An annotated checklist of the freshwater cladocerans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Cladocera) of Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands

Abstract

An annotated checklist of recorded species of Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) from inland aquatic habitats in Ecuador (including the Galápagos) is provided. We revised all published records, evaluated the validity of each taxon and provided short taxonomic and biogeographical remarks for each taxon. A total of 34 valid species grouped into 23 genera was found. Presently, all attempts to analyze distributional patterns of cladocerans in Ecuador are premature due to the scarcity of adequate information. Current achievements in the inventory of cladocerans, information gaps and recommendations for future studies on cladoceran taxonomy in Ecuador are discussed. How to cite this article:

An annotated checklist of freshwater Copepoda (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) from continental Ecuador and the Galapagos Archipelago

“…Further studies may reveal that these species do not occur in the New World or that they have a much more restricted distribution than what has been reported, as for exemple Eucyclops serrulatus according to Mercado-Salas et al (2016). We cannot, however, exclude the possibility that tropical high-altitude aquatic habitats could harbor relict populations originating from northern latitudes (Van Damme and Eggermont 2011) or that some records might be human-mediated introductions (López et al 2018a).…”

“…We expect that geographically large-scale collections that take the extraordinary diversity of the habitats and strong altitudinal gradients in Ecuador into account will reveal a biodiversity at least a magnitude greater than what is currently known for the Copepoda. The recommendations of López et al (2018a) for more extensive collections of the Cladocera, including specimens suitable for molecular studies, also hold true for the copepods. From among the four lake provinces [Paramo, Andean (under the Paramo, 2000–3500 m a.s.l.…”

“…In the second half of the twentieth century, revisionary studies based on fine-scale taxonomic resolution have recognized numerous species complexes in place of so-called cosmopolitan species (Boxshall and Defaye 2008). Similar to the Cladocera (López et al 2018a), some species in this checklist may belong to undescribed species or to groups of species with unresolved taxonomic status in the Neotropics and worldwide. For example, Acanthocyclops robustus , Acanthocyclops vernalis , and Eucyclops serrulatus are considered to be cosmopolitan and obviously distributed in the Americas.…”

“…Similarly to the freshwater Cladocera and Rotifera (López et al 2018a, 2018b), our knowledge of the Copepoda of Ecuador in comparison to other countries in tropical South America is relatively recent and very limited. This is in sharp contrast to the great habitat diversity in the country, ranging from Amazon rainforest, including uphills and the lowlands, to alpine tundra paramo (more than 4000 m a.s.l.)…”

Loss of a freshwater copepod species from El Junco Lake, Galápagos following the introduction and eradication of the Nile tilapia

“…before the introduction of the Nile tilapia. An examination of the preserved samples from the Steinitz-Kannan collections shows only a few anomopods and a single diaptomid copepod taxon for this site (L opez et al, 2018;Corgosinho et al, 2019). This article reports the probable extinction of this diaptomid copepod species linked to the introduction and eradication of the non-native fish species O. niloticus in El Junco Lake.…”