The occurrence and description of male Daphnia similis Claus, 1876 (Cladocera, Daphnidae)
Seema Langer1*and Yahya Bakhtiyar1
http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.3.1.34
The occurrence of male of Daphnia similis, a Cladoceran crustacean was recorded from the sub-tropical region of Jammu, India and described for the first time thus completing the description of the species.
Daphinia Similis; Cladoceran Crustacean; Jammu
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Langer S, Bakhtiyar Y. The occurrence and description of male Daphnia similis Claus, 1876 (Cladocera, Daphnidae). Curr World Environ 2008;3(1):207-208 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.3.1.34
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Langer S, Bakhtiyar Y. The occurrence and description of male Daphnia similis Claus, 1876 (Cladocera, Daphnidae). Curr World Environ 2008;3(1):207-208. Available from://www.a-i-l-s-a.com/?p=813
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Introduction
Of the ninety species of Indian Cladocera reported so far, the aspects of the biology of six species have been investigated from this country (Michael and Sharma, 1982). All these studies are restricted to females. The biology of maleDaphnialumholtziSars. has been reported for the first timefrom India by Daset al.,(1981). Afterwards Venkataraman and Krishnaswamy ((1984) reported the occurrence and description of male ofDaphniaprojectafrom the Southern Tamilnadu. LikewiseMalhotra and Langer (1994) gave the description of the male ofSimocephalus serrrulatusfrom Jammu. Similarly, the descriptions available on the presently investigated species,Daphnia similistoo, are restricted to the females.
This paper reports the presence ofDaphnia similisin the sub-tropical region of Jammu(Jammu and Kashmir) and gives a full description of male for the first time, thus completing the description of the species.
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Figure 1: The figure showing Daphnia similis Click here to view figure |
Female with rounded helmet, rostrum pointed and recurved. Values oval in outline, narrowed posteriorly and continued into a tail, half the length of carapace (Fig. 1A). Tail with small spines which extend to the middle region of ventral margin of values, and on dorsal margin of values, and on dorsal margin extend to cervical region. Antennules very small and set close to rostrum. Eye large, ocellus small in the form of dot. Post-abdomen with 8-12 dorsal spines. Post-abdominal claw stout and curved with two well developed pectens. Maximum adult size 2.7 mm.
In males (Fig. 1B) rostrum is absent. Dorsal margin almost straight. Valves oblong, head ventrally rounded; eye large, ocellus small. Ventro-anterior margin with thick tuft of bristles. Antennules well developed and moveable; flagellum in the antennules not well developed. First leg modified with prolonged seta which emerges out of the carapace. Post-abdomen with 7-9 dorsal spines, Maximum size 1.4mm.
References
1. Michael, R. G and Sharma, B.K., Fauna of India. Indian Cladocera (Crustace: Branchiopoda: Cladocera).Zoological Surveyof India, (1982) 62.
2. Das, S., Sharma, B.K. and Michael, R.G.,Curr. Sci., (1981) 50: 200.
3. Venkataraman, K. and Krishnaswamy, S.,Curr. Sci., (1984) 53: 591-592.
4. Malhotra, Y.R. and Langer, S., The Occurrence and Description of Male ofSimocephalus serrulatusKOCH, 1841.Proc.Nat. Acad. Sci., (1994) India 64(B): II.
