Species inventory of the Rotatoria in the Anzali Wetland, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to enlist Rotatoria in the Anzali wetland (southwest Caspian Sea), a wetland which is listed as an international wetland in Ramsar convention (1975) and is an important ecosystem for spawning and early rearing of larvae of anadromous fishes. Samples of rotifers were collected in three regions of the Anzali wetland between June 2015 and May 2016. A total of 29 genera of rotifers belonging to 17 family are listed and most of species was observed in this study was cosmopolitan. The most diverse genus was Brachionus, comprising 8 species which compared to previous study, have been seen some changes that may be due to change in quality of inlet water from rivers to the Anzali wetland. Overall, Many reasons could have contributed to the changes in the rotifers composition of the Anzali wetland, notably the serious environmental degradation since the early 1990s.