Living Ostracoda (Crustacea) from the town moat of Bremen, Germany

Abstract

Between 2009 and 2014 we collected 23 ostracod species in the historical town moat of Bremen, Germany. Today, the moat is part of an urban park, separated into six basins by various bridges. Brackish water, pumped from the Weser River into the moat, regulates the water level and is the main factor controlling the various physical and chemical parameters of the basins. Brackish water ostracod species originate from this artificial inflow, but only a minority of these species establishes stable populations. The Bremen moat ostracod assemblages are compared with the moat of Greifswald. The different environmental setting (e.g., water current) and the number of studied localities can explain the differences in the occurrence of ostracods in these two localities.