Research article

Cladocera (Crustacea; Branchiopoda) from the Brazilian Cerrado – the richness and species composition for Goiás state

¹ Laboratório de Taxonomia Animal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Jataí – UFJ, Jataí, Brazil
² Independent Researcher

^* Corresponding author: fdiogo.rs@gmail.com

Received: 20 September 2023
Accepted: 12 February 2024

Abstract

Goiás state, situated in the Cerrado biome harbors several water bodies belonging to the Paraná, São Francisco, and Tocantins-Araguaia hydrographic regions. However, there are several gaps in the knowledge about the diversity and geographic distribution of aquatic invertebrates in the state, including microcrustaceans of the Superorder Cladocera. Thus, this study aims to elaborate an updated list of cladoceran species occurring in Goiás, using data from 37 literature sources and original samples from different ecosystems and localities. The history and type of publications were evaluated. The number of studies between 1988 and 2022 and the type of publications and species richness were listed. The literature data indicated that most studies reporting or describing species for Goiás were found in papers published in indexed journals (75%). Tocantins-Araguaia was the hydrographic region with the highest number of studies (20). The number of observed species was strongly related to the number of studies (r² = 0.59; p < 0.0001). When observing literature data and findings from sampling, 92 species were recorded with five news reports: Scapholeberis freyi, Grimaldina freyi, Parvalona parva, Chydorus brevilabris, and Picripleuroxus quasidenticulatus. The number and composition of species in Goiás state should be considered relevant. However, the observed richness is lower than expected (114 spp), suggesting the need for increased sampling effort. The focus of this sampling should preferably occur in areas lacking information.