Abstract:

Detailed surveys on rarely examined aquatic ecosystems often lead to the discovery of new species of high conservation value. This study directed towards the recognition of a variety of aquatic environments in Costa Rica (40 habitats, including lakes, wetlands, and small aquatic systems, e.g., ponds, ditches, puddles, tree holes, and bromeliads) established the presence of 105 species of Monogononta representing 33 genera. In total, 91 species and 19 genera were found to be new for Costa Rica, including 29 species recorded for the first time in Central America (e.g., Ascomorpha klementi, Beauchampia crucigera, Brachionus mirabilis, Cephalodella panarista, Filinia saltator, Horaella brehmi, Lecane amazonica, Lecane pawlowskii, Lepadella lindaui, and Mytilina acanthophora). The application of 2 estimates of total species richness allowed us predict that 70 new rotifer species may potentially be found in Costa Rica. Thus, we assume that only about 60% of the potential Costa Rican rotifer diversity was ascertained in our study. The most diverse genus was Lecane with 36 species. Among the most frequent rotifers there were some lecanid species, e.g., Lecane bulla, Lecane hamata, Lecane closterocerca and Lecane leontina, and also Colurella obtusa, Plationus patulus, Anuraeopsis fissa, and Platyias quadricornis.

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