JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: , Volume 2, Issue 8, September 2014

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1 HABITAT PREFERENCE OF ROTIFERS IN SOME SUBTROPICAL WATERS OF LOWER SHIVALIKS SARBJEET KOUR* NEHA ANTAL** SHVETAMBRI*** SHIWALI GUPTA**** *Asst. Professor, Dept. of Zoology, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India **Ph.D Scholar, Dept. of Zoology, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India ***Principal Investigator, DST Project, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India ****Ph.D., Scholar, Dept. of Zoology, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India ABSTRACT Aquatic diversity is contributed by various groups of zooplankton and rotifers being one of them. Rotifers are the fascinating creatures in all types of fresh waters. They form an important link in the food web. In present investigation four water bodies (Devika stream, Chopra stream, Fish channel and Fish pond) were investigated. There were 25 rotifer among which 6 species belonging to 5 families from Devika stream; 19 species belonging to 10 families from Chopra stream; 14 species belonging to 9 families from Fish channel and 13 species belonging to 7 families from Fish pond were identified respectively. The various kinds of statistical indices such as frequency, relative frequency, density, relative density, Abundance, Maraglef s index and species diversity were used to support the data. Various physico-chemical parameters viz., air temperature, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide and ph were also studied during the study period. KEYWORDS: Rotifers, Frequency, Maraglef s index, Abundance, Diversity and Dissolved oxygen. INTRODUCTION Biodiversity includes a variety of organisms within a particular habitat and physical conditions under which they live. So are the aquatic habitats which are inhabited by planktonic faunal diversity, the zooplanktons. Zooplanktons hold a central position in aquatic food-chain and form a sensitive group to environmental changes (Bonnecker and Lansac- Toha, 1996, Sharma et.al, 2008, Shah & Pandit, 2013, Salathia & Dutta, 2013). Rotifers are an important group contributing recognizable share in zooplankton abundance and are also forming an important interlace in food web being preferred as food for larval stages of fishes due to a.) Negotiable size 56

2 b.) Have high recycling capacity c.) High metabolic rate (dewan et.al, 1977; treece, g.d and davis, d.a, 2000 and jahakiraman et.al, 2013.) Distributional analysis labels rotifers as cosmopolitan organisms due to presence in aquatic to semi-aquatic habitats but they are most flourishing in freshwater sources (Ricci & Melone, 2000). The qualitative and quantitative presence of rotifers is usually modified by the habitat type they live which in turn is governed by overall abiotic and biotic conditions (Dutta, 2011). Within an aquatic source, rotifers show varied high diversity along different zones of that water body but rich diversity is along the vegetative zone among the macrophytes. These micro creatures have a quality of indicating the status of any water body. Thus qualitative and quantitative importance has made rotifer study an important aspect for hydrobiologists. In present investigation, an attempt has been made to study the distribution and variation in rotifer inhabiting four different habitats for their seasonal abundance and also to analyse the habitat preference of different rotifers. MATERIAL AND METHODS i) Zooplankton Zooplankton collection was made by filtering 100 litres of water through bolting silk planktonic net (mesh size 25µm). 20ml filtrate sample was preserved by adding 4% formaldehyde. Drop wise analysis of sample was done in laboratory to study rotifers. Identification, Classification was done using references of Ward and Whipple, 1959; Adoni, 1985; Koste, 1978 and Edmondson and Winberg, Statistical analysis was done by using following formula: Frequency = Total number of quadrants in which species occurred X 100 Total number of quadrants Relative Frequency = Frequency of species X 100 Sum of frequency of all the species Density = Total number of individuals of the species Total number of quadrants studied Relative Density = Density of species X 100 Sum of Density of all the species Abundance = Total number of individuals of the species X 100 Total number of quadrants in which species occurred 57

3 Marglef s Index D= S-1 Log (n) Where, S= Number of species N= Number of individuals _ Species diversity (H) _ (H) = -S (P1) log 2 pi i-1 Where, _ (H) = information content of sample (bits/individuals) S = Number of species P= Proportion of total species belonging to 1 species ii) Physico-chemical Analysis Atmospheric Temperature: Air temperature was recorded with the help of a mercury centigrade thermometer while avoiding its direct exposure to the sunlight (Welch, 1952). Water Temperature: Water temperature was recorded with the help of a mercury centigrade thermometer graduated upto 110 o C with 0.1 o C graduation. This was done by vertically dipping the thermometer into the water. ph: ph of water samples was determined with the help of a portable field ph meter (Hanna). Free Carbon Dioxide: Titration method was adopted for the estimation of the free carbon dioxide (A.P.H.A., 1985). Dissolved Oxygen: Dissolved oxygen was determined by sodium azide modification of Winkler s method (A.P.H.A., 1985) Calcium: The estimation of Calcium was done by the EDTA-titrimetric method suggested in A.P.H.A. (1985). RESULTS In the present investigation, from monthly analysis there were enlisted 25 rotifers species among which, 6 species belonging to 5 families (Philodinidae, Lecanidae, Colurellidae, Notommatidae and Epiphanidae) from Devika stream; 19 species belonging to 10 families (Euchlanidae, Lecanidae, Colurellidae, Philodinadae, Dicranophoridae, Notommatidae, Trichotriidae, Brachionidae, Mytilinidae and Testudinellidae) from Chopra stream; 14 species belonging to 9 families (Euchlanidae, Lecanidae, Colurellidae, Philodinadae, 58

4 Notommatidae, Brachionidae, Mytilinidae, Testudinellidae and Epiphanidae) from Fish channel and 13 species belonging to 7 families (Lecanidae, Colurellidae, Philodinadae, Notommatidae, Brachionidae, Filiniidae and Epiphanidae) from Fish pond were identified respectively (Table 1) Statistical analysis of the inhabiting rotifer fauna highlighting well marked seasonal variability with unimodal maxima in Devika stream, Fish pond and Fish channel and bimodal maxima of rotifers at Chopra stream (Table 2-5). From the overall analysis for habitat preference, certain species showed presence at only specific stations viz. Cephalodella catellina, Epiphanes senta, at Devika Lepadella heterostyla, Monommata sp., Dicranophorus epicharis, Trichotria tetractis and Colurella uncinata at Chopra stream. Filinia terminalis, Brachionus bidentata at Fish Pond, Lecane ludwigii at Fish channel. Among the recorded species, Philodina sp., Lecane closterocerca, Cephalodella gibba, Lepadella ovalis were the rotifers which showed their presence in all these water-bodies but with differential quantitative statistics. Frequency analysis (Table 6): a.) Cephalodella gibba had same frequency level. b.) Lepadella ovalis: Devika stream > Chopra stream > Fish channel >Fish pond. c.) Lecane closterocerca: Fish channel > Fish pond > Chopra stream > Devika stream d.) Philodina sp.: Chopra stream > Devika stream> Fish pond> Fish channel Density analysis (Table 6): a.) Philodina sp.: Devika stream> Chopra stream > Fish channel > Fish pond. b.) Lecane closterocerca: Devika stream> Fish channel > Chopra stream> Fish pond. c.) Cephalodella gibba: Chopra stream> Devika stream>fish pond. d.) Lepadella ovalis: Devika stream> Fish channel > Fish pond > Chopra stream. Analysis of Shannon-Wiener diversity index reveals the order: Chopra stream > Devika > Fish pond > Fish channel. During the study period physico-chemical parameters viz., air temperature, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide and ph showed well marked monthly variations with distinct maxima and minima (Rajagopal et al., 2010; Parikh and Mankodi, 2011; Sharma et al., 2012; Thirupathaiah et al., 2012; Sharma et al., 2013 and Kumar et al., 2013) (Table 7). 59

5 DISCUSSION Diversity analysis based on Shannon-Wiener calculations showed the maximum diversity among the four water-bodies in the hierarchy as Chopra stream > Fish channel > Fish pond > Devika stream. This difference in diversity among the studies water-bodies may be attributed to varied reasons. Chopra stream harbouring maximum diversity is a slow flowing stream with rich macrophytic vegetation which provides a good source of refuge from prey, sunlight and also provides food (Green, 2003). Devika, although, a natural lotic water-body is without vegetation and having pebbles and sandy bottom. Depth of water is also less, thus putting biotic and abiotic pressure on all the layers because they are exposed to environment. Pebbles and soft bottom provide a substrate and suitable habitat for only few rotifer species. Fish pond and Fish channel are man-made concrete structures with limiting boundaries within which can be felt maximum pressure of the predators and no good refuge from both biotic and abiotic pressures as there is no soft bottom, no vegetation in these two water-bodies. Thus, from the above analysis, it becomes clear that rotifers, although, are present in all the types of water-bodies, have a flourishing habitat along the vegetation and soft-bottom water sources (Hakanson, 2005). CONCLUSION Analysing the present water bodies it can be concluded that rotifers do show seasonality and differential density, frequency and abundance in different water bodies. Among the recorded species, Philodina, Lecane closterocerca, Cephalodella gibba, Lecane ovalis were the common species among these water-bodies but they showed difference in various analysed statistical components highlighting the fact that although rotifers are cosmopolitan there presence or absence is very much governed by varied biotic and abiotic factors which were different in the four water bodies. REFERENCES 1. A.P.H.A Standard method for the examination of water. 17th edition, American Public Health Association. 2. Adoni, A.D Workbook on limnology. Pratibha Publishers C-10 Gour Nagar Sagar, India. 3. Bonnecker, C.C. and Lansac-Toha, F.A Community structure of rotifers in two environments of Upper River Parana flood plains (MS) Brazil. Hydrobiologia, 325(2): Dewan, S., Ali, M. and Islam, M.A Study on the size and pattern of feeding of fries and fingerlings of three major carps, eg. Labeo rohita (Ham), Catla catla and Cirrhina mrigala. Bangladesh J: Agri. 2(2): Dutta, T Zooplankton diversity and Physico-chemical conditions of two wetlands of Jalpaiguri District, India. International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology, Vol.2(3): 60

6 Edmondson, W.T. and Weinberg, G.G A manual on producitivity in Freshwaters. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p Edmondson, W.T. and Winberg, G.G A manual on the productivity in Freshwaters. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p Green, Hydrobiologia, 2003, 490: Janakiraman, A., Naved, M.S., Muthupriya, P., Sugumaran, J., Sheriff, M.A. and Altaff, K Studies on the Zooplankton biodiversity and density in Adhyar estuary, Chennai, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, Vol. 34, Koste, W Rotatoria: die Radertiere mittleuropas, ein Bestimminngswerk gegrundetvon Max Voigt. Oberovdung. Monogonta 1. Text band, 2.tafelband. Gerbrudev. Borntrager. Stuttart. 11. Kumar, P.J.S., Jose, A., and James, E.J Spatial and seasonal variations in ground water quality in parts of Cuddalore District, South India. Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett., Vol. 36(2): Parikh, A.N. and Mankodi, P.C Water quality assessment of Harni pond of Vadodara, Gujarat. Electronic Journal of Environmental Sciences, 4: Rajagopal, T., Thangamani, A. and Archunan, G Comparison of physico-chemical parameters and phytoplankton species diversity of two perennial ponds in Sattur area, Tamilnadu. Journal of Environmental Biology, 31(5): Ricci, C. and Melone, G Key to the identification of genera Bdelloid rotifers. Hydrobiologia. 418 : Shah, J.A. and Pandit, A.K Relation between physico-chemical limnology and crustacean community in Wular lake of Kashmr Himalaya, Pak.J.Biol.Sci. 16(19): Sharma, K.K., Devi, A., Antal, N., Kour, S. and Sharma, A Seasonal Variations in Physico- Chemical Parameters of Subtropical Pond of Jammu, J & K, India. Asian Academic Research Journal of Multidisciplinary, Vol. 1(10): Sharma, V., Kumar, V.B. and Sharma, M.S Zooplankton Fauna in Relation to Physico-Chemical Characteristics in Madar Tank, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. I. Res. J. Environment Sci., Vol. 1(3): Sharma, V., Sharma, M.S., Malara, H., Sharma, R. And Brijraj, S.B Trophic status and zooplankton diversity of lske Jaisamand in relation to its physico-chemical characteristics. In: Sengupta, M. and R.Dalwani (Eds.), Proceeding of Taal the 12 th World lake conference, Jaipur, India, pp: Slathia, D. and Dutta, S.P.S Hydrobiological study of a sub-tropical Shiwalik Lake, Jammu, J&K (India). International Journal of Chemical and Environmental and Biological Sciences. (IJCEBS) Vol. I, Issue I: Thirupathaiah, M., Choudhary, S. and Sammaiah, C Analysis of water quality using physicochemical parameters in lower Manair reservoir of Karimnagar district, Andhra Pradesh. International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 3: Treece, G.D. and Davis, D.A. 2000: Culture of small zooplankters for the feeding of larval fish. SRAC Publication No Ward, H.B. and Whipple, G.C Freshwater Biology. 2 nd edition. John Wiley and Son. 23. Ward, H.B. and Whipple, G.C Freshwater Biology. 2 nd edition. John Wiley and Sons. 24. Welch, P.S Limnology, 2 nd edition McGraw Hill Book Co. New York and London, 538pp. 61

7 Table 1: Enlistment of various Zooplanktonic species of different water bodies. S.No. Species Month Devika Chopra Channel Pond FEBRUARY 1. Philodina sp Colurella obtusa Colurella uncinata Lecane closterocerca Lecane bulla Lecane Luna Keratella tropica Brachionus quadridentata MARCH 1. Lecane closterocerca Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane luna Colurella obtusa Mytilina ventralis Keratella tropica Lecane bulla APRIL 1. Philodina Sp Lecane bulla Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna Filinia terminalis Epiphanes brachionus MAY 1. Monommata sp Colurella uncinata Lecane bulla Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna Lecane lunaris Lepadella ovalis Lepadella heterostyla Scaridium longicadum Cephalodella gibba Mytilina ventralis Philodina sp Trichotria tetractis Colurella obtusa

8 JUNE 1. Philodina sp Colurella obtusa Lecane closterocera Lecane lunaris JULY 1. Philodina sp Colurella obtusa Lecane closterocera Lepadella ovalis AUGUST 1. Philodina sp Euchlanis dilatata Colurella obtusa Epiphanes brachionus Lecane luna Lecane bulla Lecane closterocerca Lecane ludwigii Keratella tropica SEPTEMBER 1. Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane closterocerca Brachionus quadridentata Lecane luna OCTOBER 1. Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna NOVEMBER 1. Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna Lecane lunaris Colurella obtusa Trichotria tetractis Euchlanis dilatata Mytilina ventralis Testudinella patina Eosphora sp

9 DECEMBER 1. Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane closterocerca Lecane lunaris Colurella obtusa Cephalodella catellina Cephalodella gibba Euchlanis dilatata Dicranophorus epicharis Scaridium longicaudum Lecane luna Keratella topica Filinia terminalis Lecane bulla Brachionus bidentata JANUARY 1. Philodina sp Lepadella ovalis Lecane closterocerca Trichotria tetractis Colurella obtusa Keratella tropica Cephalodella gibba Euchlanis dilatata Epiphanes senta Lecane luna Lecane lunaris Lecane bulla Epiphanes brachionus

10 Table 2: Statistical data of rotifer fauna inhabiting fish-channel. SPECIES Frequency Relative frequency Density Relative density Abundance H Philodina sp Lecane closterocerca Lecane (M) bulla Lecane luna Lecane lunaris Lecane ludwigii Colurella obtusa Lepadella ovalis Brachionus quadridentata Euchlanis dilatata Mytilina ventralis Testudinella patina Epiphanes brachionus Eosphora sp Table 3: Statistical data of rotifer fauna inhabiting fish-pond. Species Frequency Relative Density Relative Abundance Frequency Density Philodina sp Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna Lecane (M) bulla Lecane lunaris Cephalodella gibba Colurella obtusa Lepadella ovalis Brachionus quadridentata Brachionus bidentata Filinia terminalis Keratella tropica Epiphanes brachionus H 65

11 Table 4: Statistical data of rotifer fauna inhabiting Devik stream. Species Frequency Relative frequency Density Relative density Philodina sp Abundance Lecane closterocerca Cephalodella gibba Cephalodella catellina Lepadella ovalis Epiphanes senta H Table 5: Statistical data of rotifer fauna of Chopra stream. SPECIES Frequency Relative frequency Density Relative density Philodina sp Lecane closterocerca Lecane luna Lecane (M) bulla Lecane lunaris Cephalodella gibba Colurella uncinata Colurella obtusa Abundance H Lepadella ovalis Lepadella heterostyla Euchlanis dilatata Trichotria tetractis Testudinella patina Dicranophorus epicharis Mytilina ventralis Scaridium longicaudum Keratella tropica Eosphora sp Monommata sp

12 Table 6: Frequency and Density analysis of different water bodies. Frequency Density Philodina sp. C.S > D.S > F.P > F.C D.S > C.S > F.C > F.P Lecane closterocerca F.C > F.P > C.S > D.S D.S > F.C > C.S > F.P Lepedella ovalis D.S > C.S > F.C > F.P D.S > F.C > C.S > F.P Cephalodella gibba F.C = F.P = C.S = D.S C.S > D.S > F.P C.S - Copra Stream F.P - Fish D.S - Devika Stream F.C - Fish Channel Table 7: Showing range of physico-chemical parameters in four water bodies. Parameters Fish channel Fish pond Devika stream Chopra stream Air temperature ( 0 C) Water temperature ( 0 C) Dissolved oxygen (mg/l) Free carbon dioxide (mg/l) Calcium (mg/l) ph