Review Article Free-living limnic nemafauna of Ethiopia: a review of the species reported outside the Rift Valley

Abstract

The available information on free-living limnic nematodes from Ethiopia is reviewed with special emphasis on those reported outside the Rift Valley, for which species are listed with their corresponding sites of occurrence. The families Monhysteridae, Dorylaimidae, and Tobrilidae comprise more than half of the total of 91 species hitherto reported from Ethiopia. Among 69 species reported outside the Rift Valley, a similar trend of dominance is observed. Of these, about a quarter of the species have never been reported out of their corresponding type localities (in Ethiopia). Most of the remaining are either cosmopolitan or have been reported earlier from Africa. The occurrence of the fifteen most widely distributed species is shown on maps. Brevitobrilus graciloides is the most widely distributed species. Studies on abundance and diversity, though limited, are also included.

SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Vol. 23, No. 2 (December 2000), pp. 273-291




Key words/phrases: Aquatic nematofauna, free-living nematodes, inland water bodies