Scientists discover new species of water flea in UAE

Scientists have discovered a new species Daphnia play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance of ponds and lakes in the UAE.

given name Arabian Daphniathe tiny crustacean led the researchers to draw similarities that may be surprising: water Fleas and humans are found all over the world.

They argue that the Middle East provides a bridge for the global spread of daphnia populations. D. Arabica belong, as if the region was a staging point for human migration from Africa.

Details of new species published in journal water Scientists are now conducting a detailed genetic analysis to reveal which genes help the creature cope with the UAE’s heat.

Tiny creatures play important role in ocean sustainability

While water fleas are not well known to the general public, lead researcher in the UAE, Professor Walid Hamza, of the Faculty of Science, UAE University in Al Ain, says the 5mm-long animal is an essential aquatic ecosystem. healthy functioning of the system.

As a form of zooplankton, they feed on plant plankton (phytoplankton), preventing the plant plankton from multiplying to levels that would cause harm to other organisms living in the water.

Algal blooms can cause fish to suffocate, as the decomposition of dead phytoplankton causes oxygen levels in the water to drop.

“If there is any imbalance in the ecosystem due to a lack of zooplankton or a large consumption of zooplankton by fish, the lake becomes hypertrophic [with excessive nutrient levels] Become greener, which has consequences like suffocation in fish. Zooplankton play an important role in keeping the nutritional status of lakes stable,” he said.

Using maps and satellite imagery, researchers identified 114 locations in the UAE where fresh water exists, mainly man-made lakes in the northeast of the country.

They analyzed water, sediment and mud samples from about 10 of these lakes, filtering thousands of liters of water to find water fleas, which are crustaceans and have nothing to do with the actual fleas being insects. Five species were identified – D. Arabica and Four more that are already known to the scientific community.

In addition to using microscopes to observe species, the researchers also performed genetic analyses that showed evolutionary relationships between species.

Survey results offer glimpse into the past

Based on genetic analysis, researchers believe there is D. Arabica In the UAE, the Arabian Peninsula was once part of Gondwana, a supercontinent that existed between 180 million and 600 million years ago.

The continents that form Gondwana today, including Africa, South Africa, Australia and the Indian subcontinent, share many similarities in terms of flora and fauna.

“It’s likely Daphnia A certain segment of Gondwana, maybe in Africa, maybe elsewhere, and then distributed in the northern hemisphere,” said Dr. Alexei Kotov, a researcher at the Sevtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Moscow and a researcher with a team of Russian scientists “It’s mainly in the north now. “

Group spread to Europe and Asia Daphnia It is thought to have occurred during the Miocene period, from 23 million to 5.3 million years ago.

“The strangest thing is that it’s really like the dispersal of humans, because humans originated in Africa and then dispersed into Eurasia through the Arabian Peninsula, like Daphnia‘ Dr Kotov added.

Globally, the distribution of some Daphnia species has changed in modern times, but Dr Kotov said it was difficult to say whether this was due to climate change or because the creatures were transported by human activity.

In some areas, the activity of daphnia poses an ecological hazard. The water flea from Europe and Asia, now found in North America’s Great Lakes, is an invasive species that can cause serious ecological damage, including damage to fish populations. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Protection, “there has been no successful method of control.”

Dr Hamza said there were likely other undiscovered species Daphnia Currently in the UAE and hope to continue researching to find some of them.

“We have 114 places. We only visited 10 of them. I think we need a big project that covers the whole of the UAE,” he said.

Scientists also hope to release full details of genetic makeup D. Arabicawhich may help pinpoint the genes that help these creatures cope with the high temperatures in the UAE.

So there’s still a lot to learn about this modest-sized creature recently discovered in the UAE.

Updated: September 24, 2022 3:30AM