Elsa Rodrigues Hardy

Vertical distribution of zooplankton and physico-chemical conditions during a 24-hour period in an amazon floodplain lake-lago calado, brazil

In May 1980 Lago Calado was 9 meters deep, the water level was rising slowly, and below 4 meters the water was anoxic. Virtually all of the zooplankton was in the oxygenated layer. Adult and juvenile Daphnia gessneri, the most abundant crustacean species, occurred between 0.5 and 4.5 meters. Copepod nauplii tended to occur nearer to the surface, in the 0—2 meter stratum. No clear vertical migration was observed. The epilimnion was undersaturated ( 2 μ M) and ammonium ( > 5 μ M), but little nitrate ( < 0.1 μ. M). A peak in particulate carbon and nitrogen occurred between 4-5 meters, just below the thermocline, and was associated with a pigment maximum.

Atlas de copépodos planctônicos, Calanoida e Cyclopoida (Crustacea), da Amazônia Brasileira: I. Represa de Curuá-Una, Pará

This paper was elaborated with intention of complementing original descriptions, updating the distribution ofthe species and providing the taxonomic basis necessary for a secure identification of the animals. We present detailed ilustrations of 6 species of Calanoid copepods and 3 species of Cyclopoids copepods found, but not necessarilly restricted to the Curua - Una Reservoir located in the municipality of Santarem, state of Para, Brazil.

Abundance and composition of Rotifera in an abandoned meander lake (Lago Amapá) in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

The rotifer community in Lago Amapa (abandoned meander lake of the Rio Acre floodplain) was investigated with respect to seasonal changes. Sampling was performed at three collection stations, generally weekly, during the dry season between May 8, 1997 and October 31, 1997, and during the rainy season between January 2, 1998 and February 24, 1998. The density and composition of rotifer species (48 taxons of rotifers) were determined, and their diversity and abundance were observed to be greater, respectively, at high-water and low-water. Anova was performed, by means of the F test, to test for seasonal differences in environmental variables and rotifers, showing that there was a highly statistically significant difference for pH and transparency (p < 0.01). Pearsons correlation was used to show that rotifer numbers during the low-water phase correlated negatively with electrical conductivity (r = -0.8824, p < 0.05) and during the high-water phase correlated negatively with depth (r = -0.7513, p < 0.05). Seasonal changes, caused by an increase in water levels and the low diversification of niches, influenced the composition and abundance of the animal group studied.

Composição do Zooplâncton em diferentes ambientes do lago Camaleão, na ilha da Marchantaria, Amazonas, Brasil

This study aims to verify occurrence and distribution of the major zooplankton groups in three different sub-habitats at Lago Camaleao: channel, aquatic macrophytes and flooded forest, during the high water period (August, 1996). Cladocera, Copepoda and Rotifera occurred with different relative abundances within the three studied environments. In the channel, Cladocera occurred with a high number of species and individuals, Bosminopsis deitersi being the dominant species (89%). Cladocera and Copepoda were equally dominant in the flooded forest, even thought only copepods, nauplius and copepodites immature forms were found. On the macrophytes, Rotifera was the group with the largest occurrence, with the dominance of Lecane quadridentata, Keratella Americana and Brachionus patulus followed by copepods (immature forms) and cladoceres, the latter mostly of the Chydoridae family (21.4%).

Nutritional quality of three species of chlorophyceae cultured in the laboratory

Three species of Chlorophyceae algae Scenedesmus quadricauda (Brebisson, 1835), Ankistrodesmus gracilis (Korsikov, 1953) and Pediastrum duplex (Meyen, 1829), were cultivated in the laboratory, using as a culture medium chemical fertilizer N:P:K in the proportions 20:5:20, respectively. Total chlorophyll-a and organic carbon content were used to evaluate the nutritional values of the three algae. All presented good nutritive values, however, the percentage of carbon versus dry weight was higher in Scenedesmus quadricauda (21%) compared with the other species analysed. The three species were considered to be suitable food for zooplankton.