Alona pulchella King, 1853

Pascual, Jhaydee Ann F., Rizo, Eric Zeus C., Han, Boping, Dumont, Henri J. & Papa, Rey Donne S., 2014, Taxonomy and distribution of four Cladoceran families (Branchiopoda: Cladocera: Moinidae, Bosminidae, Chydoridae and Sididae) in Philippine inland waters, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 62, pp. 771-794 : 777

Alona pulchella King, 1853

Specimen examined. Ten parthenogenic female. Six mounted specimens ( UST ZRC 0121 , 0122 - Lake Danao, Camotes Is., Cebu;0123–0125- Lake Calig, Cagayan 0137- Lake Nalbuan , Cagayan). Four damaged beyond repair .

Description. The genus Alona is the largest anomopod genus. It represents almost half of the species of Chydoridae . The genus itself has been broken down to several genera in recent years. The species represent many synonyms and is recently being separated into several species. In 2002, A. cambouei was separated from this group. It has an oval body with around 40–45 setae on the ventral margin. Its head shield is elongated and has short and blunt rostrum. It has a narrow post abdomen of moderate length. Found in several freshwater bodies in all major regions of the Philippines from rivers to lakes and reservoirs ( Fig. 12 )

Distribution. Cagayan: Lake Calig, Lake Nalbuan; Benguet: Ambuklao Dam; Bontoc and Kalinga: Chico River; Laguna:

Lake Tadlak; Camarines Sur: Lake Baao ; Cebu: Lake Danao ; Agusan Del Norte: Lake Mainit, Agusan River ; Lanao Del Norte: Agus IV Dam ( Fig. 7 )

Remarks. Considered as a species group with tropical to sub-tropical distribution in Asia, Africa and Australia. Fairly common in littoral zones of lakes, rivers and streams.

Figures

Fig. 12. Alona pulchella parthenogenic female. A, habitus; B, antennae; C, post abdomen.

Fig.7. Distribution of family Chydoridae based on recently collected samples (2013) and stored samples in the UST ZRC.