Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of the south-east of the Korean Peninsula, with twenty new records for Korea

We studied the cladocerans from 15 different freshwater bodies in south-east of the Korean Peninsula. Twenty species are first records for Korea, viz. 1. Sida ortiva Korovchinsky, 1979; 2. Pseudosida cf. szalayi (Daday, 1898); 3. Scapholeberis kingi Sars, 1888; 4. Simocephalus congener (Koch, 1841); 5. Moinodaphnia macleayi (King, 1853); 6. Ilyocryptus cuneatus Štifter, 1988; 7. Ilyocryptus cf. raridentatus Smirnov, 1989; 8. Ilyocryptus spinifer Herrick, 1882; 9. Macrothrix pennigera Shen, Sung & Chen, 1961; 10. Macrothrix triserialis Brady, 1886; 11. Bosmina (Sinobosmina) fatalis Burckhardt, 1924; 12. Chydorus irinae Smirnov & Sheveleva, 2010; 13. Disparalona ikarus Kotov & Sinev, 2011; 14. Ephemeroporus cf. barroisi (Richard, 1894); 15. Camptocercus uncinatus Smirnov, 1971; 16. Camptocercus vietnamensis Than, 1980; 17. Kurzia (Rostrokurzia) longirostris (Daday, 1898); 18. Leydigia (Neoleydigia) acanthocercoides (Fischer, 1854); 19. Monospilus daedalus Kotov & Sinev, 2011; 20. Nedorchynchotalona chiangi Kotov & Sinev, 2011. Most of them are illustrated and briefly redescribed from newly collected material. We also provide illustrations of four taxa previously recorded from Korea: Sida crystallina (O.F. Müller, 1776); Macrothrix rosea (Jurine, 1820); Bosmina (Bosmina) longirostris (O. F. Müller, 1776) and Disparalona cf. hamata (Birge, 1879). Among the newly recorded taxa, there are six Far East endemics; five tropicopolitan species for which the Amur basin is the northernmost margin of their distribution; four tropicopolitan species for which Korea is presumed to be the northern most area of their distribution; two Palaearctic taxa for which Korea could be the southern most area of their distribution; two cosmopolitan species which need to be revised; and one species widely distributed in Eastern Asia. Despite significantly increasing the number of known species of cladocerans in Korea, we recognize that further research is needed to complete the picture, and the cosmopolitan taxa need further revision.

Cladocera (Crustacea: Ctenopoda, Anomopoda) from southern Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala, with some biogeographical notes

Different surveys in the Campechano–Petenense biogeographical province, including a part of Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and North of Guatemala (Departments of Peten and Alta Verapaz), produced a list of 56 species of the Cladocera. Studied water bodies included small temporary pools, sinkholes (named cenotes), permanent lagoons, wetlands, and Peten Lake. We increase the number of known cladoceran species from Mexico by adding eight new records, and provide the first published species list for Belize, as well as for the Mayan Mountains and intermittent rivers from Guatemala. Interesting taxa found are Diaphanosoma bergamini Paggi & da Rocha, 1999; Macrothrix spinosa King, 1853; M. elegans Sars, 1901; Grimaldina brazzai Richard, 1892; Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus Smirnov, 1996; Ephemeroporus tridentatus (Bergamin, 1939); Graptoleberis sp.; Alona cf. ossiani Sinev, 1998; Oxyurella ciliata Bergamin, 1939, and O. longicaudis (Birge, 1910). The majority of these species are Neotropical representatives, and the Mexican records are the northernmost. Few other taxa, such as the recently described Leydigia louisi mexicana Kotov, Elías-Gutiérrez & Nieto, 2003, are related to African species or widely distributed, like Ilyocryptus spinifer Herrick, 1882. Some species, as E. tridentatus (Bergamin) and O. ciliata Bergamin were rare in the samples.

Morphological abnormalities in the cladoceran Ilyocryptus spinifer (Apipucos Reservoir, Pernambuco State, Brazil)

In a sample taken from Apipucos Reservoir (Recife, PE, Brazil) for taxonomic study, a high percentage (40%) was found of cladoceran Ilyocryptus spinifer individuals with morphological abnormalities on their postabdomen. There was not a fixed pattern of the malformations, which varied in gravity, and could affect the postanal spines or terminal claws. The postabdominal abnormalities are described and compared to the ones described in the literature. The hypothesis of the morphological abnormalities being induced by an occasional environmental toxicant is discussed.