ROTIFER DIVERSITY AND ITS SEASONAL VARIATION OF TWO PERENNIAL TEMPLE PONDS OF TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, TAMIL NADU.

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1 157 ROTIFER DIVERSITY AND ITS SEASONAL VARIATION OF TWO PERENNIAL TEMPLE PONDS OF TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, TAMIL NADU. 1 Sivakami, R. Assistant Professor, PG & Research Department of Zoology, Arignar Anna Govt. Arts College, Musiri , Tamil Nadu, India. drsiva17@gmail.com 2 Sugumar, R. Deparment of Microbiology, Srimad Andavan Arts & Science College, Tiruchirappalli , Tamil Nadu, India. 3 Sumithra, P. Assistant Professor, PG & Research Department of Microbiology, Srimad Andavan Arts & Science College, Tiruchirappalli , Tamil Nadu, India. 4 Amina, S. Assistant Professor, PG & Research Department of Zoology, M.S.M. College, Kayamkulam, Alapey District, Kerala. ABSTRACT It has been suggested by many workers that almost all fishes prefer rotifers along with protozoan and other small plankton during their early stages of development. Hence, the present study was attempted on a season wise basis to study the rotifer population in two perennial temple ponds but with varied water sources. Results indicate that among the four seasons, the most favorable season appeared to be winter / Rainy season for both the ponds. This is attributed to favourable conditions present in the water bodies like food in additions to various other abiotic factors. Key Words:Rodifer Diversity, Seasonal Variations, Fresh water Temple ponds. Introduction Like the phytoplankters, the zooplankters inhabiting fresh waters are extremely diverse and are represented either by the adult or larval forms of some of the major invertebrate phyla. Evaluation of their functional role with in aquatic system requires a balanced understanding between the general modes and timing of growth and reproduction in relation to the availability and utilization of food (Jayanthi, 1994). Among the zooplankton, rotifers are a promising group and are cosmopolitan in distribution. They are taken as food by fish (Mallika, 1989; Hussaini, 1989) and thus have a direct bearing an aquaculture. Rotifers in the tropics are represented by a very large number of species which are common in stagnant waters (Prabhavathy and Sreenivasan, 1977). Fishery biologists emphasise rotifers as food for both young and adult fish (Reeve, 1975). Goldman and Horne (1983) opine that almost all fish prefer tiny rotifers along with protozoan and other small plankton during their early stages of development. Hence, the present study is attempted to enumerate the rotifer population in two perennial temple tanks in the outskirts of the city of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

2 Materials and Methods The aquatic systems chosen for the present investigation are temple ponds located in the suburb of the city of Tiruchirappalli in central Tamil Nadu. Of these, one is located in Vayalur village which is about 10km from Tiruchirappalli Junction (Lat ; Long ) and referred to as Vayalur temple pond. The second pond is located in Koppu village which is about 14 km from Tiruchirappalli junction (Lat ; long ) and referred to as Koppu temple pond. Both the ponds are located at an elevation of about 85 MSL. The distance between the two ponds is about 4 km and hence the general weather conditions are almost similar to both the ponds. However, both the ponds depend on varied water sources even though both are perennial. While Vayalur pond its riverfed, the Koppu pond is purely rain fed. For the study of rotifers, samples were collected seasonally from January 2012 to December Estimation was done during the four seasons of the year pre- summer (January March 2012); summer (April - June); post summer (July September) and Rainy/ winter (October December). Five sampling stations were selected at each pond. The rotifers were collected by filtering 50 liters of water through plankton net of pore size 45µ. Filtered plankton were then preserved in 4% formalin and a few drops of glycerin were added to prevent hardening of rotifer populations. Rotifer samples were indentified qualitatively and quantitatively under the microscope using drop count method. Plankton were identified with the help of identification keys and standard reference materials (A.P.H.A., 1995; Battish,1992; Edmondson,1965; Tonabi,1980; Ward and Whipple, 1945). The density of organism was expressed as organism per liter using the following formula. N = n x v/v Where N : Total No. of organism per liter of filtered water. N : Number of organisms counted in one ml of concentrated sample. v : Volume of concentration sample (ml) V : Volume of total water filtered (liter) Results and Discussion Tables 1 and 2 record the rotifer populations that were represented for four seasons in both the ponds. As evident from the tables, a total of 29 species were recorded in Vayalur pond and 22 species in Koppu pond. Of these, 26 species were recorded during pre-summer in Vayalur pond while 20 species in Koppu pond. During this season, in Vayalur pond, Brachionus quadridentata followed by B. diversicornis dominated while in Koppu pond, B.rubens followed by Filinia langiseta dominated. In the summer season, Vayalur pond was represented by 25 species and Koppu pond by 20 species. In this season, B.rubens and B.caudatus dominated in Vayalur pond while B.rubens, B.quadridentata and F. longiseta dominated in Koppu pond. During the post summer season, Vayalur pond was represented by 23 species and Koppu pond 158

3 by 17 species. In this season B.rubens and Keratella tropica dominated in Vayalur pond while B.rubens and Polyarthra sp. dominated in Koppu pond. In the rainy season, Vayalur pond was represented by 29 species and Koppu pond by 22 species. During this season B.quadridenta and B.rubens dominated in Vayalur pond while Asplanchna sieboldi and F.longiseta dominated in Koppu pond. A close perusal of the dominant species in all the four seasons reveals that in Koppu pond, B. rubens dominated during pre summer, summer and post summer seasons while in Vayalur pond also B. rubens was found it dominate in summer and post summer seasons. Thus, it appears that B. rubens appears to be the dominant species in both the ponds. A perusal of the rotifer genera in both the ponds also reveals that the genus Brachionus was the dominant one in all the seasons for both the ponds. Literature reveals that among the rotifers, Brachionus species dominate throughout the year in water bodies of India. (Sivakami,1996; Biswas and Konar, 2000; Kaur et al. 1999; Shankar, 2002; Mona and Madlapure, 2003; Chackroborty, 2009). However, a comparison between both the ponds reveals that Vayalur pond recorded a higher diversity than Koppu pond in all seasons. A season wise comparison of the rotifer population reveals that the most favourable season appears to be winter / rainy season in both the ponds as the highest diversity as well as rotifer counts were recorded in this season. Literature reveals that similar results were also reported by Sivakami et al.(1996; 2007; 2011), Paulose and Maheswari (2008) and Tidame and Shinde (2012) in various water bodies of India. This may be due to favourable conditions like food in addition to abiotic factors like temperature, p H, dissolved oxygen etc, as reported earlier by many workers both in India and abroad (Edmondson, 1946; 65; King 1967; Baker,1979; Nassar, 1997; Patra and Datta, 2004; Ahmad et al., 2012). Further, the differences in the two ponds may also be related to the specific conditions available to the rotifers in addition to favourable conditions in both the ponds. References 1. A.P.H.A Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water 19 th edition, New York, USA. 2. Ahamad, U., Parveen, S., Mola, H.R.A., Kabir, H.A. and Gonai, A.H Zooloplankton population in relation to physico-chemical parameters of Lal diggi pond in Aligarh, India. J. Environ. Biol, 33: Baker, R.C Birth rate of planktonic rotifers in relation to food concentration in a shallow, eutrophic lake in Western Canda. Can. J. Zool., 57: Battish, S.K Fresh Water Zooplankton of India, Oxford and IBH Publication. 5. Biswas, B.K. and Konar, S.K Influence of Nunia Nallah (canal) discharge on plankton abundance and diversity in the river Damodar at Narankuri (Rani Ganj) in West Bengal. Indian J. Environ and Ecoplan, 3:

4 6. Chakrabarthi, S Seasonal abundance of Macrobrachium dayanum in a wetland ecosystem of Tripura in relation to Zooplankton fauna. Indian J. Environ and Ecoplan, 16: (2-3): Edmondson, W.T Factors in the dynamics of rotifer populations. Ecol. Monogr., 16: Edmondson W.T. 1965a. Fresh water biology, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York. 9. Edmondson, W.T. 1965b. Reproductive rate of planktonic rotifers as related to food and temperature in nature. Ecol. Monogr., 35: Edmondson, W.T Freshwater biology. John Wiley and Sons. New York. Pp: Goldman, C.R. and Horne, A.J Limnology. Mcgraw Hill International Book company. Pp Jayanthi, M A comprehensive study of three contrasting lentic systems in context of aquaculture. Ph.D. Thesis, Bharathidasan University, India. Pp Kaur, K.S., Bath, G., Monder, K. and Dhilon, S Aquatic invertebrate diversity of Kuji lake, Punjab. Indian J. Env. Ecoplan. 2: King, C.E Food, age and the dynamics of a laboratory population of rotifers. Ecology, 48: Mallika, D Culture prospects of a fish feed organism. M. Phil. Dissertattion, University of Madras, India. 16. Michael, P Ecological methods for field and laboratory investigations. Tata M. C. Hill publishing Co. Ltd. Pp Michael. R.G A guide to the study of freshwater organisms. J.M.K Univ. Suppl. 1: Mone, A.M. and Madlapure, V.R Hydrological studies on Manar River:Abstract, National Conference on management of water resources; Emerging challenges trends and solutions Nabded. Feb.21:22. Pp Nasar, S.A.K Investigations on the seasonal productivity of zooplankton in the freshwater pond in Bhagalpur, India. Acta. Hydrochem. Hydrobiol.5: Parta, S.B. and Dutta, N.C Seasonal fluctuations on different zooplanktonic group of a rainfed wetland in relation to some abiotic factors. Indian J. Environ. and Ecoplan. 8: Paulose P.V. and Maheshwari, K Seasonal variation in zooplankton community structure of Ramgath lake, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 12 th world lake conference: Pennak, R.W Freshwater invertebrates of the United States. II Ed. New York. Wiley. Interscience Pp Prabhavathy, G. and Sreenivasan, A Ecololgy of warm freshwater zooplankton of Tamil Nadu. Proc. Symp. Warmwater zooplankton, Reeve, M.R The effect of laboratory conditions on the extrapolatilon of experimental measurements to the ecology of marine zooplankton. Arch. Ven. Univ. of Miami, Florida, USA, Shankar, P. I Phytoplankton-zooplankton relationship in four fresh water bodies of Dharwar. Indian J. Environ. and Ecoplan, 6:

5 26. Sivakami, R Limnological profile of two contrasting lentic systems and their potential for Aquaculture. Ph. D thesis, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. 250 p. 27. Sivakami, R., Guru, V., Sathish Kumar, A., Kannan, P., and Premkishore, G Seasonal distribution of zooplankton in Uyyakkondan channel at Ayilapettai region, Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu. Indian J. Environ & Ecoplan. 14 (1-2): Sivakami, R. Sankar, R.M. Shimna. P.P. and Pdremkishore, G Rotifer population in two frewhwater bodies with varied water sources in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. J. Curr. Sci. 16(1): Tidrme, S.K. and Shinde, S.S Seasonal variation in reffere diverting of sample ponds of Nastic district (M.S) India. 2(5): Tonapi, G.T Fresh water animals of India an ecological approach. Oxford and IBH. Publ. co. New Delhi. Pp Ward, H.B. and Whipple, G.C Fresh water biology. John Wiley 7 Sons. Inc. New Work. Table-1 Showing the diversity of Rotifer population in the two temple ponds for all the four seasons (i/ l) S.no Species 1 Asplancha sieboldi 2 Brachionus angularis 3 Brachinous bidentata 4 Brachionus calyciflorus 5 Brachionus plicatilis 6 Brachionus rubens 7 Brachionus caudatus 8 Brachionus quadridentata 9 Brachionus fulcatus 10 Brachionus forficula Vayalur Pond Koppu Pond Presummer Summer Postsummer Rainy / summer Presummer Summer Postsummer Rainy / summer

6 11 Brachionus diversicornis 12 Brachionus urceolaris 13 Flinia langiseta 14 Keratella cochlearis 15 Keratella tropica Lecane ungulata 17 Lecane luna Philodina roseola 19 Rotaria citrinus 20 Trichoceria capucina 21 Monostyla bulla 22 Platyias patulus 23 Platyias quatricornis 24 Polyarthra sp Pompholyx sp Testidunella sp 27 Ascomorpha sp 28 Anarthra sp Harringia sp Epiphanes senta 31 Notholca acuminata Total