Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2015) 3(2): 78-88 E-ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956 Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com © 2015 Iranian Society of Ichthyology Original Article Ecosystem diversity of Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island, the Brahmaputra river basin, northeast India Bhushan Kumar Sharma*,1Mrinal Kumar Hatimuria, Sumita Sharma Freshwater Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong - 793 022, Meghalaya, India. Article history: Received 12 January 2015 Accepted 18 February 2015 Available online 2 5 April 2015 Keywords: Beels Abiotic factors Composition Interesting taxa Richness Similarities Abstract: Plankton and semi-plankton samples collected from twelve floodplain lakes (beels) of Majuli River Island of the Brahmaputra river basin, Upper Assam reveal rich Cladocera assemblage of 48 species belonging to 32 genera and 7 families. This report assumes biodiversity value as ~65.0% and ~37.0% of the species, and ~78.0% and ~72.0 of genera of the taxon known from Assam state of northeast India (NEI) and India, respectively. Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov) is a new record from the Indian sub-region. Biogeographically important elements include one Australasian, three Indo-Chinese and two Oriental species. Total cladoceran richness in individual beels ranged between 16-38 (26 ± 6) species while monthly and seasonal richness in six beels each varied between 8 ± 3-13 ± 3 species and 11 ± 4-17 ± 3 species, respectively and showed lack of any pattern of temporal variations. The community similarities (40.1-86.5% vide Sørensen’s index) and the hierarchical cluster analysis affirm heterogeneity in Cladocera composition in different beels. Individual abiotic factors indicated insignificant influence on richness except for significant positive correlation with alkalinity only in Khorkhoria beel. Introduction Freshwater Cladocera have been documented from distant parts of India since the initial study by Baird (1860) but little is yet known about their ecosystem diversity in inland environs of this country (Sharma, 2010). Some notable studies on the latter aspect (Sharma and Sharma, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014) are limited to the floodplain lakes (beels or pats) of northeast India (NEI) while fewer other ad-hoc studies elsewhere from India are riddled with incomplete species inventories for meaningful analysis. The present study on Cladocera assemblages of twelve beels of Majuli, the largest river island of the world situated in the upper reaches of the river Brahmaputra in Upper Assam, thus deserves ecology value. We provide an inventory of the examined cladoceran species from different beels of this * Corresponding author: Bhushan Kumar Sharma E-mail address: profbksharma@gmail.com geographically interesting landform of fluvial geomorphology faced with extinction due to alarming rate of erosion by the Brahmaputra flood waters. Comments are made on their composition and richness, interesting elements, community similarities and influence of abiotic parameters. The present report is of biodiversity interest and for following meta-analyses on the cladoceran fauna of Majuli studied earlier vides Sharma and Sharma (2014). Materials and Methods This study is based on water and plankton samples collected, during September, 2010-August, 2012, from twelve floodplain lakes (beels) of Majuli River Island (93°-95°E, 25°-27°N), upper Assam (Fig. 1, Table 1). The sampled beels possessed different aquatic macrophytes’ namely Eichhornia crassipes, 79 Sharma et al./ Cladocera of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island Hydrilla verticellata, Utricularia flexuosa, Trapa natans, Lemna major, L. minor, Pistia striates, Salvinia sp., Nymphaea spp., Nymphoides spp., Potamageton spp., Azolla pinnata, Euryale ferox, and Sagittaria sp. The collections were obtained monthly from six beels (marked with*) and seasonally from rest of the beels (Table 1). Water samples were examined for abiotic parameters, including water temperature, specific conductivity and pH were recorded by the field probes; DO was estimated by Winkler’s method while free CO2, total alkalinity and total hardness were analyzed following APHA (1992). The qualitative plankton samples were collected by Figure 1. District map of Assam state indicating location of Majuli River Island (insert Map of India indicating Assam state of northeast India). Parameters↓ Beels→ Bhereki* Ghotonga* Holmari* Chela* Chakuli* Khorkhoria* Latitude 26°57′09.1″N 27°01′52.7″N 26°59′17.3″N 27°04′58.2″ N 26°56′40.3″N 26° 56′47.4″N Longitude 94°12′23.0″E 94°15′28.7″E 94°12′30.6″E 94°17′51.9″ E 94°09′01.9″E 94°12′28.8″E Altitude 67 m ASL 73 m ASL 75 m ASL 89 m ASL 69 m ASL 74 m ASL Water Temperature o C 23.7 ± 1.7 23.9 ± 1.7 23.6 ± 1.7 23.4 ± 1.9 23.6 ± 1.9 23.9 ± 1.8 pH 6.67 ± 0.23 6.51 ± 0.16 6.87 ± 0.13 7.04 ± 0.19 6.82 ± 0.18 6.80 ± 0.24 Sp. Conductivity µS/cm 140.7 ± 24.4 121.4 ± 26.8 173.6 ± 32.5 210.4 ± 41.3 180.8 ± 37.8 172.1 ± 44.4 Dissolved oxygen mg/l 6.3 ± 0.9 6.2 ± 1.0 7.1 ± 0.8 7.8 ± 0.7 6.2 ± 0.8 6.4 ± 1.2 Free CO2 mg/l 13.6 ± 4.0 13.8 ± 3.4 10.2 ± 2.8 10.3 ± 2.4 14.8 ± 4.6 13.9 ± 5.0 Total Alkalinity mg/l 70.3 ± 20.7 62.2 ± 13.4 92.3 ± 14.2 113.5 ± 24.6 105.8 ± 29.0 90.2 ± 29.9 Total Hardness mg/l 69.8 ± 20.3 60.8 ± 13.6 89.3 ± 16.9 113.0 ± 23.8 104.0 ± 26.2 88.8 ± 27.2 Parameters↓ Beels→ Doriya Dubori Tuni Baatomaari Jur Chereki Latitude 26°57′27.7″N 26°57′01.9″N 26° 58′35.3″N 26°59′25.9″N 26°59′45.3″N 26°58′25.4″N Longitude 94°10′02.4″E 94°16′13.8″E 94°15′57.8″E 94°13′08.0″E 94°14′34.4″E 94°10′38.7″E Altitude 70 m ASL 70 m ASL 67 m ASL 71 m ASL 71 m ASL 67 m ASL Water Temperature o C 24.2 ± 2.3 24.1 ± 1.9 23.9 ± 2.1 24.0 ± 1.9 23.9 ± 2.5 24.2 ± 1.7 pH 6.70 ± 0.32 6.61 ± 0.19 6.69 ± 0.14 6.87 ± 0.13 6.71 ± 0.14 6.62 ± 0.21 Sp. Conductivity µS/cm 110.2 ± 20.8 132.4 ± 18.6 123.6 ± 23.0 114.2 ± 20.5 130.8 ± 24.6 128.2 ± 33.2 Dissolved oxygen mg/l 5.8 ± 1.2 7.0 ± 0.9 5.1 ± 1.8 6.2 ± 0.9 5.9 ± 1.1 6.1. ± 1.0 Free CO2 mg/l 12.0 ± 5.2 11.8 ± 4.2 12.2 ± 1.9 11.4 ± 1.9 12.7 ±3.5 12.1 ± 3.6 Total Alkalinity mg/l 67.3 ± 12.2 72.2 ± 11.4 82.3 ± 12.3 91.5 ± 16.2 88.9 ± 12.9 90.8 ± 16.6 Total Hardness mg/l 62.8 ± 12.6 70.8 ± 10.6 79.1 ± 15.6 89.0 ± 12.8 81.4 ± 12.0 86.9 ± 17.0 * Sampled monthly; the rest sampled during winter (December/January), pre-monsoon (March-May), monsoon (June- August) and post-monsoon (September-October) Table 1. The sampled floodplain lakes (beels) and their Abiotic parameters (Mean ± SD) (after Sharma et al., 2015). 80 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2015) 3(2): 78-88 towing a plankton net (#50 µm) from the littoral, limnetic/semi-limnetic regions of different beels, preserved in 5% formalin and were screened with a Wild-stereoscopic binocular microscope. Various cladocerans and their disarticulated appendages were mounted in Polyvinyl alcohol-lactophenol mixture, and observed with a Leica (DM 1000) stereoscopic phase contrast microscope fitted with an image analyzer. Cladocera species were identified following Smirnov (1971, 1976, 1992, 1996), Michael and Sharma (1988), Korovchinsky (1992), Sharma and Sharma (1999), Orlova-Bienkowskaja (2001), and Sharma and Sharma (2008, 2013). The percentage similarities between cladoceran communities of different beels were calculated vide Sørensen’s index (Sørensen, 1948) and their hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20). Ecological relationships between abiotic factors and rotifer richness were determined by Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r); their P values were calculated vide http://faculty.vassar.edu/ lowry/tabs.html and significance was ascertained after use of Bonferroni corrections. The reference collections were deposited in the holdings of Freshwater Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Results The details of the sampled beels and their basic abiotic parameters (Mean ± SD) are indicated in Table 1. Water temperature ranged between 23.4 ± 1.9-24.2 ± 2.3°C, pH between 6.51 ± 0.16-7.04 ± 0.19, specific conductivity between 110.2 ± 20.8- 210.4 ± 41.3 µS/cm, DO between 5.1 ± 1.8-7.8 ± 0.7 mg/l; free CO2 between 10.3 ± 2.4-14.8 ± 4.6 mg/l; total alkalinity between 62.2 ± 13.4-113.5 ± 24.6 mg/l; and total hardness between 60.8 ± 13.6-113.0 ± 23.8 mg/l. A total of 48 Cladocera species belonging to 32 genera and 7 families are documented. Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov) is a new addition (Fig. 2, A-C) to the Indian Cladocera. The species composition of the taxon of sampled beels is indicated in Appendix I. Total richness in individual beels ranged between 16-38 (26 ± 6) species and recorded 40.1-86.5% community similarities vide Sørensen’s index (Table 2). The monthly and seasonal richness in six beels each varied between 8 ± 3-13 ± 3 species and 11 ± 4-17 ± 3 species, respectively. The hierarchical analysis between Cladocera assemblages in different beels is shown in Figure 3. Discussion The sampled beels are characterized by slightly acidic to circum-neutral, ‘moderately hard’ to ‘hard’ well-oxygenated waters with ‘bicarbonate alkalinity’ and occurrence of free CO2, and are notable for their low specific conductivity (refer Sharma et al., 2015). The last salient feature, indicating low ionic concentrations, warrants inclusion of these floodplain lakes under ‘Class I’ category of trophic classification vide Talling and Talling (1965). Forty-eight species of Cladocera, spread over 32 genera and seven families, observed in our plankton and semi-plankton collections from twelve beels of Majuli River Island reveal rich and diverse Figure 2. Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov, 1996), parthenogenetic female, (B) Head, parthenogenetic female, (C) postabdomen, parthenogenetic female. 81 Sharma et al./ Cladocera of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island assemblage of the taxon in South Asia. Total richness is of biodiversity value as ~65.0% and ~37.0% of the species, and ~78.0% and ~72.0 of genera of the taxon known from Assam state (NEI) and India, respectively. This report affirms the hypothesis of Sharma and Sharma (2008, 2013, 2014) on the floodplains of the Brahmaputra basin to be Cladocera rich habitats of the Indian sub-region. Though based on observations from much limited geographical location, these results merit biodiversity value in light of a conservative estimate of occurrence of up to 60-65 cladoceran species from tropical and subtropical parts of the India subcontinent (Fernando and Kanduru, 1984; Sharma and Michael, 1987). Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov) is a new record from India; this erstwhile Australasian species is now known (Sinev and Sanoamuang, Beels 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 - 68.1 60.5 68.4 77.8 54.5 58.6 54.5 63.6 62.5 64.0 59.6 2 - 72.0 70.8 69.8 82.3 64.6 58.1 62.7 69.1 63.1 59.3 3 - 74.4 73.8 72.3 59.0 48.3 59.6 54.9 56.6 40.1 4 - 86.5 84.4 57.6 71.1 57.8 61.2 62.7 50.0 5 - 75.0 48.1 54.9 55.0 59.1 60.9 46.5 6 - 61.3 67.8 58.3 65.4 66.7 54.9 7 - 82.2 64.5 63.6 79.4 76.9 8 - 64.4 66.7 76.9 71.0 9 - 69.2 66.7 62.7 10 - 75.9 61.8 11 - 66.7 12 - 1-Bhereki, 2-Ghotonga, 3-Holmari, 4-Chakuli, 5-Chela, 6-Khorkhoria, 7-Doriya, 8-Dubori, 9- Tuni, 10-Baatomari, 11-Jur, 12-Chereki Table 1. Percentage similarities between Cladocera assemblages of Majuli beels. Figure 3. Hierarchical cluster analysis of Cladocera assemblages of Majuli beels. 82 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2015) 3(2): 78-88 2013) from Thailand, Vietnam and the Far East of Russia. The present study further extends its distribution to the Indian sub-region within the Oriental region. Further, in consideration of this record, we suggest re-examination of all earlier reports of the congener P. denticulatus (Birge) from India. The biogeographically important elements include the Australasian Disperalona caudata; three Indo-Chinese species namely Alona cheni, A. kotovi and Chydorus angustirostris; and two Oriental endemics: Celsinotum macronyx and Kurzia (Rostrokurzia) brevilabris. Of these, D. caudata is an important link between the Cladocera faunas of NEI, Southeast Asia and Australia while the rest endorse affinity of NEI Cladocera with SE Asia (Sharma and Sharma, 2007, 2014). Of these, A. kotovi and C. angustirostris are recent additions (Sharma and Sharma, 2014) to the cladoceran faunas of India and NEI, respectively; Sinev and Korovchinsky (2013) extended the distribution of the latter as well as erstwhile Indian endemic to Vietnam imparting it an Indo-Chinese character. Total Cladocera richness is distinctly higher than the reports of only 11 species from two floodplain lakes (Khan, 1987) of Kashmir; 9 species from 65 wetlands of 24-Parganas district (Nandi et al., 1993) of West Bengal; 4 species (Sinha et al., 1994) and 12 species (Sanjer and Sharma,1995) from the floodplains of Bihar; 14 species from 37 floodplain lakes (Sarma, 2000) of Assam, 36 species from 20 wetlands from the floodplains of south-eastern West Bengal (Khan, 2003) and 30 species from 30 wetlands of Keoladeo National Park (Venkataraman, 1992). We, however, caution against over-emphasis on comparisons with poor richness of certain reports because of inadequate sampling or incomplete species inventories. Cladocera assemblages of individual beels recorded 40.1-86.5% community similarities (vide Sørensen’s index) with ~67% instances indicating 51-70% similarities and <70% similarity only in ~24.0% instances in the matrix. This generalization suggests relatively lower similarity and more heterogeneity in species composition of these micro-crustaceans amongst different beels. The former is in contrast to higher similarities reported in certain floodplain lakes of Assam (Sharma and Sharma, 2008; Sharma and Sharma, 2008, 2013) and Manipur (Sharma and Sharma, 2009, 2010). Peak similarity is observed between Chakuli and Chela beels while a lowest value is noticed between Holmari and Chereki beels. The hierarchical cluster analysis endorses closeness in cladoceran communities of the first two beels. On the contrary, Bhereki reflected most divergence in its species composition and is followed by Tuni, Chereki and Holmari in the stated order. Total cladoceran richness in individual Majuli beels ranged between 16-38 (26 ± 6) species; maximum richness in Doriya beel is followed by 35 and 30 species in Dubori and Jur beels, respectively, while six beels in all recorded more than average number of species. In general, our report broadly concurs with total richness of 15 beels (21-29 species) of Assam (Sharma and Sharma, 2008) and 14 pats (21- 31 species) of Manipur but notwithstanding the report of 51 species from Loktak lake - A Ramsar site (Sharma and Sharma, 2010). The monthly and seasonal richness in six beels each varied between 8 ± 3-13 ± 3 species and 11 ± 4-17 ± 3 species, respectively and showed lack of any pattern of temporal variations; the former is attributed to growth of Eichhornia crassipes affirming the recent remarks on Rotifera of these floodplains (Sharma et al., 2015). Referring to the influence of individual abiotic factors, our report of significant positive correlation with alkalinity only in Khorkhoria beel (r = 0.561, p = 0.0022) is in contrast to their importance noticed earlier from Assam (Sharma and Sharma, 2010; Sharma and Sharma, 2008) and Manipur (Sharma and Sharma, 2010). The present observations affirm remarks of Sharma and Sharma (2014) on occurrence of weed- associated biota in general and member of the family Chydoridae (62% of total richness), Macrothricidae and Sidiidae in particular, common occurrence of Macrothrix spp., Simocephalus mixtus and 83 Sharma et al./ Cladocera of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island Guernella raphaelis, a relative paucity of members of the Bosminidae and Moinidae and lack of Daphnia. The common occurrence of the members of the former three families is attributed to the prevalence of the littoral-periphytonic conditions; this generalization concurs with the report from inland swamps of Southern Thailand (Van Damme et al., 2013). In conclusion, the rich and diverse nature of Cladocera of Majuli Beels affirms their environmental heterogeneity, shows interesting elements and records heterogeneity in their assemblages. 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Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie, 50: 421-463. Van Damme K., Maiphae S., Sa-Ardrit P. (2013). Inland swamps in South East Asia harbor hidden cladoceran diversities: species richness and the description of new paludal Chydoridae (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Cladocera) from Southern Thailand. Journal of Limnology, 72 (2): 174-208. Venkataraman K. (1992). I. Cladocera of Keoladeo national park, Bharatpur and its environs. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 89 (1): 17-26. 85 Sharma et al./ Cladocera of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island Order: Ctenopoda Family: Sididae 1. Diaphanosoma excisum Sars, 1885 2. Diaphanosoma sarsi Richard, 1895 3. Diaphanosoma senegal Gauthier, 1951 4. Pseudosida szalayi (Daday, 1898) 5. Sida crystallina (O. F. Muller, 1776) Order: Anomopoda Family: Daphniidae 6. Ceriodaphnia cornuta Sars, 1885 7. Scapholeberis kingi Sars, 1901 8. Simocephalus (Echinocaudus) acutirostratus (King, 1853) 9. Simocephalus (Coronocephalus) serrulatus (Koch, 1841) 10. Simocephalus (Simocephalus) mixtus Sars, 1903 Family: Bosminidae 11. Bosmina longirostris (O. F. Muller, 1776) s. lato 12. Bosminopsis deitersi Richard, 1895 Family: Moinidae 13. Moina micrura Kurz, 1874 14. Moinodaphnia macleayi (King, 1853) Family: Macrothricidae 15. Macrothrix laticornis (Fischer, 1857) 16. Macrothrix triserialis (Brady, 1886) 17. Guernella raphaelis Richard, 1892 18. Grimaldina brazzai Richard, 1892 Family: Ilyocryptidae 19. Ilyocryptus spinifer Herrick, 1882 Family: Chydoridae Subfamily: Chydorinae 20. Alonella (Alonella) clathratula Sars, 1886 21. Alonella (Alonella) excisa (Fischer, 1854) 22. Chydorus angustirostris Frey, 1987 23. Chydorus sphaericus (O. F. Muller, 1776) s.lat 24. Chydorus ventricosus Daday, 1898 25. Dadaya macrops (Daday) 26. Disperalona caudata Smirnov, 1996 27. Dunhevedia crassa King, 1853 28. Dunhevedia serrata Daday, 1898 29. Ephemeroporus barroisi (Richard, 1894) 30. Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov, 1996)* 31. Picripleuroxus similis Vavra, 1900 Subfamily: Aloninae 32. Alona cheni Sinev, 1999 33. Alona guttata tuberculata Kurz, 1875 34. Alona kotovi Sinev, 2012 35. Anthalona harti Van Damme et al. 36. Camptocercus uncinatus Smirnov, 1973 37. Celsinotum macronyx (Daday, 1898) 38. Celsinotum rectangula (Sars, 1862) s.lat 39. Euryalona orientalis (Daday, 1898) 40. Graptoleberis testudinaria (Fischer, 1854) 41. Karualona karua (King, 1853) 42. Kurzia (Kurzia) latissima Kurz, 1874 Appendix I: Systematic list of examined Cladocera taxa Super-class: Crustacea Class: Branchiopoda Super-order: Cladocera (sensu strictu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ * New record from India 86 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2015) 3(2): 78-88 43. Kurzia (Rostrokurzia) brevilabris Rajapaksa & Fernando,1986 44. Kurzia (Rostrokurzia) longirostris (Daday, 1898) 45. Leberis diphanus (King, 1853) 46. Leydigia acanthocercoides (Fischer, 1854) 47. Notoalona globulosa (Daday, 1898) 48. Oxyurella singalensis (Daday, 1898) 87 Sharma et al./ Cladocera of the floodplain lakes of Majuli River Island Super-class: Crustacea Class: Branchiopoda Super-order: Cladocera (sensu strictu) Taxa↓ Beels Sr. No.→ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Order: Anomopoda Family: Bosminidae 1. Bosmina longirostris (O. F. Muller) - + - - - - + + - + - + 2. Bosminopsis deitersi Richard - - - - - - + + - - - - Family: Chydoridae Subfamily: Aloninae 3. Alona affinis (Leydig) s.lat - - - - - - + - + + + - 4. Alona cheni Sinev - + - - - + + + + + + + 5. Alona guttata tuberculata Kurz + - + + + + - + - + + - 6. Alona kotovi Sinev - - - - - - + + - - + + 7. Anthalona harti Van Damme et al. - - - - - - + - - - + + 8. Camptocercus uncinatus Smirnov + + - - - + + + + + + + 9. Celsinotum macronyx (Daday) - + - - - + - + - + - - 10. Celsinotum rectangula (Sars) s.lat + - + - - - + + + - + - 11. Euryalona orientalis (Daday) - + + + + + + + + + + - 12. Graptoleberis testudinaria (Fischer) - + + - - - + - - - - + 13. Karualona karua (King) + + + + + + + + + + + + 14. Kurzia brevilabris Rajapaksa & Fernando - - - - - - + + - - - - 15. Kurzia latissima Kurz - + + - - - - + + - - - 16. Kurzia longirostris (Daday) + + - + - + + + + + + + 17. Leberis diphanus (King) - - - - - - + - - - - + 18. Notoalona globulosa (Daday) + + + + + + + + + + + + 19. Oxyurella singalensis (Daday - - - - - - + + + + + + Subfamily: Chydorinae 20. Alonella clathratula Sars - + + + + + + + - - + - 21. Alonella excisa (Fischer) + + + + + + + + + + + + 22. Chydorus angustirostris Frey + + - + + + + + - - + + 23. Chydorus sphaericus (O. F. Muller) + + + + + + + + + + + + 24. Chydorus ventricosus Daday - + + + - + + + - - + - 25. Dadaya macrops (Daday) - - - - - - - + - + - + 26. Disperalona caudata Smirnov + - + + - + + - + - - - 27. Dunhevedia crassa King - - - - - - + + + + + + 28. Dunhevedia serrata Daday + + - - - + + + - - - + 29. Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus (Smirnov)* - - - - - - + - - - + + 30. Picripleuroxus similis + + + + + + + + + + + + Family: Daphniidae 31. Ceriodaphnia cornuta Sars + + + + + + - - - + + - 32. Scapholeberis kingi Sars + + - + + - - - + + - - 33. Simocephalus acutirostratus (King) - - + - - - + + - - - - 34. Simocephalus serrulatus (Koch) + + + + + + + + - - - - 35. Simocephalus mixtus Sars + + - + + + + + + + + + Appendix II: Species composition of Cladocera of beels of Majuli River Island. 88 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2015) 3(2): 78-88 Appendix II: Species composition of Cladocera of beels of Majuli River Island (contd.) Taxa↓ Beels Sr. No.→ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Family: Ilyocryptidae 36. Ilyocryptus spinifer Herrick - - - - - - - + - - + - Family: Macrothricidae 37. Grimaldina brazzai Richard - - - - - - + - - + - - 38. Guernella raphaelis Richard - - + - - - + + + - - + 39. Macrothrix laticornis (Fischer) + + + + + + + + + + + + 40. Macrothrix spinosa King - - - - - - + + - - + + 41. Macrothrix triserialis (Brady) + + + + + + + + + + + + Family: Moinidae 42. Moina micrura Kurz - + + + - + - - - + - - 43. Moinodaphnia macleayi (King) - + + - - - + - - + + - Order: Ctenopoda Family: Sididae 44. Diaphanosoma excisum Sars + + + + + + + + + + + + 45. Diaphanosoma sarsi Richard + - - + - - + + - + + + 46. Diaphanosoma senegal Gauthier - - - - - - - - + - - + 47. Pseudosida szalayi (Daday) - - - - - - + + + + + - 48. Sida crystallina (O. F. Muller) - + + - - + - - + + - - Total Richness (species) 20 27 23 21 16 24 38 35 24 28 30 27 1-Bhereki, 2-Ghotonga, 3-Holmari, 4-Chakuli, 5-Chela, 6-Khorkhoria, 7-Doriya, 8-Dubori, 9-Tuni, 10-Baatomari, 11-Jur, 12-Chereki * New records from India