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This study analyzed diversity and ecology of planktonic Rotifera of Ghorajan beel, a floodplain lake of the Brahmaputrariver basin of lower Assam region of Northeast India. Plankton samples collected (January–December, 2010) fromlittoral (station 1) and semi-limnetic regions (station 2) of this tropical wetland revealed a fairly rich rotifer fauna (84 and 80species) with distinct variations (range, average ± SD) in monthly richness (35–55, 46±6 and 24–54, 36±5 species) andcommunity similarities (46.6–80.4 and 37.0–95.9 %) at both sampling stations. The richness followed unclear annual patterns.The rotifers mainly contributed (53.3±5.1 and 55.6± 3.6 %) to zooplankton abundance variations and showed high abundancefrom June through November at both stations. Brachionidae > Lecanidae exhibited high number of individuals; Asplanchnidaeand Flosculariidae were also quantitatively important families; specifically, Asplanchna priodonta, Sinantherina socialis, Brachionusfalcatus and Lecane bulla were important species for their abundance. Single abiotic factors exerted a more limited influence on richness than on abundance. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) explained 55.6 % and 59.5 % cumulative variance of the rotifer assemblages along axis 1 and 2, respectively; the CCA indicated the importance of transparency and rainfall at station 1, and of transparency, dissolved oxygen and rainfall at station 2. Consequently, the littoral and semi-limnetic stations are characterized by micro-environmental differences.

Female body has always been considered to be the symbol of grace, modesty, simplicity and submissiveness. This stereotype is strengthened in oral literature. Proverbs constitute one of the most important components of oral literature. Beauty is universally considered the main criterion of women. However, every society has its own notion of beauty regarding women. There are certain stereotypical expectations of female body in every society. But the standards of beauty differ from people to people, society to society. If a woman does not fulfill these norms of the society that she belongs to, she is not regarded as a perfect woman. Women, who are outside the prevailing norms of beauty, are considered to be abnormal, witch, evil-like, disobedient, cruel etc. Therefore, notions regarding female body are socially con-structed. Such, and many other related norms of feminine beauty and the female body are found in women related Assamese proverbs. The present paper tries to analyze the construction of ideas regarding womanhood with special reference to female body and feminine beauty through Assamese proverbs. It is an ethnographic study of the Nagaon district of middle Assam in India.