The Autecology of Eudiaptomus cf drieschi (Poppe & Mrazek 1895 ...

1.3 Previous Diaptomid Data from Israel and the Kinneret
Komarovsky’s paper (1959), the first to give a detailed list of 22 zooplankton species
including those from the open water, notes especially, “the complete absence of
Diaptomids among the Copepoda” in the lake, (although they were found in rainpools in
the area). The Yashuv & Alhunis paper (1961) listed the diaptomid Eudiaptomus
gracilis (Sars) among the plankton from a shallow water station in the southwest region
of the lake. Por (1968, 1984) recognized E. gracilis as an accidental “visitor”, not
belonging to the Kinneret fauna. Gophen (1972) also recorded the presence (rare) of E.
gracilis in the lake and found them represented in the gut contents of gray mullet
fingerlings collected from the littoral (Gophen 1979, Shapiro 1998). Dimentman & Por
(1985) collected Arctodiaptomus similis similis (Baird 1859) from the lake during the
winter months, but it was considered to be the incidental result of winter floods. Adult
Arctodiaptomus similis similis are occasionally found in inshore waters, in close
proximity to commercial fish pond establishments. Juvenile stages of A. similis similis
have never been found in routine samples (pers. obs., author). In 1987, Por (in litteris)
identified the diaptomid copepod that was appearing with increasing frequency in
routine, bimonthly zooplankton samples from pelagic stations in Lake Kinneret as
Eudiaptomus drieschi (Poppe & Mrazek 1895). Prof. Dr. Ertunc Gunduz of Hacettepe
University, Turkey, concurred with this identification (pers. comm). It is suspected
(although not validated), that the sporadic reports of E. gracilis in the Kinneret may, in
fact, have referred to E. drieschi. Specimens of E. drieschi from the Kinneret are
deposited in the Aquatic Invertebrate Collection at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In Israel, the Diaptomidae are represented by four taxa: Lovenula (Neolovenula)
alluaudi (de Guerne & Richard 1890); Arctodiaptomus (Arctodiaptomus) similis similis