First record of Phreatalona Protzi (Hartwig, 1900) (branchiopoda: Anomopoda) in a tundra lake in north-east European Russia

Abstract

© SGEM 2019. Phreatalona protzi (Hartwig, 1900) is a rare species of Cladocera (Crustacea) known from Western Europe. However, hardly any ecological information about this species is available and it has not been included in lists of species found in North-East European Russia. Here we present first findings of Ph. protzi in lake sediments of a small tundra lake from the Pechora River delta, Nenets State Nature Reser, Russian Arctic. The bottom sediment samples from 11 tundra lakes were used for analysis of subfossil Cladocera remains. But only in one short sediment core (47.5 cm long) taken from the lake 17-Pe-03 (68°11’30.8”N, 53°47’36.2”E) we found head shields, carapaces and postabdomens of 23 specimens of Ph. protzi. Little is known about the ecology of Ph. protzi. We know that this animals prefer interstitial or streams. The environmental spectrum of the previously finding sites is wide and ranges from relatively nutrient poor clear lakes to eutrophic turbid lakes. We assume, that in our case the findings of this species indicate a periodic flow of river water into the lake.