An update on the inland cladoceran and copepod fauna of Belgium, with a note on the importance of temporary waters

A field survey of mostly small and shallow inland water bodies in Flanders yielded three cladoceran and two copepod species new to the fauna of Belgium. These new records involve two Moina species (M micrura, M weismanni), Simocephalus serrulatus, the calanoid copepod Mixodiaptomus kupelwieseri and the cyclopoid copepod Metacyclops minutus. Special attention was paid to the fauna of temporary pools and wheel tracks. In the pools sampled in spring, the zooplankton was dominated by Daphnia obtusa, Eucyclops serrulatus and/or Diacyclops bicuspidatus. The crustacean fauna of the pools sampled in summer was dominated by Moina macrocopa and Metacyclops gracilis, whereas Metacyclops minutus was dominant in the pools sampled in autumn. Even though species diversity was generally found to be low in the wheel tracks and pools sampled, the taxa were found to be rather typical.