Diversity of Free–Living Protozoans in the Karamana River, Trivandrum, Kerala

Mini Mohandas; Athira Nagendran; Apreshgi K. P; Lekshmy S.; Tresa Radhakrishnan

Volume : III, Issue : XI, November - 2014

Diversity of Free–Living Protozoans in the Karamana River, Trivandrum, Kerala

Mini Mohandas, Athira Nagendran, Apreshgi K. P, Lekshmy S. , Tresa Radhakrishnan

Abstract :

Karamana River (Kerala) ranks 15th in catchment area and 17th in stream length. It is one of the major rivers flowing through Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala State. The River originates from Western Ghats falls in to the Lakshadweep Sea. The deterioration of quality, loss of biodiversity and fast depletion of water resources are the main challenges, which need urgent attention. An attempt is made to study the diversity of the free living forms of Sarcomastigophorans and some ciliates in the Karamana River. The entire complex of purification plants can make use of these protozoans in order to reduce the pollutant level in Karamana River. Protozoa literally means �first animal� which constitute a subkingdom of the Animal Kingdom. It encompasses single celled eukaryotic animalcules of microscopic size, ranging mostly between 5 micrometers to 250 micrometers. This study identified a total of 22 rhizopod species belonging to 8 Genera and 5 Families 3 Orders and 3 Classes and 6 species of ciliates belonging to 6 Genera and 6 Families 6 Orders and 4 Classes. Phacus sp., Arcella conica, Arcella catinus, Arcella gibbosa, Centropyxis minuta, Centropyxis discoides, Difflugia tuberculata, Difflugia urcealata, Lesquereusia modesta, Porodon sp., Lacrymaria sp., and Vorticella sp. were the first reports in Kerala. Netzelia oviformis was first reported in India during the study