Ref ID : 2739
Birger Pejler; On the global distribution of the family Brachionidae (Rotatoria). Arch.Hydrobiol/suppl. 53(2):255-306, 1977
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Though many rotifers tend to be cosmopolitan, some species are restricted to one or a few main biogeographical regions. Some taxa are known only from a smaller part of a main region, e.g. 10 species of Notholca, exclusively from the Baikal area. The preponderance of the genus Brachionus is located in the subtropic-tropic areas, while Notholca, Argonotholca and Kellicottia are found almost exclusively in the arctic-subarctic and temperate regions. Keratella shows the widest latitudinal range, though it is largely represented by different species in different zones. These latitudinal differences could not be connected with physiological adaptations related to thermic conditions, but have at least a partial relationship to the distribution of their food organisms. In temperate lakes there is a seasonal succession of brachionid composition similar to this latitudinal succession. Apparently, different genera have their speciation centres in different regions. No correspondence has been found to the obvious connection between phylogeny and distribution stated for certain other groups.