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II.HISTORYOFRESEARCH
ONPOLISHROTIFERSANDTHEPRESENT
STATEOFTHEIRkNOWLEDGE
InitialinformationonthepresenceofrotifersinPolanddatesbacktothelate
18thcenturywhen,in1775,theseanimalswereobservedanddescribedbyEICH-
HORN,aLutheranchurchministerfromGdańsk.Afewrotiferspeciesweremen-
tionedbrieflybytheRev.k.KLUKinhis1795book“Zwierzątdomowychidzikich
osobliwiekrajowych,historyinaturalneypoczątkiigospodarstwo”[“Aprimeron
naturalhistoryandmanagementofdomesticatedandwildanimals,particularly
thoseofthiscountry”].However,thecreditforthebeginningsofamorein-depth
researchonthetaxonomyandecologyofrotifersisduetoAntoniWierzejski
(1843-1916),aprofessoroftheJagiellonianUniversity.
Wierzejski’smostimportantworkisthemonograph“WrotkiGalicji”
[“TheRotifersofGalicia”](WIERZEjSKI1893).Themonographcontainsalong
listofspecies;someofthemareannotatedwithdetaileddescriptionsofmorphol-
ogyandanatomyandwithinformationonreproductionmodes.Wierzejskialso
providedmethodologicalguidelineswithrespecttocollectionandprocessingof
researchmaterials.Inaddition,hedemonstratedtheubiquityofrotifersandde-
scribednumerousnewspecies,e.g.,Atrochustentaculatus,Brachionusforficula,
Synchaetastylata,Polyarthraeuryptera,Collotheca(Floscularia)atrochoides
andTrichocercasimilisaswellasthegenusBipalpusandthespeciesTrichocerca
capucina,bothdescribedjointlywithZacharias.
Somewhatlater,theareaoftheformerGaliciabecamethefocusofactivity
ofAntoniJakubski(1885-1962),aprofessorofuniversitiesinLvovandPoznań,
knownforhisinterestinganddiverseresearch.Hismajorstudyconcernedpri-
marilyplanktonicrotifersintheenvironsofSokalwhereheidentified257taxa
(jAKUBSKI1914/15).Hisotherpublicationscontaindataonmoss-dwellingrotifers
(jAKUBSKI1918)andalsoonthoselivinginthetropics(jAKUBSKI1912).
JerzyWiszniewski(1908-1944)was,doubtless,themostprolificresearcher
ofthePolishrotiferfauna.Duringhisshortlifehemanagedtopublish24sci-
entificpapers(5wereleftasmanuscripts),4popular-sciencearticles,4short
communications,and3essays.Hisdoctoraldissertation,writtenunderthesu-
pervisionofProfessorJanicki,dealtwithrotifersinhabitingtheenvironsof
Warsaw.Inafragmentofthedissertation,publishedin1929,Wiszniewskide-
scribedonerotifergenusandtwospeciesnewtoscience.In1930Wiszniewski
wasworkingasanassistantattheHydrobiologicalStationonLakeWigry.His
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