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An introduction to the Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) project.- Global diversity of aquatic macrophytes in freshwater.- Global diversity of sponges (Porifera: Spongillina) in freshwater.- Global diversity of inland water cnidarians.- Global diversity of free living flatworms (Platyhelminthes, "Turbellaria") in freshwater.- Global diversity of rotifers (Rotifera) in freshwater.- Global diversity of nemerteans (Nemertea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of nematodes (Nematoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of hairworms (Nematomorpha: Gordiaceae) in freshwater.- Global diversity of gastrotrichs (Gastrotricha) in fresh waters.- Global diversity of bryozoans (Bryozoa or Ectoprocta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of tardigrades (Tardigrada) in freshwater.- Global diversity of polychaetes (Polychaeta Annelida) in freshwater.- Global diversity of oligochaetous clitellates ("Oligochaeta" Clitellata) in freshwater.- Global diversity of leeches (Hirudinea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of freshwater mussels (Mollusca, Bivalvia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of gastropods (Gastropoda Mollusca) in freshwater.- Global diversity of large branchiopods (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of cladocerans (Cladocera Crustacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of ostracods (Ostracoda, Crustacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of copepods (Crustacea: Copepoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of fishlice (Crustacea: Branchiura: Argulidae) in freshwater.- Global diversity of mysids (Crustacea-Mysida) in freshwater.- Global diversity of spelaeogriphaceans & thermosbaenaceans (Crustacea Spelaeogriphacea & Thermosbaenacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of cumaceans & tanaidaceans (Crustacea: Cumacea & Tanaidacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of Isopod crustaceans (Crustacea Isopoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of amphipods (Amphipoda Crustacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of syncarids (Syncarida Crustacea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of crabs (Aeglidae: Anomura: Decapoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) in freshwater.- Global diversity of shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) in freshwater.- Global diversity of crayfish (Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae-Decapoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia Arachnida) in freshwater.- Global diversity of halacarid mites (Halacaridae: Acari: Arachnida) in freshwater.- Global diversity of oribatids (Oribatida: Acari: Arachnida).- Global diversity of springtails (Collembola Hexapoda) in freshwater.- Global diversity of mayflies (Ephemeroptera, Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of dragonflies (Odonata) in freshwater.- Global diversity of stoneflies (Plecoptera Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of true bugs (Heteroptera Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of caddisflies (Trichoptera: Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of dobsonflies, fishflies, and alderflies (Megaloptera Insecta) and spongillaflies, nevrorthids, and osmylids (Neuroptera Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of water beetles (Coleoptera) in freshwater.- Global biodiversity of Scorpionflies and Hangingflies (Mecoptera) in freshwater.- Global diversity of non-biting midges (Chironomidae Insecta-Diptera) in freshwater.- Global diversity of craneflies (Insecta, Diptera: Tipulidea or Tipulidae sensu lato) in freshwater.- Global diversity of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in freshwater.- Global diversity of mosquitoes (Insecta: Diptera: Culicidae) in freshwater.- Global diversity of dipteran families (Insecta Diptera) in freshwater (excluding Simulidae, Culicidae, Chironomidae, Tipulidae and Tabanidae).- Global diversity of butterflies (Lepidotera) in freshwater.- Global diversity of hymenopterans (Hymenoptera Insecta) in freshwater.- Global diversity of true and pygmy grasshoppers (Acridomorpha, Orthoptera) in freshwater.- Global diversity of fish (Pisces) in freshwater.- Global diversity of amphibians (Amphibia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of lizards in freshwater (Reptilia: Lacertilia).- Global diversity of crocodiles (Crocodilia, Reptilia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii Reptilia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of snakes (Serpentes Reptilia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of mammals (Mammalia) in freshwater.- Global diversity of freshwater birds (Aves).- The Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment: an overview of the results.

The study of biodiversity in freshwater habitats: societal relevance and suggestions for priorities in science policy.- Biodiversity: a resource with a monetary value?.- Linking science and policy for biodiversity.- Relevance and policy dimensions of research on biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems: a developing country perspective.- Conservation of freshwater biodiversity: does the real world meet scientific dreams?.- Taxonomy and systematics in biodiversity research.- Future priorities in science policy for biodiversity studies: a comment on the target review by Luc De Meester and Steven Declerck.- Towards a coherent and high-quality science policy on biodiversity.- An assessment of animal species diversity in continental waters.- Does inland aquatic biodiversity have a future in Asian developing countries?.- Recovery in diversity of fish and invertebrate communities following remediation of a polluted stream: investigating causal relationships.- Ecological remarks on Mastigodiaptomus nesus Bowman, 1986 (Copepoda: Calanoida) in a Mexican karstic sinkhole.- Consumptive and non-consumptive effects of turbellarian (Mesostoma sp.) predation on anostracans.- Changes in functional biodiversity in an invaded freshwater ecosystem: the Moselle River.- The impact of stocking on the genetic structure of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus, Salmonidae) in two alpine rivers.- Connectivity and nestedness of the meta-community structure of moss dwelling bdelloid rotifers along a stream.- Implications of taxonomic modifications and alien species on biological water quality assessment as exemplified by the Belgian Biotic Index method.- A large-scale stream benthic diatom database.- A review on the present status and management of mangrove wetland habitat resources in Bangladesh with emphasis on mangrove fisheries and aquaculture.- Coexistence of two similar copepod species, Eudiaptomus gracilis and E. graciloides: the role of differential predator avoidance.- Native and exotic Amphipoda and other Peracarida in the River Meuse: new assemblages emerge from a fast changing fauna.- Phylogeography and speciation in the Pseudocrenilabrus philander species complex in Zambian Rivers.- Short term spatial and temporal variation of phytoplankton in a shallow tropical oligotrophic reservoir, southeast Brazil.- The female reproductive organ in podocopid ostracods is homologous to five appendages: histological evidence from Liocypris grandis (Crustacea, Ostracoda).- Daphnia species diversity in Kenya, and a key to the identification of their ephippia.- Some aspects of water filtering activity of filter-feeders.- Recent ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda) found in lowland springs of the provinces of Piacenza and Parma (Northern Italy).- Representation of aquatic invertebrate communities in subfossil death assemblages sampled along a salinity gradient of western Uganda crater lakes.- Life history strategies of cladocerans: comparisons of tropical and temperate taxa.- Phylogeographic history of the genus Tropheus, a lineage of rock-dwelling cichlid fishes endemic to Lake Tanganyika.- Plankton richness in a eutrophic reservoir (Barra Bonita Reservoir, SP, Brazil).- The effect of turbidity state and microhabitat on macroinvertebrate assemblages: a pilot study of six shallow lakes.

In order to assess the recovery potential of tropical freshwater communities after disturbance, we performed an experimental study on the effects of exposure conditions and durations of storage on hatching of rotifer resting eggs in sediment. Well-mixed surface sediment samples from Mai Khao peat swamp on Phuket Island, Thailand, were stored under three conditions (cold −4 °C & dark: CD; ambient −32–42 °C& dark: AD; and ambient & daylight conditions: AL), for different periods of time (1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months). The number of species hatching from the sediment was significantly affected by treatment for both short- (1–6 months) and long-term (6–20 months) exposure. Significant effects of short- and long-term exposure within treatments were also present. Both factors interacted significantly. Regarding numbers of specimens hatching, no short-term effects of differences in treatment condition were found, but increasing the duration did have an effect. Significant effects of treatment occurred after 6 months, in addition to prolonged effects of duration. Again, both factors interacted significantly. These experiments indicate that exposure time has a strong impact on the viability of resting eggs, whereas, an effect of exposure condition appears only after 6 months. So, recovery of rotifer communities from resident sediment egg banks in disturbed peat swamps can only be effectively attained when restoration occurs within a relatively short period after perturbation.

An analysis of distribution patterns reveals a unique group of Nearctic endemics in Trichocerca Lamarck, 1801. This group, comprising 13.4% of all taxa analysed in the genus, is of diverse origin. A glacial origin is postulated for one species. The observed biogeographic pattern of eight others, and possibly two New World taxa, suggests a pre-Pleistocene origin followed by differential extinctions during glaciations in the Nearctic and Palaearctic. In general, endemism in Trichocerca is strongly biased towards the Northern hemisphere, with no endemism in tropical regions. This suggests a Laurasian origin of the genus. The analysis further reveals a majority (65.7%) of widely distributed taxa, with strict cosmopolitanism in more than a third of the species analysed. Latitudinal variation is evident in 26.9% of Trichocerca, and a warm-water preference appears to be indicated for a majority of these. Although the results should be interpreted with caution due to confused taxonomy, a Southern hemisphere, warm-water and Northern hemisphere, cold water component appear to be present. Comments on the taxonomy and distribution of several species are provided, along with illustrations of poorly known species. Suggestions include elevating T. maior (Hauer, 1936) to species rank, and several new cases of synonymy.

We studied the distribution of Lepadellidae (Rotifera) in freshwater habitats in the floodplain of the River Rusizi in northwest Burundi. Twenty-three species belonging to Colurella Bory de St. Vincent, 1824 (3 species), Lepadella Bory de St. Vincent, 1826 (18 species) and Squatinella Bory de St. Vincent, 1826 (2 species) are recorded, 22 of them are new to Burundi. One of the taxa encountered probably represents an unnamed species. Lepadella arabica Segers & Dumont, 1993 is recognised as junior subjective synonym of Lepadella eurysterna Myers, 1942 (syn. nov.). Most of the taxa recorded are cosmopolitan or tropicopolitan, two are restricted to the tropical regions of the Old World and Australia, and one, Squatinella lunata Segers, 1993 is an Ethiopian endemic.

Results are presented of a historical analysis of taxonomic research on Rotifera, as reflected by the case of α-taxonomy of Lecanidae and Dicranophoridae. The number of available names established, as well as the fraction presently considered valid are counted per decade. Two peak periods in taxonomic research are revealed, viz. a minor one in the last decades of the 19th century, and a major one in the 1920s–1930s. Especially work published during the second period contains a high proportion of names that are currently considered valid. The second half of the 20th century witnessed a decrease in quantity, but also in quality of taxonomic research. The basic cause for this is probably the typological approach to a group exhibiting high intraspecific morphological variability, but also poor taxonomic education, as reflected by a high incidence of insufficient descriptions, and poor knowledge of the rules governing zoological nomenclature, are of incisive importance.

We investigated phylogenetic relationships of phylum Rotifera using cladistic analysis to uncover all most-parsimonious trees from a data set comprising 60 morphological characters of nine taxa: one Acanthocephala, six Rotifera, and two outgroups (Turbellaria, Gnathostomulida). Analysis of our matrix yielded a single most-parsimonious tree. From our analysis we conclude the following: (1) Class Digononta is paraphyletic; (2) it is still premature to reject rotiferan monophyly; (3) the classification hierarchy that best conforms to this morphologically based, cladistic analysis is similar to several traditional schemes. In spite of these results, it is significant that this analysis yielded a tree that is incongruent with those trees developed from molecular data or by using the principles of evolutionary taxonomy.

Recent studies on morphology, karyotype, genetics including allozyme constitution and reproductive behaviour of ‘S-’ and ‘L-type’ B. plicatilis showed that these types are best treated as different species. A reexamination of existing available names revealed B. plicatilis O. F. Muller, 1786 and B. rotundiformis Tschugunoff, 1921 as the correct names for the ‘L-’ and ‘S-type’, respectively.

Ninety-three freshwater habitats in the north-eastern part of Thailand were surveyed for rotifers during March-October 1993. Two hundred species were identified, 120 of which are new to Thailand. Brachionus africanus Segers, B. lyratus Shephard and Trichocerca hollaerti De Smet are new to Asia. Brachionus niwati n.sp. is described and figured. Brachionus donneri Brehm, Keratella edmondsoni (Ahlstrom) and Lecane blachei Berziņs, endemic to south and southeast Asia, were found also.