B IOD I V E R S I TA S ISSN: 1412-033X

Volume 23, Number 1, January 2022 E-ISSN: 2085-4722

Pages: 212-221 DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d230127

Diversity and abundance of plankton in different habitat zonation of

Papan River, Lake Kenyir, Malaysia

ALIFFIKRI RAMLEE1, HIDAYU SUHAIMI2, NADIAH W. RASDI3,

1Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2Faculty of Fisheries and Food Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
3Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia.

Tel./fax.: +60-9-6684100, email: [email protected]

Manuscript received: 5 November 2021. Revision accepted: 23 December 2021.

Abstract. Ramlee A, Suhaimi H, Rasdi NW. 2021. Diversity and abundance of plankton in different habitat zonation of Papan River,
Lake Kenyir, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 23: 212-221. Lake Kenyir is the largest artificial lake in Malaysia, yet there is limited information
regarding the lake’s ecology. This study aimed to determine the diversity and abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton in various
habitat ecosystems along the Papan River, Lake Kenyir. Three distinct sampling points were chosen based on the diverse habitat
conditions, namely sampling point A (high water current area), sampling point B (shallow and muddy area) and sampling point C
(minimum water current area). Samples were collected horizontally using a 30µm plankton net with two distinct towing methods: boat
and hand towing to specific areas. The result showed that all sampling points had low chlorophyll-a concentrations ranging between 10
and 20 g/ml, indicating that no algae bloom had occurred. Bacillariophyta were found to have the highest distribution of phytoplankton
division in all of the stations (50.96%). The other division discovered was Chlorophyta (29.62%), followed by Charophyta (19.43%).
Additionally, 140 individual zooplankton species were discovered across all sampling locations. The phylum Rotifera is the most
dominant in terms of species distribution (60.00 %), followed by Arthropoda (31.43%), Ciliophora (7.14%), and Rhizopoda (0.71%).
The Shannon diversity index, evenness, and species richness measurements at sampling point A, B, and C revealed a range of index
values due to variation in plankton species due to interaction and habitat conditions. The variation in planktonic abundance in the Papan
River was attributed to their habitat preferences due to the freshwater lake's ecosystem's different zones and conditions.

Keywords: Chlorophyll a, Lake Kenyir, Papan river, phylum, phytoplankton, zooplankton

INTRODUCTION ecosystem change. Species diversity is a response to

changes in environmental gradients and can characterize
Lake Kenyir is one of Malaysia's reservoirs that various interactions that contribute to the establishment of a
requires serious management and conservation as many community structure pattern. However, compared to lentic
areas remain unexplored. Lake Kenyir is the largest and lotic environments, the species composition and
artificial lake in Malaysia, covering an area of community structure of phytoplankton are still poorly
approximately 36,900 hectares. The mean-depth of Lake characterised in both systems (Chen et al. 2019)
Kenyir is of 37 m (Kamaruddin et al. 2011). There are 340 Freshwater zooplankton is a diverse collection of major
islands, over 40 waterfalls, and numerous rapids and rivers, taxonomic groups. Their forms exhibit distinct
including the Papan River. The surrounding natural environmental and physiological characteristics. The
environment provides an ideal habitat for various aquatic abundance, variety and distribution of these organisms in
organisms, including tiny microscopic organisms and any aquatic habitat provide information about the habitat's
plankton that have not been fully discovered in Lake Kenyir. ecological conditions. Multiple environmental factors
Phytoplankton and zooplankton are microscopic interact to create beneficial spatial and seasonal conditions
organisms that serve as the key producers in wetlands, for the growth of zooplankton (Khanna et al. 2019). The
especially lakes, due to their drifting and widespread water body's nutritional status influences the diversity and
existence in water currents. Freshwater plankton is a good density of zooplankton, abiotic variables, DO, food chain
bio-indicator for measuring water quality in aquatic and soil-water chemistry. It is claimed that zooplankton has
systems due to their indispensable role and susceptibility to been used as bio-indicators to monitor aquatic ecosystems
many ecological stresses (Awaludin et al. 2015; Zeng et al. and water integrity (Dhembare 2011). Interspecific and
2017). At the bottom of these environments, phytoplankton intraspecific factors both influence the distribution and
is a significant organic carbon source (Shinde et al. 2012). abundance of zooplankton, as well as the availability of
The plankton community composition varies in response to phytoplankton (Ahmad et al. 2011). Unfortunately, there is
nutrient availability, temperature, light intensity and other no general agreement on which habitat factors regulate
limnological factors such as lotic, lentic and coastal areas. plankton communities in lotic and lentic environments (Wu
Their sensitivity and changes in species composition are et al. 2011; Thorp 2015).
frequently sufficient explanations for demonstrating
 RAMLEE et al. – Plankton distributions in Papan River, Malaysia 213

There is limited information regarding the diversity and Sampling protocol

composition of phytoplankton and zooplankton in Lake The protocol of sample collection is presented in Figure
Kenyir due to the vast extent of the lake. The purpose of 1. Sampling collection used a 30µm plankton net to collect
this study is to determine how planktonic diversity zooplankton and phytoplankton. Samples were collected
fluctuates, the relationships between plankton and horizontally using two distinct towing methods: boat
environmental habitat variables, species composition, towing and hand towing (Schwoerbel 2016). The net was
population density, and community characteristics held horizontally at a specific depth for five minutes.
dependent on different habitat conditions. The regulation of Triplicate of sanitised 50mL bottle was used to collect the
water quality and ecological conditions on Kenyir Lake due sample from 200mL of collective plankton in a bucket for
to natural and anthropogenic activities has become a each sampling point. A drop of 40% formalin was added to
primary priority. Thus, it is critical to assess the prevent bacterial decomposition during the preservation
biodiversity of both zooplankton and phytoplankton in process (Abd Latif et al. 2014). Additionally, the scraping
Kenyir lake, as this will serve as a biological indicator of method was used to collect samples by focusing on the
the research site's ecological status. According to our objects in the water body, such as stones, dead trees and
predictions, the findings of this study will be critical in leaves (Sabki et al. 2012). Water quality parameters,
establishing baseline data for monitoring environmental including turbidity, salinity, pH, temperature and dissolved
variances and defining their mutual relationships, as well as oxygen (DO), were measured 3 replicate at each site using
their roles in determining plankton community variation a portable YSI probe meter to ensure the data was taken
and dynamics in Lake Kenyir. Thus, this could play a role precisely. Chlorophyll a concentrations were determined
in restoring and protecting the water ecosystem, serving as triplicate from different water samples of the sampling
a model for the management and conservation of Kenyir point. The water samples were extracted with methanol and
Lake. shaken at a frequency of 30hz. The supernatant was
collected following centrifugation. A 200µL sample was
pipetted into a 96-well plate and analysed for chlorophyll a
MATERIALS AND METHODS using a microplate reader (Wang et al. 2019).

Study area and period Sample analyses

Lake Kenyir is the largest artificial lake in Malaysia and After sampling was completed, the phytoplankton and
Southeast Asia. This lake was formed in 1985 when the zooplankton were transported to the laboratory for species
Kenyir River was dammed and supplied water to the Sultan identification and analysis. The samples were observed
Mahmud Power Station (Dullah et al. 2020). The lake is with an OLYMPUS light compound microscope, and
located in Terengganu's eastern region, sharing a border photos were recorded with a Dino-lite digital microscope
with Kelantan to the west and Pahang to the south. The and processed with Dino-capture 2.0 software. The results
lake has an area of 260,000 hectares and serves as one of of this study on water quality were presented as mean ±
Malaysia’s national park gates (Bhuiyan et al. 2016). The standard deviation (SD) and assessed using one-way
lake is surrounded by 340 islands, including hilltops and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to estimate the relationship
hills, 14 waterfalls, and several rapids and rivers. Lake between parameters at different sampling points. Tukey's
Kenyir is Terengganu's primary ecotourism attraction. This and Duncan's multiple comparison tests were used to
exploratory study was conducted on the southern side of establish the significance level for mean differences
Lake Kenyir. As a landmark for this river, the Papan river between sampling points. The statistical significance level
of Kenyir Lake is located southwest of Pulau Sungai Besar was set to P 0.05. Individual/ml samples were counted and
and northwest of Pulau Hulu Sungai Buaya. Papan river is examined to determine the Shannon's Diversity Index,
also a national park's border, making it a popular tourist Evenness Index and species richness (Shannon and Weaver
and angler draw due to its spectacular waterfall and fishing 1949; Sihombing et al. 2017).
site. This river is approximately 58 kilometres from
Pengkalan Gawi's main jetty and takes about 45 minutes by
speedboat. This investigation was carried out over three
Table 1. Sampling points and description in Papan River, Lake
days as there was no significant difference in weather
Kenyir, Malaysia
between the days.
Sampling point in
Sampling point Description
Papan River
Three different sampling points in Papan River (N Point A The sample was taken from a stony area
04º58.021’ E 102º34.238’) in Lake Kenyir were chosen for with high water current
zooplankton and phytoplankton sampling, namely Point A, Point B The sample was taken at shallow muddy
Point B and Point C (Figure 1). The sampling points were water with minimum water current
chosen based on the physical characteristic of the area as Point C The sample was taken at the area with
minimum water current
described in Table 1 to resemble varying physical
conditions of plankton habitat.
214 B I OD I V E R S ITA S 23 (1): 212-221, January 2022

Figure 1. Map of the location of sampling point in Papan River. The label on the map indicate a different sampling point

Figure 2. The graphical flow of phytoplankton and zooplankton sampling protocol

RESULT AND DISCUSSION major division in all stations. The other division found
were Chlorophyta (29.62%) followed by Charophyta
Water quality (19.43%) and Ochrophyta (1.57%). Freshwater diatom
According to Table 2, the water quality parameters at species Pinnularia biceps was the dominant species in with
sample points A, B and C differed, indicating that the three 78 individuals recorded.
sampling points had varying environmental conditions. The
highest turbidity (NTU) was reported at sample point C
(0.32±0.17), followed by sample point B (0.03±0.002) and
A (0.029±0.003). The salinity of all sample points was less
than 0.5 ppt, indicating that the river was pure freshwater
(Ohrel and Register 2006). The maximum temperature
observed was 31.44±0.22ºC at sampling site C, whereas
25.96±0.20ºC and 28.22±0.95ºC were recorded at sample
points A and B, respectively, indicating the optimal temperature
parameter for phytoplankton growth and development.

Abundance and variation of phytoplankton

Figure 3 showed the relative abundance of different
phytoplankton phylum recorded in Papan River sampling Figure 3. Relative abundance of a different phylum of
points A, B, and C. A total of 314 phytoplankton species phytoplankton in Papan River. Different area shaded in the chart
were found with Bacillariophyta (50.16%), which was the indicates the percentage of relative abundance of phylum
 RAMLEE et al. – Plankton distributions in Papan River, Malaysia 215

were Rotifera (19.04%) and Ciliopora (14.29%), and no

species from Rhizopoda were detected. In sample site B,
Rotaria neptunia (69.86%) from the phylum Rotifera
dominated with 30 individuals of the species observed. The
distribution of the phylum Arthropoda (20.59%) was the
second-highest, followed by Ciliophora (9.59%), and no
species from the phylum Rhizopoda was reported.
Meanwhile, Rhizopoda (64.44%) was identified as a
prominent phylum in sampling site C, with Rotaria
neptunia being the leading species with 12 individuals
detected. The remaining species were from the phylum
Arthropoda (33.33%) and Rhizopoda (2.22%), and no
species from the phylum Ciliophora were found. As shown
in Figure 8, all sampling points recorded 15 different genus
Figure 4. The abundance of individual phytoplankton in all and zooplankton species.
sampling points of Papan River. Different shade on the bar
indicates an individual number of species based on the phylum in
the sampling point. Table 3. Species list of phytoplankton in Papan River, Malaysia

Sampling point
Based on Figure 4 and Table 3, in sampling point A Phylum Species
A B C
there were 12 species of phytoplankton were recorded Charophyta Staurastrum punctulatum - + +
belonging to 3 different divisions. Bacillariophyta Cosmarium sp. - + +
(98.48%) was the major division with 53 individuals, and Staurastrum anatinum - + -
Pinnularia biceps was the dominant species. Other Closterium parvulum - + -
distributions of division Charophyta (1.52%) were recorded Mougeotia sp. - + -
with no division of Chlorophyta found. Meanwhile, in Micrasterias laticeps - - +
Sampling Point B, the distribution division of Charophyta Cosmarium depressum + + -
Chlorophyta Actinastrum hantzschii + + +
(98.04%) was the highest, followed by Bacillariophyta Scenedesmus sp. - + +
(1.96%) with a total of 6 species of phytoplankton and Bacillariophyta Pinnularia biceps + - +
Cosmarium sp. was the dominant species with 18 Melosira sp. + + -
individuals. In Sampling Point C, a total of 10 species of Cyclotella sp. + - -
phytoplankton were found with Scenedesmus sp. was the Pinnularia splendida + - -
dominant species with 81 individuals. Division of Fragilaria sp. + - -
Chlorophyta (73.28%) was recorded as the significant Achnanthes sp. + - -
division followed by Bacillariophyta (22.13%) and Hantzschia sp. + - -
Charophyta (6.87%), respectively. All recorded species of Cymbella sp. + - -
Frustulia rhomboides + - -
phytoplankton in all sampling points were shown in Figure 5. Nitzschia sp. + + +
Meanwhile, Figure 7 and Table 4 showed that sampling Ochrophyta Dinobryon sertularia - - +
point A recorded 21 distinct species with Arthropoda
Noted: ‘+’: present, ‘- ‘: absent
(66.67%), the dominant phylum and freshwater copepod,
Mesocyclops leuckarti dominant species. Other phylum

Table 2. Water quality parameters across three sampling points in Papan River, Malaysia (Mean ± SD)

Sampling point
Parameter
Point A Point B Point C
Turbidity (NTU) 0.029± 0.003a 0.03±0.002a 0.32±.0.003a
Salinity (ppt) 0.014±0.002b 0.013±0.01b 0.022±0.002a
pH 7.73±0.32a 7.82±0.93a 7.94±0.78a
Temperature (°C) 25.96± 0.58c 28.21±1.06b 31.44±0.22a
DO 57.80± 1.52b 59.03±1.64b 67.44±1.50a
Chl a (µg/mL) 10.90±0.27b 12.15±0.69b 21.18±0.38a
Note: All values are mean ± standard deviation (n: 3). The different small letters indicate significant different between water quality
parameters (P<0.05)
216 B I OD I V E R S ITA S 23 (1): 212-221, January 2022

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20

Figure 5. Phytoplankton species recorded in Papan River, Malaysia: 1. Dinobryon sertularia; 2. Staurastrum anatinum; 3. Cosmarium
sp.; 4. Actinastrum hantzschii; 5. Cosmarium depressum; 6. Closterium parvulum; 7. Mougeotia sp.; 8. Fragilaria sp.; 9. Staurastrum
punctulatum; 10. Frustulia rhomboides; 11. Nitzschia sp.; 12. Pinnularia splendida; 13. Pinnularia biceps; 14. Scenedesmus sp.; 15.
Micrasterias laticeps; 16. Cyclotella sp.; 17. Melosira sp.; 18. Achnanthes sp.; 19. Hantzschia sp.; 20. Cymbella sp.

Shannon’s diversity index, species richness and

evenness index
Figure 9 showed the Shannon Diversity Index, which
revealed that phytoplankton in sampling point A with H':
1.89 was more diverse than the other sampling sites. This
demonstrated that rocky areas had a greater diversity of
phytoplankton, dominated by diatom species, which were
more likely to be attached in rocky areas with strong
currents or streams. However, in terms of the zooplankton
community, sampling point C had the highest diversity,
evenness, and species richness, with H: 1.69 of diversity
index, 0.94 of evenness index, and 1.94 of species richness
(Figure 10). This implies more diverse zooplankton in both
shallow littoral water with the low water current and
Figure 6. Relative abundance of zooplankton phylum in Papan pelagic depth zone.
River, Malaysia. Different area shade in the chart indicates the
percentage of relative abundance of the phylum.
 RAMLEE et al. – Plankton distributions in Papan River, Malaysia 217

2016). The state of sampling point A at a rocky location

with rapid water movement may affect the number of
diatom species. According to a recent study by Taxböck et
al. (2020), most diatom species found their habitat in rocky
areas frequently exposed to running water. According to
Wibawa (2017), the most numerous and frequent diatom
species found were on the substrates of standing dead trees,
rocks and woodlands, which were reasonably comparable
across all substrate types in the lake environment. Apart
from that, diatom variation can monitor aquatic habitat
water quality because diatoms respond directly to growth
stimulants such as nutrients, physical factors, excellent
Figure 7. Abundance of individual zooplankton phylum in all water quality, contaminants and habitat changes (Ahmad et
sampling points of Papan River, Malaysia. Different shade on the al. 2013; Dalu and Froneman 2016).
bar indicates the individual number of species based on the This variation indicated that the aquatic ecosystem in
phylum in sampling point
the Papan River was in good health. The predominance of
Table 4. Species list of zooplankton in Papan River, Malaysia
the desmid phytoplankton, such as Closterium, Cosmarium
and Scenedesmus, were found in both sample points B and
Sampling Point C. Desmids may be found in almost every aquatic area in
Phylum Species Malaysia. At the same time, certain species may be
A B C
Rotifera Rotaria neptunia - + + specialised in specific environmental circumstances. The
Polyarthra vulgaris - + - majority of the water quality in sampling points B and C
Trichocerca sp. - + - was hazy, making it an ideal home for desmids algae.
Lecane sp. + - - Similar to the earlier study by Shaharuddin et al. (2016),
Brachionus plicatilis - - + Desmid has been observed in Malaysia's fresh water
Brachionus urceolaris - - + system of the lake with cloudy water conditions, which
Ciliophora Paramecium sp. - + +
Vorticella sp. + - +
supported a more significant density of phytoplankton
Arthropoda Leberis diaphanus - + - population than the transparent water system. This
Chyndorus sp. + + - population could be due to the high concentration of
Hemicypris sp. - - + suspended solids in the clear water system. Desmids are
Kurzia sp. - - + critical primary producers in all ecosystems and their
Mesocyclops leuckarti - - + filamentous forms may provide critical habitat for
Thermocyclops crassus + - - invertebrates, fish and other algae (Bestová et al. 2018).
Rhizopoda Euglypha tuberculata - - + Mougeotia and other filamentous desmids are abundant in
Noted : ‘+’= present , ‘-‘ = absent ditches, ephemeral pools and streams. Certain Spirogyra
and Mougeotia species, in particular may be able to tolerate
Discussion elevated levels of contaminants present in disturbed
Chlorophyll a ecosystems (Stancheva et al. 2013; Messyasz et al. 2018).
Chlorophyll a was considerably higher at sampling In these conditions, Closterium and Cosmarium species are
point C than at the other sampling sites. Chlorophyll a also prevalent. As a result, this microorganism is the most
levels varied substantially among all sampling points, with abundant source of food and oxygen for heterotrophic
sampling point C recording 21.18 µg/mL, while sampling species. Additionally, desmid flora has been used as a bio-
points A and B recording 10.90 µg/mL and 12.15 µg/mL, indicator for determining oligotrophic (clean) ecosystems
respectively. Chlorophyll a has been used to determine the (Sabki et al. 2012; Shetty and Gulimane 2021).
number of phytoplankton in an aquatic habitat. According Lakes' lotic and lentic ecosystems are likely to affect
to Ismail (2012), algal blooms can occur as chlorophyll-a phytoplankton populations and dynamics. However, the
levels rise, suggesting that some phytoplankton species biophysical state of both sample points was tributary,
grow quickly enough to produce enormous cell densities. indicating that river water enters the lake contaminated
However, no algal bloom was seen throughout the study in with animal feces and organic debris. According to
this location where the chlorophyll a content was below a Dhanalakshmi et al. (2013), the runoff water is rich in clay,
eutrophic range as assessed by Carlson’s trophic status silt and colloidal organic matter, which contributes to the
index (Carlson 1977; Ayoade et al. 2019). excessive phytoplankton development in the river during
specific seasons, providing a habitat for a variety of fish
Abundance and variation of phytoplankton species and wild animals that contribute to the river's
Sampling point A discovered more species of the organic wastes. For example, it is believed that high
Bacillariophyta class of diatoms. Diatoms are frequently nutrient concentrations, irradiance and the food web
the dominant component of epiphytic communities that are structure in conjunction with the physicochemical
highly sensitive to various limnological and environmental conditions in lakes and ponds provide the environmental
changes. The structure of diatom communities can adapt template against which these phytoplankton populations
rapidly to changing physical, chemical and biological form (Pal and Choudhury 2014).
conditions in the environment (Rühland et al. 2015; Gökçe
218 B I OD I V E R S ITA S 23 (1): 212-221, January 2022

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

13 14 15

Figure 8. Zooplankton species recorded in Papan River, Malaysia: 1. Rotaria neptunia; 2. Polyarthra vulgaris; 3. Trichocerca sp.; 4.
Paramecium sp.; 5. Brachionus urceolaris; 6. Vorticella sp.; 7. Leberis diaphanous; 8. Chyndorus sp.; 9. Lecane sp.; 10. Brachionus
plicatilis; 11. Mesocyclops leuckarti; 12. Thermocyclops crassus; 13. Hemicypris sp.; 14. Euglypha tuberculate; 15. Kurzia sp.

Figure 9. Shannon Diversity index, Evenness index and Species Figure 10. Shannon Diversity index, Evenness index and Species
Richness of phytoplankton in Papan River, Malaysia Richness of zooplankton in Papan River, Malaysia
 RAMLEE et al. – Plankton distributions in Papan River, Malaysia 219

Abundance and variation of zooplankton spread of bdelloid rotifers is inversely related to the depth
In terms of species abundance, Rotifera, Copepoda, and of the freshwater environment. Campillo et al. (2011) also
Cladocera densities were lower than those found in the stated that species and population numbers might drop as
other river of Lake Kenyir, Tembat River (Saidin 2016). habitat depth increases. This may have reinforced the
Rotifers were the most abundant zooplankton in the Papan current findings, in which most bdelloids, including
River, while copepods and cladocerans constituted the Rotaria neptunia, are found in the shallow littoral zone.
typical zooplankton population in tropical freshwater lake Furthermore, Rotaria species may float on the surface of
ecology. The low diversity of species and zooplankton aquatic plants. Most of them survive by relying on food
abundance at the research site were almost certainly due to and nutrients along the surface area, indicating that Rotaria
environmental factors. As Gilbert (2017) mentioned, the is prevalent in the shallow littoral zone (Wallace et al.
population density of rotifers is determined by food 2015; Jaturapruek et al. 2020). However, due to the variety
availability in deep and shallow water. Additionally, the of bdelloids rotifer in most freshwater habitats, the genuine
shallow water area was most significant at sample site B, behaviours and environmental preferences of bdelloids
resulting in a high rotifer density and biomass, whereas rotifer, particularly Rotaria neptunia, is still under early
competition between zooplankton species was observed at observation.
sample points A and C. This study established two distinct
groups of zooplankton: a sizable group of purely Shannon’s diversity index, species richness and evenness
littoral/benthic species that dominated in-stream and index
shallow habitats (Sampling points A and B) and another According to Teittinen et al. 2016, the diversity of
group that freely roamed group within pelagic depth diatom communities found on the stones of a stream river
habitats (Sampling site C). was significantly greater (1.86-2.72) than the diversity of
Littoral species feature prominently because littoral diatom communities found in another habitat. However,
environments have a greater diversity of niches than deeper sampling points B and C had low levels of diversity,
pelagic environments. Arthropoda and Rotifera of the evenness and species richness, as would be expected in a
littoral zone have diverse habitat preferences, including shallow and low-flowing lake environment, resulting in
submerged sediments, sand, rock surfaces and the water elevated nutrient concentrations (Browning et al. 2014). At
column (Gomes et al. 2020). Thus, the abundance of littoral both sample points B and C, most species were desmid
species may indicate adaptive radiation in terms of food algae, resulting in low levels of richness due to the limited
preferences and geographic niches. Additionally, it reflects variation among algal taxa. Similar to a previous study by
that numerous taxa of zooplankton with a high diversity of González and Roldán (2019), a low richness value of the
species, such as rotifers and Arthropoda, including phytoplankton community was detected in the tropical
cladocerans, have a littoral origin (Brandorff et al. 2011; Pampulha reservoir as a result of blooms or high densities
Kuczyńska‐Kippen and Basińska 2014). Similar to the of desmid and cyanobacteria. The difference in diversity
previous study by Sanoamuang et al. (2012), the rotifer index of all sampling points may also be due to the
species most likely to dominate Lake Kud-Thing's shallow interaction between zooplankton and phytoplankton, which
area in Thailand are remarkably diverse in terms of affected zooplankton abundance at all Papan river sampling
freshwater lake rotifer species. It should be noted that, due points. Phytoplankton is the primary food source for
to the geographic diversity of the littoral zone and possible zooplankton and other aquatic organisms in most
limitations on proper and representative sampling freshwater habitats. The region’s growing phytoplankton
techniques in the coastal zone, the accurate number of population, mainly desmid algae, increased zooplankton
species in the littoral zone is more likely to be diversity at all sample points. A recent study by Shah et al.
underestimated than in the pelagic habitat. As a result, our (2012) discovered that environmental factors promoting
stated dominance of littoral species should be regarded as phytoplankton development also resulted in expanding
an approximation at best. predatory zooplankton populations in Malaysia’s Pedu
Rotaria neptunia, a bdelloid rotifer, was the primary reservoir. Furthermore, Rahman et al. (2016) stated that
zooplankton in the Papan River, a commonly documented increasing phytoplankton diversity increased variable
rotifer species in tropical freshwater bodies. Previous zooplankton mean growth rate, abundance and diversity.
research by Jaturapruek (2016) found that most Rotaria Additionally, phytoplankton diversity is a strong predictor
neptunia species are found in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers of zooplankton dispersal and a critical metric for studying
in Thailand, with tropical environment factors and the dynamics of zooplankton populations (Striebel et al.
parameters influencing their distribution. This study found 2012).
that similar characteristics controlled the distribution of this The observed effect of phytoplankton diversity on
species in the Papan River. Bdelloid rotifers are small zooplankton abundance fluctuations may have implications
aquatic animals found in freshwater habitats. According to for the dependability of resource availability further down
Örstan and Plewka (2017), bdelloid rotifer may be the food chain in the Papan River ecosystem. As a result,
identified by the pair of ciliated, eversible discs (corona) the Papan River is home to a diverse assemblage of
that most species have on their heads, as well as their phytoplankton and zooplankton taxa, indicating planktonic
distinctive creepings like an inchworm or a leech, and the species are plentiful in Lake Kenyir. In other words, their
majority of this bdelloid rotifer is found in shallow areas. natural bio-ecological characteristics or behaviour patterns
Previous research from Nowell et al. (2021) found that the influence the niches they occupy. Varying zonation
220 B I OD I V E R S ITA S 23 (1): 212-221, January 2022

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