Cladocerans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from Mount Roraima, Venezuela, with new records for this country and the Neotropical region

Cladóceros (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) do Monte Roraima, Venezuela, com novos registros para este país e região Neotropical

Abstract

Aim  Venezuela, located in the north of South America, has ecosystems with great potential for diversity. Among these ecosystems, Mount Roraima located at the border of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, stands out. Mount Roraima is considered a conservation unit, and understanding its fauna is an important tool for species preservation. Its true biodiversity is underestimated, especially for microcrustaceans of the Superorder Cladocera. This study presents a preliminary inventory of the cladocerans of this mountain.

Methods  Samples were collected from two ponds located in the upper part of Mount Roraima using a conical plankton net. The specimens were then analyzed, photographed, and identified. The richness and relative abundance in each sample were calculated.

Results  Three species were recorded for the first time in Venezuela. There is a possibility that the Orinoco Basin endemic species Streblocerus superserricaudatus occurs in Brazil and Guyana, since the ponds are very close to the border of both countries. There is a co-occurrence of three Flavalona species in the territory of Roraima, a fact so far only known for Brazil. Adding the new records to the previously known lists, the cladoceran richness for Venezuela is now 105.

Conclusions  Samplings in peculiar and remote environments have the potential to reveal new species and records. Further samplings are suggested on Mount Roraima to mitigate potential sampling biases.

Keywords:
altitude; biogeography; Chydoridae; sampling effort; tepui