stenroos, 1898) **  
59. L. quinquecostata (Lucks, 1912) **  
60. L. rhomboides (Gosse, 1886)  
61. L. triba Myers, 1934 *** 
62. L. triptera Ehrenberg, 1832    
63. L. vandenbrandei Gillard, 1952 
64. Squatinella mutica (Ehrenberg, 1832)  
 
Family: Lecanidae    
65. Lecane acanthinula (Hauer, 1938) # 
66. L. aculeata (Jakubski, 1912)    
67. L. aeganea Harring, 1914 ***    
68. L. arcula Harring, 1914 ***    
69. L. aspasia Myers, 1917 **    
70. L. bifurca (Bryce, 1892) **     
71. L blachei Berzins, 1973    
72. L. bulla (Gosse, 1851)   
      L. bulla diabolica (Hauer, 1936) ***    
73. L. closterocerca (Schmarda, 1859)   
74. L. crepida Harring, 1914    
75. L. curvicornis (Murray, 1913) 
76. L. decipiens (Murray, 1913)    
77. L. doryssa Harring, 1914    
78. L. elegans Harring, 1914    
79. L. flexilis (Gosse, 1886)    
80. L. furcata (Murray, 1913)    
81. L. haliclysta Harring & Myers, 1926 ***   
82. L. hamata (Stokes, 1896)    
83. L. hornemanni (Ehrenberg, 1834) 
84. L. inermis (Bryce, 1892)    
85. L. inopinata Harring & Myers, 1926    
86. L. lateralis Sharma, 1978 
87. L. leontina (Turner, 1892)       
88. L. ludwigii (Eckstein, 1883)    
89. L. luna (O.F. Müller, 1776)    
90. L. lunaris (Ehrenberg, 1832)    
91. L. monostyla (Daday, 1897)    

Appendix 1: Systematic list of Rotifera recorded from Loktak 
Phylum:  Rotifera  

Super-class: Eurotatoria 

 
 



79 
 

Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2016) 4(2): 69-79 

 92. L. nitida (Murray, 1913)    
93. L. niwati Segers, Kothetip & Sanoamuang, 2004   
94. L. obtusa (Murray, 1913)    
95. L. ohioensis (Herrick, 1885)    
96. L. papuana (Murray, 1913)    
97. L. ploenensis (Voigt, 1902)    
98. L. pusilla Harring, 1914 ***     
99. L. quadridentata (Ehrenberg, 1830)  
100. L. rhenana Hauer, 1929 ** 
101. L. rhytida Harring & Myers, 1926 **  
102. L. ruttneri Hauer, 1938    
103. L. signifera (Jennings, 1896) 
104. L. simonneae Segers, 1993  
105. L. solfatara (Hauer, 1938) # 
106. L. stenroosi (Meissner, 1908) 
107. L. tenuiseta Harring, 1914 
108. L. thienemanni (Hauer, 1938) ***    
109. L. undulata Hauer, 1938 **  
110. L. unguitata (Fadeev, 1925) 
111. L. ungulata (Gosse, 1887) 
  
Family: Notommatidae    
112. Cephalodella forficula (Ehrenberg, 1830)  
113. C. gibba (Ehrenberg, 1830) 
114. C. mucronata Myers, 1924 
115. Monommata longiseta (O.F. Müller, 1786) 
116. M. maculata Harring & Myers, 1930  
117. Monommata sp.    
118. Notommata spinata Koste & Shiel, 1991  
 
Family: Scaridiidae    
119. Scaridium longicaudum (O.F. Müller, 1786)  
 
Family: Gastropodidae    
120. Ascomorpha ecaudis Perty, 1850  
 
Family: Trichocercidae    
121. Trichocerca abilioi Segers & Sarma, 1993 #  
122. T. bicristata (Gosse, 1887) 
123. T. cylindrica (Imhof, 1891) 
124. T. edmondsoni (Myers, 1936) **  
125. T. elongata (Gosse, 1886) 
126. T. flagellata Hauer, 1938 
127. T. hollaerti De Smet, 1990 **          
128. T. insignis (Herrick, 1885) 
129. T. longiseta (Schrank, 1802)   
130. T. maior Hauer, 1936 ** 
131. T. rattus (O.F. Müller, 1776)   
132. T. scipio (Gosse, 1886) ** 
133. T. similis (Wierzejski, 1893) 
134. T. tenuior (Gosse, 1886)  

135. T. weberi (Jennings, 1903) **  
 
Family: Asplanchnidae    
136. Asplanchna priodonta Gosse, 1850 
 
Family: Synchaetidae  
136. Ploesoma lenticulare Herrick, 1855 
137. Polyarthra vulgaris Carlin, 1943  
138. Synchaeta pectinata Ehrenberg, 1832  
 
Family: Dicranophoridae    
139. Dicranophoroides caudatus (Ehrenberg, 1834) 
140. Dicranophorus forcipatus (O.F. Müller, 1786) 
 
Order: Flosculariaceae 
Family: Flosculariidae    
141. Floscularia ringens (Linnaeus, 1758) #  
142. S. semibullata (Thorpe, 1893) **  
143. Sinantherina spinosa (Thorpe, 1893)  
144. S. socialis (Linnaeus, 1758) 
  
Family: Conochilidae    
145. Conochilus unicornis Rousselet, 1892  
 
Family: Trochosphaeridae    
146. Filinia brachiata (Rousselet, 1901) #  
147. F. camasecla Myers, 1938    
148. F. longiseta (Ehrenberg, 1834) 
149. F. opoliensis (Zacharias, 1898) 
150. F. saltator (Gosse, 1886) 
151. Trochosphaera aequatorialis Semper, 1872 ***     
 
Family: Testudinellidae    
152. Testudinella amphora Hauer, 1938 **  
153. T. brevicaudata Yamamoto, 1951   
154. T. emarginula (Stenroos, 1898) 
155. T. parva (Ternetz, 1892)      
156. T. patina (Hermann, 1783) 
157. T. tridentata Smirnov, 1931 
 
Class:   Bdelloidea 
Order:   Philodinida 
Family:   Philodinidae 
158. Philodina citrina Ehrenberg, 1832 
159. Rotaria macroceros (Gosse, 1851) #  
160. R. neptunia (Ehrenberg, 1830)  
161. R. tardigrada (Ehrenberg, 1832) # 
 
Family:   Habrotrochidae 
162. Habrotrocha angusticollis (Murray, 1905) # 

* New record from India; **New record from Manipur state; *** New record from Loktak; # not observed in present 

collections