0000000000202154
AUTHOR
Fabio Stoch
The Diaptomidae (Copepoda, Calanoida) of Tunisia and the role of spatial and environmental factors as drivers of their distribution patterns
AbstractEven in a biodiversity hotspot such as the Mediterranean basin, aspects relating to the distribution of some groups of microcrustaceans still need clarification. In this paper, we critically analyse the available information on diaptomid copepods in Tunisian inland waters and, based on the largest sampling campaign to date carried out in the country, report new data on their distribution. In the frame of this study, 248 crustacean samples were collected from 190 sites, and 10 diaptomid species belonging to 7 genera and 2 subfamilies were found in the samples. Their distribution follows a climate gradient determined by precipitation, and ecological variables mainly affect diaptomid d…
An account on the non-malacostracan crustacean fauna from the inland waters of Crete, Greece, with the synonymization of Arctodiaptomus piliger Brehm, 1955 with Arctodiaptomus alpinus (Imhof, 1885) (Copepoda: Calanoida)
The Mediterranean bioregion is widely recognised as a biodiversity hotspot and its inland waters are among the species richest ecosystems of the northern hemisphere. However, the extent of such biodiversity has not been totally unravelled, especially in the Mediterranean islands. Here we present a first account of the crustaceans inhabiting 21 permanent and temporary ponds in Crete, the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The ponds, sampled between 2009 and 2018, cover all the island surface even though their number cannot be considered exhaustive to represent the entire non-malacostracan fauna of the island. Nevertheless, 46 taxa were identif…
On the non-malacostracan crustaceans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda, Copepoda, Ostracoda) from the inland waters of Fthiotida (Greece)
In the frame of the activities of the LIFE11 NAT/GR/1014 ForOpenForests, some water bodies occurring in the "Ethnikos Drymos Oitis" (GR2440004) and "Oros Kallidromo" (GR2440006) (Sterea Ellada) were investigated with the aim of providing a first census of the composition and diversity of their crustacean fauna. Overall, the sampling of 15 water bodies (7 of them listed as "Mediterranean temporary ponds" sensu EU "Habitats Directive") led to the finding of 13 branchiopod, 11 copepod, and 7 ostracod taxa, including 4 species new for mainland Greece, i.e. the copepods Arctodiaptomus alpinus (Imhoff, 1885) and Diaptomus cf. serbicus, and the branchiopods Leptestheria dahalacensis (Rüppel, 1837)…
Diversity and Distribution of the Inland Water Decapods of Sicily (Crustacea, Malacostraca)
The current knowledge of Sicilian inland water decapod malacostracans is scarce and an updated synopsis on species distribution is lacking. Therefore, we reviewed the checklist and recent distribution of Sicilian inland water decapods based on published and unpublished records and novel observations with the aim of providing an exhaustive repository, also to be used as a sound baseline for future surveys. Overall, five native decapod species occur in the study area, i.e., the atyid shrimp Atyaephyra desmarestii, the palaemonid shrimps Palaemon adspersus, P. antennarius, and P. elegans, and the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile, and their current local distributions are described. In additi…
The water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of the standing waters of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily: review and new data
A compilation of our present knowledge of the water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) adapted to life in standing waters on the three large islands in the western Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily) is provided. In addition to published data, this study deals with a rich volume of new material from recent field work, mostly deriving from intermittent ponds and pools, an extremely poorly investigated yet peculiar habitat type in the Mediterranean area. Species richness of water mites reported for the standing waters of the three islands amounts to 91 species. Out of the 47 species for which we present new distributional data, Hydrachna incisa Halbert, 1903, Hydrachna leegei Koenike, 1895,…
Diversity patterns and biogeography of Diaptomidae (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the Western Palearctic
Diaptomid copepods are an important component of biodiversity in inland aquatic ecosystems worldwide but to date little is known about the historical and ecological factors that determined their current distribution. In the present paper, a critical review of the available literature on diaptomid species distribution in the Western Palearctic was performed, and a biogeographical analysis was carried out on the roles that spatial, current environmental, and historical (paleoclimatic) factors played on their actual distribution in this large area. The results show a clear pattern of colonization which is only partially overlapping what has been recently proposed for other terrestrial and aqua…
The role of spatial environmental factors as determinants of large branchiopod distribution in Tunisian temporary ponds
The influence of spatial and environmental factors in explaining the structure of large branchiopod assemblages at different spatial scales is still poorly explored. We hypothesized that the extent of actual spatial connectivity, and thus the spatial distribution of a metacommunity, may depend on the environmental conditions as represented by climatic gradients and the structural characteristics of the landscape. To test this hypothesis, the distributional patterns of 14 large branchiopod species in a set of 177 temporary water bodies repeatedly sampled across Tunisia and on its main islands were analysed. Physical, chemical, morphological and climatic characteristics of the studied water b…
Groundwater biodiversity in Europe
18 páginas, 7 figuras, 4 tables et al
New distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Italy, with a note on its feeding on amphibians
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Alfonso, Giuseppe; Barbagallo, Rosario; Brandmayr, Pietro; Bruni, Giacomo; Costa, Simone; Farina, Giovanni; Gerecke, Reinhard; Iannarelli, Angelina; Mazza, Giuseppe; Mazzei, Antonio; Menchetti, Mattia; Moretti, Valerio; Mori, Emiliano; Novaga, Riccardo; Pecoraro, Marco; Schifani, Enrico; Stoch, Fabio; Vecchioni, Luca | Abstract: Scarce data are currently available about the distribution of the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana in Italy, and most of the known occurrence localities are based on records collected in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, which were not confirmed in the last decades, mostly due to a lack of surveys. …
Updated checklist and distribution of large branchiopods (Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) in Tunisia
Temporary ponds are the most peculiar and representative water bodies in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, where they often represent diversity hotspots that greatly contribute to the regional biodiversity. Being indissolubly linked to these ecosystems, the so-called “large branchiopods” are unanimously considered flagship taxa of these habitats. Nonetheless, updated and detailed information on large branchiopod faunas is still missing in many countries or regions. Based on an extensive bibliographical review and field samplings, we provide an updated and commented checklist of large branchiopods in Tunisia, one of the less investigated countries of the Maghreb as far as inland w…
The crustacean fauna of Bayan Onjuul area (Tôv Province, Mongolia) (Crustacea: Branchiopoda, Copepoda, Ostracoda)
Due to the wide extension of the country and to the shortness of the ice-free season, the inlandwater crustacean fauna of Mongolia is, to date, incompletely known. However, based on the available literature, Mongolian inland waters appear to be characterised by a high biodiversity, including some taxa still waiting to be described. Novel data on the branchiopod, copepod, and ostracod crustaceans from central Mongolian steppe, from the “Tuul” and “Umard goviin guveet-Khalhiin” hydrographical basins, are presented herein. While large branchiopods, some anomopod families, and copepods are well-represented in the collected samples, ostracods are rare, and the anomopod family Chydoridae is appar…
An updated checklist and biogeography of the Sardinian large branchiopods, with a focus on Spinicaudata (Crustacea, Branchiopoda)
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Alfonso, Giuseppe; Cottarelli, Vezio; Botta, Marco Massimo; Koepp, Christian; Stoch, Fabio | Abstract: The large branchiopod fauna of Sardinia is reviewed based both on literature and newly collected data. Based on the available evidence, 13 taxa are present on the island (8 Anostraca, 2 Notostraca, and 3 Spinicaudata). Among them, the finding of the spinicaudatan Leptestheria dahalacensis is new for Sardinia, while the spinicaudatans Cyzicus bucheti and Eulimnadia sp. were overlooked in the most recent synopses on the fauna of the island due to misidentifications. Conversely, Cyzicus tetracerus and Limnadia lenticularis, previously erroneously reported based o…