A wide variety of zooplankton taxa, including Rotifera, Nematoda, Oligochaeta, Gastrotricha, Turbellaria and Crustacea (Copepoda, Ostracoda), were accidentally discovered in tap water in Gent, where they occurred as contaminants after extraction of the meiofauna from marine sediments, using a centrifugation technique. Rotifera (Monogononta) constituted the most important group. Of 19 species recorded, four were even first records for the Belgian fauna. Using unfiltered tap water in extraction techniques for meiofauna should be avoided.
