Biogeography of the ‘water flea’ Daphnia O. F. Müller (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anomopoda) on the Indian subcontinent

• Main Authors: Sameer M. Padhye, Alexey A. Kotov, Neelesh Dahanukar, Henri Dumont
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2016-06-01
• Series: Journal of Limnology
• Subjects: Ctenodaphnia; Daphnia magna; Daphnia pulex; Himalayas; oriental zone; Western Ghats.
• Online Access: http://www.jlimnol.it/index.php/jlimnol/article/view/1476

<p>Studies on <em>Daphnia</em> distribution in Indian subcontinent have been few and regionally restricted despite <em>Daphnia</em> being by far the most studied cladoceran. We here present a first biogeographical assessment of the genus on the Indian subcontinent (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). We collected all pertinent literature and considered nineteen bioclimatic variables along with latitude, longitude, and altitude for statistical analysis of factors governing distribution in space. Significant variables (determined by Kruskal Wallis test) were tested by nonparametric multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) to clarify whether <em>Daphnia</em> species had specific environmental requirements. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to understand how environmental variables affected distribution.  Eight <em>Daphnia </em>(<em>Ctenodaphnia</em>) and 4 <em>Daphnia</em> s.str. occurred at 100 different localities.<em> </em>The variables temperature, altitude and latitude differed among species and so did their bio-climatic requirements. <em>Daphnia</em> distribution responded positively to altitude and negatively to a decrease in latitude and temperature.</p>