CRUSTACEAN ZOOPLANKTON ASSEMBLAGES IN ALGERIAN SALINE LAKES: A COMPARISON WITH THEIR CHILEAN ALTIPLANO COUNTERPARTS

Crustacean communities in saline lakes are regulated mainly by salinity, and a significant inverse correlation can be found between salinity and species richness. The aim of the present study is to compare the carcinological diversity of two distinct arid regions of the world: Algerian saline lakes, locally called 'chotts' and 'sebkhas', and their Chilean Altiplano counterparts, and to determine if there are similar regulator patterns that influence the composition of those communities The main halophilic taxon common to both regions was the anostracan Artemia at high salinities. However, many other halotolerant crustaceans may occur in Algerian chotts and sebkhas, such as Phallocryptus spinosa, Branchinectella media, Moina salina, Cletocamptus retrogressus, Arctodiaptomus salinus and Heterocypris sp. In Chilean saline lakes the calanoid copepod Boeckella poopoensis was an important component of zooplankton at high salinities, while ostracods were totally absent. The results of correlation analysis revealed a significant inverse correlation between salinity and species number (Algeria, tau = -0.39039, z = -2.9402, p-value = 0.0032; Chile, tau = -0.5868, z = -2.3973; p-value < 0.0165). The results of null model analysis describing species co-occurrence showed that the species communities are random for Algerian saline lakes due to the presence of many halotolerant species. For Chilean saline lakes, the species communities are structured