New data on rotifers (Rotifera) from European waterbodies

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 4,573 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Iakovenko N, Lukashanets D, Ejsmont-Karabin J, Bielańska-Grajner I, Ovander E, Tsavkova V, Fontaneto D (2026). New data on rotifers (Rotifera) from European waterbodies. Version 1.10. Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/eca/resource?r=aquatic_rotifers&v=1.10

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 36c840bb-6a98-4c8c-bd29-0b84b426b95c.  Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Occurrence; bdelloids; monogononts; lotic; lentic; species

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

(i) Austria – Tyrol; (ii) Belarus – Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno, Gomel and Mogiliov oblast; (iii) Bulgaria – Silistra, Sofia and Plovdiv oblast, Srebarna Nature Reserve; (iv) Finland - Kanta-Häme region, Torronsuo National Park; (v) France – Brittany, coast near Roscoff; (vi) Germany – Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony states; (vii) Italy – Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria regions; (viii) Montenegro – Lake Skadar; (ix) Netherlands - Westerwolde municipality; (x) North Macedonia – Lake Prespa; (xi) Norway – Svalbard archipelago; (xii) Poland – Lesser Poland, Lower Silesian, Lubusz, Podlaske, Pomeranian, Warmian-Masurian voivodeships; (xiii) Sweden – Kronoberg region; (xiv) The Czech Republic – Central Bohemian, South Bohemian, Moravian-Silesian regions; (xv) The United Kingdom – South East England; (xvi) Ukraine –Cherkassy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Donets’k, Ivano-Frankivs’k, Kharkiv, Khmelnyts’k, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia oblast and AR Crimea.

Taxonomic Coverage

All records in the dataset are of Phyllum Rotifera, Classes Eurotatoria (both of Subclass Monogononta and Bdelloidea) and Pararotatoria. The only recorded species of Pararotatoria is Seison nebaliae Grube, 1859 found on crustacean Nebalia sp. from the southern coast of La Manche. Monogonont rotifers (orders Ploima, Collothecaceae and Flosculariaceae) accounted for the majority of records (68.8%). Species with uncertain affiliation or potentially new for science were indicated as Genus sp., those different from the nominal description (mostly potentially new) are designated as cf.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

The project deals with the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), which is one of the key structural characteristics of biodiversity. In its initial concept, LDG refers to the quantitative changes (increase or decrease) in species richness from the poles to the equator. In most terrestrial macroorganisms, LDG is characterized by higher diversity near the equator, while aquatic species tend to show increasing diversity toward the poles. However, for limno-terrestrial microfauna (microscopic invertebrates inhabiting wet soil, moss, and lichens) the presence and shape of LDG remain unclear. The main aim of the project is to estimate the prominence and shape of the global latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) in limno-terrestrial bdelloid rotifers (Bdelloidea, Rotifera Bdelloidea), which represent one of the most poorly studied groups of microfauna. The general strategy of the project involves the use of both conventional and metabarcoding techniques (extraction and sequencing of total DNA from already collected frozen soil and moss samples) to estimate and compare diversity metrics. Secondly, the project aims to inventory rotifer biodiversity in less studied regions, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctica. Two European universities are involved in the project: Klaipėda University as the lead applicant, and the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague as the co-applicant.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Sampling was performed using standard hydrobiological methods (Wallace et al 2006). Apstein nets were used for collecting plankton, plastic or glass samplers for collecting benthos, periphyton and psammon. Living samples were transported to the laboratory immediately after the collection in the dark and in thermally isolated vials or identified on site using mobile laboratory with the x400 total magnification field microscope. Fixation with 37% formaldehyde was used for preservation of the samples on site. The volume of the sample varied from 1-50 L concentrated to 250 mL (planktonic samples) to 50-250 mL (periphyton, benthos and psammon); rotifer densities were recalculated to -1L afterwards. All sampling sites were georeferenced. The environmental parameters (water temperature, pH, oxygen concentration, salinity) were measured on site using handheld digital devices, in the moment of collection (plankton) or immediately after in the collection vial (periphyton, benthos).

Method step description:

1. Microscopic animals were isolated from fresh or 37% formaldehyde-preserved samples using fine glass micropipettes in a Petri dish or plankton counting chamber. When necessary, primary samples were concentrated using filtration through 50 µm net mesh to the volume up to 50 mL before the processing.
2. Rotifers were counted and sorted under a binocular microscope (Olympus SZ61, Olympus SZX10, NR.3 Nikon SMZ1000).
3. Isolated single animals were identified and photographed under the microscope with the total magnification of x400 (Nikon Eclipse Ts2R, NIB-100F inverted microscope, Olympus CX43). To observe trophi (sclerotized part of the masticatory apparatus) we were dissolving soft part of the rotifer in about 5:1 drops of water:commercial bleach solution; isolated trophi was then observed under oil immersion (total magnification x1,000). A set of custom needles and whiskers was used to rotate the rotifer to observe the important traits (Taylor, 2005).
4. Rotifer densities were equalized to 1,000 cm3 (-1L).

Bibliographic Citations

1. De Smet, W. H., 1996. Rotifera 4: The Proalidae (Monogononta). Guides to the Identification of the Macroinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 9. SPB Academic Publishing BV, 102 p. De Smet, 1996
2. De Smet, W. H. & Pourriot, R., 1997. Rotifera 5: The Dicranophoridae (Monogononta) and The Ituridae (Monogononta). Guides to the Identification of the Macroinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 12. SPB Academic Publishing BV, 344 p. De Smet and Pourriot, 1997
3. Donner J (1965) Ordnung Bdelloidea (Rotatoria, Rädertiere). Akademie Verlag, 297p. [in German] Donner, 1965
4. Koste, W., 1978. Rotatoria. Die Rädertiere Mitteleuropas, begründet von Max Voigt. Monogononta. Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart: 673 pp, 234 plates. Koste, 1978
5. Kutikova, L. A. 1970. Kolovratki Fauny SSSR (Rotatoria). In: Fauna of the USSR, Vol. 104. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. 744 p. [In Russian] Kutikova, 1970
6. Nogrady, T. , Pourriot, R. & Segers, H., 1995 Rotifera 3. Notommatidae and Scaridiidae. Guides to the Identification of the Microinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 6. (H. J. Dumont & T. Nogrady eds). SPB Academic Publishing BV, 248 p. Nogrady et al., 1995
7. Nogrady, T. & Segers, H., 2002 Rotifera 6: Asplanchnidae, Gastropodidae, Lindiidae, Microcodidae, Synchaetidae. Guides to the Identification of the Microinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 6. (H. J. Dumont & T. Nogrady eds). SPB Academic Publishing BV, 264 p. Nogrady and Segers, 2002
8. Segers, H., 1995. Rotifera 2: The Lecanidae (Monogononta). Guides to the Identification of the Microinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 6. (H. J. Dumont & T. Nogrady eds). SPB Academic Publishing BV, 226 pp. Segers, 1995
9. Taylor H.L., 2005. Rotifers: Habitat to Archival Slide - Laboratory and Field Methods for Working with Rotifers and other Microinvertebrates. Taylor Laboratory (Serbin Printing, Inc.) Sarasota, FL. Taylor, 2005
10. R. L. Wallace, T. W. Snell, C. Ricci, and T. Nogrady: Rotifera: Volume 1—Biology, Ecology and Systematics (2nd edn): Backhuys Publishers, 2006, 299 pp, Paperback, €76.00, ISBN 90-5782-178-8. J Paleolimnol 47, 159–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9539-4 Wallace et al., 2006
11. Bartoš E, 1959. Viřnici - Rotatoria, Fauna ČSR. ČSAV, Prague, 603p. Bartos, 1959

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