Rotifera recorded from New Zealand, 1859-1995, with comments on zoogeography

Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre

MDFRC item.

A search of the literature on rotifers recorded from New Zealand, including its offshore and outlying islands, produced 388 valid species names and 40 subspecies or infrasubspecific variants in 66 genera recorded since 1859. New Zealand rotifer research is reviewed, and all recorded species are listed with current taxonomic status and first localities. Most of the named tars are widely distributed or cosmopolitan, with only a small proportion (<5%) apparently restricted to New Zealand or the Australasian region. It is likely that considerably more rotifers remain to be described from New Zealand and that a higher proportion will be found to be indigenous as taxonomic resolution improves.