An annotated checklist of the main representatives of meiobenthos from inland water bodies of Central and Southern Vietnam. III. Water fleas (Cladocera)

This work is the third installment in a series of publications devoted to the diversity, distribution and ecology of major groups of hydrobionts discovered during the study of meiobenthic communities in inland waters of central and southern Vietnam. Here, a checklist of cladoceran crustaceans (Cladocera) found for the period 2010-2022 is presented, as well as generalized and updated data on their taxonomy, ecology and global/local distribution, based on the latest studies. A total of 55 representatives from four families (Sididae, Ilyocryptidae, Macrothricidae and Chydoridae) and 29 genera are recorded. Of these, 13 taxa were detected in Vietnamese water bodies for the first time, including the chydorid Paralona pigra, which was the first registered in the Oriental region as a whole. Another four discovered forms from the genera Ilyocryptus, Macrothrix, Prendalona and Ephemeroporus require additional research. They may belong to not-yet-described species because they exhibit noticeable morphological differences from other known relatives. Based on newly obtained and previously published data, the diversity of Cladocera from the bottom and near-bottom ecological groups in Vietnam today can be estimated at around 95 representatives (four Sididae, seven Ilyocryptidae, one Ophryoxidae, nine Macrothricidae and 74 Chydoridae). A review of the available literature, together with the significant proportion of new and still poorly studied taxa found in our material, indicate the need for further comprehensive studies on the cladocerans in the region.