0000000000482758
AUTHOR
Jeffrey Sciberras
The late Pleistocene origin of the Italian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile (Malacostraca: Decapoda): insights from an expanded sampling of molecular data
Evidence available for most inland water and terrestrial organisms highlights the significant role played by southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese islands as refuges during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. However, to date, the hypothesis that these areas may have acted as Pleistocene refugia for the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile has not been explicitly tested, and a recent origin of local P. fluviatile populations was proposed on the basis of a small set of analysed molecular data. We have thus expanded the currently available data set on the population genetic structure of P. fluviatile through dedicated samplings in Sicily (Italy, 18 specimens), the Maltese Islands (Malta, 15 spe…
Morphological variability in and distributional data on phaleria bimaculata populations from islands of the central mediterranean area
This study aimed to collect new taxonomic and distribution data on Phaleria bimaculata (L.) (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) from Sicily (southern Italy), the circum-Sicilian islands and the Maltese archipelago. Particular attention was paid to the diagnostic morphological features observed in the populations sampled, focusing on the subspecies Phaleria bimaculata marcuzzii Aliquò. P. bimaculata individuals were collected from 20 different locations, of which 2 were located in the Sicilian mainland, 9 in circum-Sicilian islands and 9 in the Maltese Islands. In addition, four Phaleria acuminata Kuster populations were also recorded along southern Sicilian shores. The two Phaleria species were neve…