Lake Tsimanampetsotsa
Lake Tsimanampetsotsa (french: Lac Tsimanampetsotsa) (also called Lake Tsimanampesotse) is a moderately Soda lake, alkaline lake in the Toliara Province, in the southwestern part of Madagascar. It is located at around . The lake is protected within Tsimanampetsotsa National Park and it is also within a Ramsar site. The Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, Ramsar site has a total area of , while the surface of the lake is much smaller. The name of the lake in Malagasy language, Malagasy means "lake without dolphins". It is a sacred place for worship, ceremonies and rituals. Local taboos prevent water pollution. Swimming and the utilisation of pirogues is prohibited. Water, mud and some plants from the lake are used in traditional medicine (Tahirindraza and Marikandia 2015).Rasoloariniaina, JR. 2017. Physico-chemical water characteristics and aquatic macroinvertebrates of Lake Tsimanampesotse, south-western Madagascar. African Journal of Aquatic Science. 42. 191-199 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Toliara Province
The Toliara Province (formerly Toliary or Tuléar) is a former provinces of Madagascar, province of Madagascar with an area of . It had a population of 2,229,550 (July, 2001). Its capital was Toliara. Near Toliara was the "Madagascar spiny thickets, spiny forest". Toliara Province bordered the following provinces – Mahajanga Province in the north, Antananarivo Province in the northeast and Fianarantsoa Province in the east. Masikoro Malagasy and Tandroy Malagasy were the chief languages. Sea cucumbers were exported from the province and were an important factor in its economy. The deciduous Andronovory forest was located in the province. The province was the poorest one in Madagascar. In 1993, 8 in every 10 person of the province was living below the poverty line. Despite the production of export crops the province recorded the highest rural poverty. The average fertility rate per woman was above 5. With 77 percent of its population being illiterate, Tolaira was the most illitera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acrostichum Aureum
''Acrostichum aureum'', the golden leather fern, is a large species of fern that grows in mangrove swamps and other wet locations. Other common names include swamp fern and mangrove fern. Description The golden leather fern has large fronds growing to a length of 1.8 metres (six feet). The leaves are glossy, broad and pinnate, the pinnae being dark green, leathery, alternate and widely spaced. The outer fronds arch over sideways but the central ones are nearly straight. Some of the larger fronds bear sporangia (reproductive organs) on the upper five to eight pairs of pinnae. These are brick red and give the pinnae a felted appearance. Distribution and habitat The golden leather fern is found in tropical and sub-tropical areas around the world. It grows in swamps and mangrove forests, salt marshes and on river banks and is tolerant of raised salinity levels. The spores germinate better, however, in fresh water. It tends to grow on slight elevations in the mangrove swamp in ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Veliidae
Veliidae is a family of gregarious predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera. They are commonly known as riffle bugs, small water striders, or broad-shouldered water striders because the segment immediately behind the head is wider than the rest of the abdomen. The genus ''Rhagovelia'' is also referred to as a ripple bug. Veliidae have a specialized body plan that allows them to walk on water and are neuston. Gerridae is another closely related group that is also neuston and both are in the superfamily Gerroidea. Veliidae are smaller however, between . They can be found on ponds, near lake shores, and in rivers worldwide. Some species can also be found on plants near water, in salt water or in mud flats. Life cycle Like all Heteroptera, the Veliidae go through an egg, nymph and adult stage. They have four or five nymphal instars. Both the adults and nymphs live together gregariously, in loose communities and can often be found in large groups. Eggs are usually laid underwater ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naucoridae
Naucoridae is a small family of insects commonly known as the creeping water bugs and saucer bugs. They are similar in appearance and behavior to Belostomatidae (giant water bugs), but considerably smaller, at long. Naucoridae are found around the world, but the greatest diversity is in tropical regions. They inhabit a wide range of freshwater habitats, ranging from still waters like ponds, to flowing rivers and even torrential streams. There are about 400 species in 46 genera in 8 subfamilies. They were formerly united in a superfamily Naucoroidea with the Aphelocheiridae and Potamocoridae, but these are now in their own superfamily ( Aphelocheiroidea) and the Naucoroidea are monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe .... Genera These 46 genera belong to the family ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elmidae
Elmidae, commonly known as riffle beetles, is a family (biology), family of beetles in the superfamily Byrrhoidea described by John Curtis (entomologist), John Curtis in 1830. Both adults and larvae are usually aquatic, living under rocks in fast-flowing shallow areas of streams, such as Riffle, riffles, feeding on algae and biofilms. There are more than 150 genera and 1,500 described species in Elmidae. The oldest record of the group is ''Cretohypsilara'' from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber. See also * List of Elmidae genera References Further reading * * * * * External links * Elmidae, Polyphaga families {{Elmidae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hydroptilidae
The Hydroptilidae are a large family of caddisflies (Trichoptera) with a worldwide distribution. They are commonly known as microcaddisflies or purse-case caddisflies, in reference to two characteristic traits of this family: Hydroptilidae are much smaller than other caddisflies, rarely exceeding in length. Their larvae do not build a protective case until the final instar of their growth. At that time however, they build a typically Purse-shaped case, either portable or stuck to the substrate, in which the larva finishes growth and pupates. Systematics and taxonomy Their systematic placement among the caddisflies is still disputed. They are traditionally placed in the suborder Spicipalpia, which do not seem to be a natural monophyletic group, but rather an evolutionary grade of moderately advanced caddisflies. Some authors downrank the Spicipalpia to a superfamily of the more basal Annulipalpia and call them Rhyacophiloidea (which otherwise refers to a subfamily of subo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dytiscidae
The Dytiscidae – based on the Greek ''dytikos'' (δυτικός), "able to dive" – are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species live among leaf litter. The adults of most are between long, though much variation is seen between species. The European ''Dytiscus latissimus'' and Brazilian ''Megadytes ducalis'' are the largest, reaching up to and respectively. In contrast, the smallest is likely the Australian ''Limbodessus atypicali'' of subterranean waters, which only is about long. Most are dark brown, blackish, or dark olive in color with golden highlights in some subfamilies. The larvae are commonly known as water tigers due to their voracious appetite. They have short, but sharp mandibles and immediately upon biting, they deliver digestive enzymes into prey to suck their liquefied remains. The family includes more than 4,000 described species in numerous genera. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Potamopyrgus
''Potamopyrgus'' is a genus of minute freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs or micromolluscs in the family Tateidae.Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2014); Criscione and Ponder 2013. ''Potamopyrgus'' Stimpson, 1865. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=147122 on 2014-07-29 Description Stimpson (1865) described the genus as follows: “Shell ovate-conic, imperforate; apex acute; whorls coronated with spines; outer whorl nearly two-thirds the length of the shell; aperture ovate, outer lip acute. Operculum corneous, subspiral. Foot rather short for the length of the shell, broadest in front and strongly auriculated. Tentacles very long, slender, and tapering. Eyes on very prominent tubercles. Rostrum of moderate size.” Distribution This genus is endemic to New Zealand and south eastern Australia. However, one species within this genus, ''P. antipodarum'', has been accidentally intr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georissa
''Georissa'' is a genus of minute land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrocenidae. Although the species are best known for living on the surface of limestone rocks, they are often also found in and on the vegetation and on non-calcareous rocks. One species, '' Georissa filiasaulae'', is cavernicolous. It is only known from two caves in the Sepulut area of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, where its above-ground sister species, '' Georissa saulae'', inhabits the rocks outside of the cave, and is connected to the cave snail via narrow zones of hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ... at the cave entrances. Possibly, ''G. filiasaulae'' has evolved without ever having been fully separated from its ancestor, a process known as speciation-with-gene- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |