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Global diversity of nematodes (Nematoda) in freshwater

  • FRESHWATER ANIMAL DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT
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Abstract

Despite free-living nematodes being present in all types of limnetic habitats including unfavorable conditions that exclude many other meiobenthic invertebrates, they received less attention than marine and terrestrial forms. Two-fifths of the nematode families, one-fifth of the nearly 1800 genera and only 7% of the about 27,000 nominal species are recorded from freshwater habitats. The Dorylaimia are the most successful in freshwater habitats with nearly two-thirds of all known freshwater nematodes belonging to this subclass. Members of the subclass Enoplia are principally marine though include some exclusively freshwater taxa with extreme endemism. The subclass Chromadoria includes half of the freshwater nematode families and members of the Monhysterida and Plectida are among the most widely reported freshwater nematodes. Studies on freshwater nematodes show extreme regional bias; those from the southern hemisphere are extremely underrepresented, especially compared to European freshwater bodies. The majority of records are from a single biogeographic region. Discussion on nematode endemism is largely premature since apart from Lake Baikal, the nematofauna of ancient lakes as centers of speciation is limited and recent discoveries show high nematode abundance and diversity in cryptic freshwater bodies, underground calcrete formations and stromatolite pools potentially with a high number of new taxa.

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Acknowledgments

The first author thanks Dr. William K. Thomas, Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, University of New Hampshire, for allowing him to use the facilities of the center during the preparation of this manuscript, and Drs. István Andrássy (Hungary), Mike Hodda (Australia), Michael Kidd (USA), and Melissa Yoder (USA) for supplying useful literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Department of Biology, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909, USA

    Eyualem Abebe

  2. Department of Invertebrates, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 22, Brussels, 1000, Belgium

    Wilfrida Decraemer

  3. Department of Nematology, University of California, 900 University Avenue Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Paul De Ley

Authors
  1. Eyualem Abebe
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  2. Wilfrida Decraemer
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  3. Paul De Ley
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Correspondence to Eyualem Abebe.

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Guest editors: E.V. Balian, C. Lèvêque, H. Segers & K. Martens

Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment

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Eyualem Abebe, Decraemer, W. & De Ley, P. Global diversity of nematodes (Nematoda) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595, 67–78 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9005-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9005-5

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