Research Trends in Cladoceran Diversity from Kashmir Himalaya

Exhaustive studies on Cladocera, crustacean zooplankton, have been carried out at global level and till date 620 species of water fleas have been reported. Though there is much ambiguity among the recorded species of Cladocera, yet the group in India is very rich and diversified, with a record of 137 taxa. In the present study, all available but reliable literature (both published and unpublished) has been reviewed for all the waterbodies of Kashmir Himalaya, making an updated list of 79 taxa of Cladocera. Water fleas in the valley are represented by 6–8 families. Freshwater ecosystems of Kashmir are facing a challenging effect of eutrophication from the last few decades. Valley lakes in particular are facing threat of cultural eutrophication that has resulted in dominance of small bodied cladocerans over large ones in the region. In the present taxonomic survey there is a scope of more taxonomic revisions as three of the species reported so far seem to have doubtful existence. © 2015, The National Academy of Sciences, India.