Terrestrial bdelloid rotifers from Erzurum (eastern part of Turkey)

There has been a growing interest in studies of the macroecology and biogeography of microorganisms (smaller than 2 mm) in recent years; however, knowledge of the diversity patterns of these organisms is inadequate. The reason for this lack of knowledge is that faunistic studies of these microorganisms have not been extensive enough to cover all areas of the world. Bdelloid rotifers of 200-600 μm in size are among these microorganisms. In many countries, few studies have been conducted on bdelloid fauna thus far. With only one detailed study, Turkey can be counted as one of those countries. In this present work, 30 samples belonging to 4 substrates (mosses on concrete, mosses on rock, mosses on the ground, and lichens on trees) were collected in an eastern province of Turkey (Erzurum) at a high altitude (1761-1965 m) and examined. In total, 3000 individual (100 for each sample × 30 samples = 3000) were investigated, and 30 taxa were recorded. Twelve of them are new records for Turkey, of which 10 are new records for Asian fauna.