New distributional record for Indialona ganapati Petkovski (Crustacea: Cladocera) from Ujani wetland, Maharashtra, with first description of male and reproductive female

3 Pages·1992·1.7 MB·

by  Pramod D Rane

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 263
The blister beetle Mylabrispustulata Thunb. the Pt. Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu,
is very common in south India and is a pest on I observedthisbeetle feedingon flowers and fruits
numerouscropsandotherplantspecies.Thisbeetle ofthe plants listed in Table 1. However, they were
feeds on the flowers and tender shoots of many more frequently noted on the flowers ofCanavalia
plants such as cotton, gogu, red gram, groundnut, ensiformis and Opuntia dillenni, which indicates
cowpea, lab-lab, cucurbitaceae, prickly pear, gar- thatthebeetle isa seriouspestonthesetwospecies
den species ofHibiscus rose plants and the fruits of plants.
ofArtocarpus species, (,somesouthIndianinsects My sincere thanks are due to Prof. P.V. Bole,
AND OTHER ANIMALS OFIMPORTANCE, Fletcher, T.B. President, BNHS, for encouragement.
^1914, MANUALOFFORESTZOOLOGYFORINDIA, Steb-
bing, E.P. 1977).
While studying plant-animal interactions at December 3, 1991 P. BALASUBRAMANIAN
NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORD FOR INDIALONA GANAPATI PETKOVSKI
30.
(CRUSTACEA CLADOCERA) FROM UJANI WETLAND, MAHARASHTRA,
:
WITH FIRST DESCRIPTION OF MALE AND REPRODUCTIVE FEMALE
(With ten text-figures)
Indialona ganapati was originally described species. This is only the third record ofthe species
byPetkovski (1966)onthebasisofparthenogenetic in India, the firstbeing fromAhmedabad (Gujarat,
females from Ahmedabad, but he did not give suf- typelocality)andthesecondfromBhopal (Madhya
ficient characters for itsdiagnosis. Smirnov (1971) Pradesh).
redefinedthegenusIndialona onthebasisoflitera- Parthenogenetic female: Length 0.27-0.29
ture and added a few more species from other mm. Body nearly circular. Head shield with
genera like Alona globulosa Daday, A. macronyx rounded anterior and posterior margin, with one
Daday and Euryalona annandalei Daday in this head pore. Mandibles short and thick, situated be-
genus by using characters such as the high body tween the head shield valves. Posterior margin of
and a single head pore. valve about halfthe maximum height. Posterodor-
Later,RajapateaandFernando (1987)revised sal angle distinct, slightly protruded. Postero-
the genus using fresh material collected from all ventral corner rounded, without spinules. Valve
over the world. They have completely changed the with sparse setae on the ventral margin. Rostrum
status of the genus by retailing only /. ganapati blunt. A single head pore situated slightly farther
in this genus. /. globulosa was transferred to a from eye than is the eye from ocellus.
new genusNotoalona;/. macronyxwas reassigned Antennules almost reaching apex of the
to genusAlona while E. annandalei was kept due rostrum. Aesthetases almost uniform in length,
,
to non- availability of material for study. E. an- slightly longer than the length of rostrum. Setae
nandalei was originally described from eastern on antenna 0-0-3/1-1-3; segments as long as
:
Tibet. Though Rajapaksa and Fernando (1987) and labrum. Seta on proximal segment small, reaching
later on Michael and Sharma (1988) have made apex of third segment. Preanal and postanal parts
some observations on /. ganapati from material of postabdomen are of almost equal size. Ocellus
collected from Bhopal lake, Madhya Pradesh, they smallerthaneye,situatedhalfwaybetweeneyeand
have only used parthenogenetic females for their apexofrostrum.Labral platerounded,with anotch
studies and redescription. at the apex. Ventral bulge of valve with a few
While studying the Cladocera collected from grouped setae, and setae posterior to it arise from
Ujaniwetland,PunedistrictofMaharashtra,Icame small protuberances. Two very large ejectorhooks
across a few males, reproductive females and on firstleg.LegsIVandVsmallerthanthepreced-
several parthenogenetic females, which are ing legs. Shape and armature of the postabdomen
described inthisnotewith detaileddiagnosticchar- istypical ofthis genus.Length-heightratio ofbody
acters. The description of this species has great 10 : 7.5.
significance because this genus of Cladocera is Reproductive female: Sometimes called
found only inIndia,withthe above mentioned sole Ephippial female.Length0.27-0.29mm.Bodyoval
JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY Vol. 89
, ,
Figs. 1-10. Indialona ganapati Petkovski
4. M1.alPearwtihtehnohgoenoektiocnffeimrsatlel,eg,2.5P.oDsitfafberdeonmtenshaopfepsarotfhelnaobgreunme,ti6c. Hfeemaadles,hi3e.ldE,ph7i.ppFiirasltfleegmaolfefweimtahlee,ph8i.pApnitume,nna
9. & 10. Ventral marginal setae on valve.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 265
with anteriorandposteriorcornersevenlyrounded. ture at their bases. Postabdomenbroad but smaller
Dorso-posterior half heavily chitinized. Height in size than in females. Basal spines large, more
relatively larger than in parthenogenetic female. than half the length of terminal claw. Terminal
Carapacearoundtherestingeggheavilypigmented. claw similar but much shorter than that offemale.
Ephippium with a single egg. I thank the Director, Zoological Survey of
Male: Length 0.24-0.25 mm. Height rather India, Calcutta for approval ofthe project, and Dr
narrower than in the females (mentioned above). G.M. Yazdani, Scientist and Officer-in-Charge of
Length-heightratio 10 : 6. Males are characterised this Station, for providing necessary facilities.
by their cigar-shaped antennules which have equal
width throughouttheir length. First leg with a pair
ofstrongcopulatory hooks, with a knob-like struc- September 14, 1991 PRAMOD D. RANE
References
Michael, R.G. & Sharma, B.K. (1988): Fauna of India Rajapaksa, P. & Fernando, C.H. (1987): Redescription
andadjacentcountries.IndianCladocera(Crustacea and assignment of Alona globulosa Daday, 1898
: Branchiopoda). ZSI, Calcutta. to a new genus Notoalona and description of
Petkovski, T.K. (1966): Eine neue Cladoceran-Gattung Notoalonafreyi sp. nov. Hydrobiologia 144: 131-
aus dem Western Indiens. Indialona ganapati n. 153, figs. 126-136.
gen.etn.sp.FragmentabalcanicamuseiMacedonia Smirnov, N.N. (1971): The world Chydorid fauna (In
Scientiarum naturalium, 2: 157-165, Figs. 1-9. Russian). USSRAcad.Sci. Zool.InstituteNoya Ser.
No. 101, Leningrad. Fig. 640.
—
31. BOSMINOPSIS DEITERSI RICHARD, 1895 A NEW RECORD FOR
WEST BENGAL (CRUSTACEA CLADOCERA)
:
(With three text-figures)
During the course of a survey in 1991-92, tally, lateral side with two groups ofslightly large
we came across hundreds of specimens of a denticles followed by groups offine spinules (Fig.
cladoceran, Bosminopsis deitersi Richard in the 2). Clawserrated and concavewith abipasal spine.
river Ganga at Barrackpur, West Bengal (22° N, Head shield ornamented with longitudinal and
88° E). Literature on the cladoceran fauna ofWest polygonal reticulations (Fig. 3).
Bengal isscanty.ExceptforSharma’s(1978)report Distribution: INDIA: Yamuna river, Delhi
on the occurrence of about 28 species, there is no (Brehm 1963), Ghana Canal, Keoladeo National
other elaborate study for this region. The present Park, Rajasthan (Venkataraman 1987), Irin-
study reports the occurrence ofB. deitersi for the jalakuda, Kerala (Michael and Sharma 1988),
first time. Malaysia (Idris 1983) and China (Seich-chih and
Family: Bosminidae Sars, 1865 Nan-Shan 1979).
Genus: Bosminopsis Richard, 1895 Venkataraman (1987) discussed the validity
ofa newspecies,B. devendarai describedbyRane
Bosminopsis deitersi Richard 1895 (Figs. 1-3) (1984) from atanknearJabalpur,,Madhya Pradesh,
Female: Body oval, maximum height near resembling B. deitersi The present study also
.
posterior end of the body. Postero-dorsal corner agrees well with the data given by Venkataraman
of valves distinct: postero-ventral corner with a (1987). The specimens examined by us match the
small process and with 1-2 spinules before it (Fig. description given by Idris (1983) and Michael and
1). Head rounded with a projection just near the Sharma (1988).
eye, rostrum long with two lateral branches near We are grateful to the Director, ZSI, Calcutta
the apex and a long olfactory seta. Eye large, just for facilities provided to conduct this study.
touching the anterior margin. Valves with faint
polygonal reticulation, ventral margin rounded,
slightly serrated and with a long and pointed mar- K. VENKATARAMAN
ginal spine. Post-abdomen small and tapering dis- January 2, 1992 S.R. DAS