Rotifer diversity in Iranian waters: A review
In: Aquatic Ecology Series. ISSN 1573-4595, more
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Species diversity
Rotifera [WoRMS]
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| Abstract |
Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East with a significant contribution to the regional and global biodiversity. While the country is considered as a home to a wide range of flora and fauna, much of its biological assets has not yet been apprehended. Rotifers, the members of phylum Rotifera, comprise some 2000 species of minute aquatic invertebrates. They have increasingly attracted efforts from the global taxonomists and limnologists not only due to their crucial role in aquatic food webs, but also for their growing applications in fundamental biological research and aquaculture industry. The oldest available records of Iranian rotifers date back to almost 70 years ago. Notwithstanding that the task to discover the aquatic invertebrates, such as rotifers, of all Iranian waters is far from complete, the last decade has witnessed an expanding quantity of research and publications on their diversity. In this chapter, a review of the surveys on phylum Rotifera in Iran has been provided, including a checklist of the identified rotifer taxa, based on almost all available data. A total of 366 rotifer species and subspecies of 69 genera under 27 families have so far been identified from Iranian waters, most of which (95%) belong to the subclass Monogononta and the remaining (18 species of 8 genera in 4 families) to Bdelloidea. Biogeography of the rotifers, a comparison of the regional rotifer diversity, and prospects for future studies have also been discussed. |
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