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            The Cladocera Interest Group is an informal alliance of naturalists with an interest in the orders of micro - crustacea which are often conveniently referred to as Cladocera or Water Fleas. When we were formed we had a wide variety of members from amateur microscopists and naturalists to professional entomologists and researchers, with all categories in between. The site continues to offer advice and information but production of newsletters has ended and membership is no longer available.
            The basic aim of the group has always been to provide a means of communication between members, to share hints,
tips and methods for the identification of water fleas, to encourage recording to species level and research on life history and behaviour.
We formed in Britain in the hope that eventually a better picture of the distribution of these fascinating creatures across the British Isles may be built up
such that we begin to see which species are common and which are rare.
            With better recording we may also be able to use the cladoceran fauna of a pond or stream to aid diagnosis of
the health of the aquatic ecosystem contained within.
            However, although we formed in Britain a much wider membership rapidly evolved and in the end we had members
in 12 countries as far apart as China and Australia. We are very happy to publish articles on our website based on the fauna of other countries providing
they are of general interest to all or more specific information can be posted on our website that Cladocerists worldwide may access.
            It is also our intent to encourage anyone with an interest in the group, but little knowledge of the difference
between species to develop their abilities further. We therefore would hope that such people will download our newsletters and other materials and
consider submitting records.
            A large number of our members were amateurs who find it prohibitively expensive to obtain papers from online
library sites, who often set their charges based on a research lab budget (with apologies to those who feel their research budget is far too small!)
If you have written a paper you feel would benefit others and would like to donate it to this site to share with others then we would be glad to receive it.
It could either be included for open distribution or put into a password protected area for members only to download, the choice is yours. For contact details
to send donated papers or for anything else use the email address in the footer on every page.