A review of the branchiopod fauna of the Maltese Islands (Crustacea : Branchiopoda)

Abstract

Twelve branchiopod species from seven families and four orders have been positively identified from the Maltese Islands. Four orders are recorded (Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata, Cladocera), three of these (Anostraca. Notostraca, Spinicaudata) represented by only one family. Four families of Cladocera have been recorded (Daphniidae, Moinidae, Macrothricidae, Chydoridae). Only three families are represented by more than a single species (Branchipodidae: 2 species, Daphniidae: 4 species, Chydoridae: 2 species). Three cladoceran species are reported for the first time from the Maltese Islands [Alona diaphana King var. iheringi Richard; Moina brachiata (Jurine) (?) and Macrothrix hirsuticornis Norman et Brady].