A report on the freshwater Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of south Rajasthan (India)

The Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) are primarily a freshwater group and an important component of the crustacean zooplankton. 77 water bodies have been sampled from South Rajasthan State (India) for the study of Cladocerans comprising seven districts: Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Dungarpur, and Banswara. These are located in the southern part of Rajasthan between 23°11′ to 27°50 North latitude and 72°16′ to 75°25′ East longitude. In Rajasthan, India, many studies have been conducted on the diversity of freshwater fishes, phytoplankters, rotifers, and copepods; however, no proper record on cladocerans is available till date. Zooplankton samples from 77 different water bodies of South Rajasthan were analyzed to investigate the Cladocera inhabiting these water bodies. In all, 54 species of cladocerans were reported during the study, belonging to six families viz. the Sididae, Daphniidae, Moinidae, Bosminidae, Macrothricidae, and Chydoridae. In general, it was noticed that rich nutrients, the presence of weeds and shallow waters favoured rich diversities of cladocerans.