A report on freshwater tailless flea, Simocephalus vetulus from Haridwar, located in foothills of Shivalik Himalaya in Uttarakhand, India

The Cladocerans, commonly known as “Water fleas” form a primitive freshwater group of micro crustacean zooplankton of the freshwater ecosystem. They play an important role in the aquatic food chain and also contribute significantly to zooplankton dynamics and secondary productivity in freshwater ecosystems. The animals used in the present study were identified as Simocephalus vetulus with the help of identification keys described by various authors in the previous studies from other parts of India. In the present study, the occurrence of “freshwater tailless flea”, S. vetulus (Crustacea- cladocera) is reported for the first time from freshwater bodies in Haridwar, located in foothills of Shivalik Himalayan region in Uttarakhand. The presence of S. vetulus “tailless water flea” will be helpful as a lab model for the health status of aquatic bodies as well as environmental monitoring.