ECOLOGY OF ROTIFERA IN WADI EL RAYAN, EGYPT

ECOLOGY OF ROTIFERA IN WADI EL RAYAN, EGYPT
BY
SHERIF E. RAMADAN- AND GAMAL M. EL SHEBRAWY
*Kational Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Kayet-Bey, Alexandria, Egypt.
Key Words: Ecology, Rotifera, Wadi El Rayan.
ABSTRACT
Wadi El Rayan Lake is a man-made lake located in a great depression
in the arid western desert South-West of Cairo (300 23′ E. and 290
10′ N.). Thirty one Rotifera species were recorded from the area of
Wadi El Rayan during the four seasons of 1989. Twenty of them, namely
Anuraeopsis fissa, Asplanchna qirodi, Brachionus plicatilis, B.
quadridentatus, ~. urceolaris, Collotheca sp., Hexarthra oxyuris,
Keratella tropica, Lecane arcula, L. qrandis, Lepadella oval is,
Honomonta sp., Honostyla bulla, H. closterocerca, M. hamata, Proalides
sp., 5ynchaeta oblonga, Trichocerca cylindrica, T. lonqiseta and T.
pusilla are regaraded as records new to the area.
Keratella quadrata and Proalides sp. do~nated the rotiferan
community. Winter was the flourishing season while spring was the
least productive one.
The community composition, the distribution, the seasonal
variation, the dominant kinds and the biological quality parameters
were discussed.