First report of freshwater rotifers (Rotifera: Eurotatoria) from south Andaman, India: Composition and interesting elements

Plankton samples collected from freshwater lentic ecosystems of south Andaman, India, revealed 70 species of Rotifera belonging to 25 genera and 16 families. The reports of Australasian Lecane batillifer, Oriental endemic Lecane bulla diabolica and three Paleotropical species, and 68 new records of Eurotatoria from Andaman and Nicobar Islands contribute to biodiversity and biogeography of the Indian Rotifera. The rotifers are characterized by diverse Lecanidae > Lepadellidae > Brachionidae and common nature of species of “tropic-centered” Lecane and Brachionus. The occurrences of a large number of cosmopolitan species, and several tropicopolitan and pantropical species are notable. This report indicates a further scope for biodiversity update on these metazoans from the insular freshwater of Andaman and Nicobar Islands located in the Andaman Sea.