Taxon richness and biogeography of the Cladocera (Crustacea: Ctenopoda, Anomopoda) of Thailand

Abstract

At present, 99 species of cladocerans are known from Thailand, but up to ten more have not been identified to species, particularly in Chydorus, Ephemeroporus and Pleuroxus. Cosmopolitan species are a minority, while wide-ranging circumtropical taxa are an important element, beside species that only occur in the tropics-subtropics of two continents. At least three species are suspected of a neotropical - southeast Asian disjunction, while three more are provisionally considered endemic of Thailand. Daphnia, as usual in the tropics, is rare and reduced to the single D. lumholtzi.