Kingdom Animalia, phylum Rotifera: wheel animals

Abstract

Little is known of Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine rotifer fauna, with only 17 taxa recorded thus far, three of which are new records since 2000, from Waituna Lagoon, Southland: Notholca cf. marina/labis Focke, 1961, Notholca salina Focke, 1961, and Synchaeta vorax Rousselet, 1902 (Duggan & White 2010) (Table 12.1; Fig. 12.1). A total of 480 rotifer taxa were recorded from New Zealand and its outlying islands by Shiel et al. (2009), but the majority of these were freshwater taxa (Shiel et al. 2009: tables on p. 138 and checklist on p. 153). Most of the 17 marine taxa recorded are widespread planktonic species, with only one endemic taxon recognised: Notholca pacifica (Russell, 1962). Benthic species, which are diverse and abundant elsewhere, are under-represented. Rotifer sampling from New Zealand marine environments has been spatially and temporally restricted, and mesh sizes used in marine zooplankton studies have been too coarse to collect most species. A checklist of extant New Zealand marine Rotifera is provided.