Search results for "ZOOLOGIA"
showing 10 items of 803 documents
New contribution to the systematic status of various Mediterranean scorpionfish, as inferred from a mitochondrial DNA sequence.
2014
This study investigated the molecular phylogeny of 6 Mediterranean species of scorpionfish, belonging to the Scorpaenidae and Sebastidae family. Neighbor-Joining and Maximum Parsimony phylogenetic analyse, based on 424 base pairs of partial mitochondrial DNA sequences of the 12S-rRNA gene, revealed 2 main clades. One clade is represented by the Scorpaena genera (with the species S. notata, S. porcus, and S. scrofa) and another clade consists of the genera Helicolenus, Pterois, and Scorpaenodes. The molecular phylogeny showed that the Scorpaenodes genus (sub-family Scorpaeninae) is found within the clade of the species belonging to the other two sub-families (Pteroninae and Sebastinae). This…
Species identification of the psammophilous tenebrionid beetles Phaleria acuminata Juster, 1852 and Phaleria bimaculata (Linnaeus, 1767) from central…
2013
Dominating global arid environments, from desert to coastal dunes, most Tenebrionidae are highly specific in their habitat preferences and display limited dispersal potential, thus exhibiting a remarkable degree of regional genetic and morphological differentiation. The tenebrionid genus Phaleria is speciose and widely distributed, with P. acuminata and P. bimaculata having a wide Mediterranean distribution, with numerous morphological differentiations at population level, often described as different taxa of doubtful taxonomical significance. In order to investigate the variability of the central Mediterranean populations of P. bimaculata and P. acuminata and to compare the results obtaine…
Cryptic invasion in Southern Europe: The case of Ferrissia fragilis (Pulmonata: Ancylidae) Mediterranean populations
2011
Four populations of the North American ancylid gastropod Ferrissia fragilis have been found in Southern Italy, thus expanding the known Eurasian distribution range of this invasive gastropod to the Mediterranean area. Both mitochondrial markers used for the molecular identification of the sampled specimens (16S and COI) showed a modest to absent haplotypic diversity in the studied Ferrissia populations from Europe and Asia, and their perfect identity with some of the haplotypes observed in North American F. fragilis populations. In the light of the scarce molecular diversity observed in the whole Palaearctic area and of the growing evidences for the ongoing spreading of the species in Europ…
New distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Italy, with a note on its feedi…
2021
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. …
Fire disturbance disrupts co-occurrence patterns of terrestrial vertebrates in Mediterranean woodlands
2006
Aim This paper uses null model analysis to explore the pattern of species co-occurrence of terrestrial vertebrate fauna in fire-prone, mixed evergreen oak woodlands. Location The Erico–Quercion ilicis of the Mediterranean belt (50–800 m a.s.l.) in the Madonie mountain range, a regional park in northern Sicily (37°50′ N, 14°05′ E), Italy. Methods The stratified sampling of vertebrates in a secondary succession of recent burned areas (BA, 1–2 years old), intermediate burned areas (INT, 4–10 years old) and ancient burned areas (CNB, > 50 years old), plus forest fragments left within burned areas (FF, 1–2 years old) permitted the comparison of patterns of species co-occurrence using a set of…
Holocene paleoclimate inferred from salinity histories of adjacent lakes in southwestern Sicily (Italy)
2016
Marked uncertainties persist regarding the climatic evolution of the Mediterranean region during the Holocene. For instance, whether moisture availability gradually decreased, remained relatively constant, or increased during the last 7000 years remains a matter of debate. To assess Holocene limnology, hydrology and moisture dynamics, the coastal lakes Lago Preola and Gorgo Basso, located in southwestern Sicily, were investigated through several stratigraphic analyses of ostracodes, including multivariate analyses of assemblages, transfer functions of salinity, and biochemical analyses of valves (Sr/Ca, δ18O and δ13C). During the early Holocene, the Gorgo Basso and Lago Preola ostracode rec…
Ecological characterization and cladocerans, calanoid copepods and large branchiopods of temporary ponds in a Mediterranean island (Sicily, Southern …
2006
Temporary waters have been sporadically investigated in Sicily. These environments reflect the climatic features of the Mediterranean area with a winter ponding phase and a more or less prolonged dry period in summer. Their biota, especially those organisms strictly linked to aquatic environments and without any terrestrial life stage, have to exhibit special adaptations to survive the dry phases that are recurrent in such ecosystems. This study included more than 250 water bodies distributed on the whole Sicilian territory and on the small circum-Sicilian islands. This paper represents a first attempt to characterize Sicilian temporary waters from an ecological point of view and is mainly …
Does lake age affect zooplankton diversity in Mediterranean lakes and reservoirs? A case study from southern Italy
2010
Zooplankton assemblages of 51 lacustrine environments located in the middle of the Mediterranean Region were analysed to evaluate the existence of an ‘age effect’ in determining their structure. The analysed datasets refer to two different geographic areas, one comprising 30 natural and artificial lakes in Sicily and the other an arrangement of 21 analogous aquatic ecosystems located at the bottom of the Italian Peninsula, a more pristine area called Southern Apennine region. Most of the natural lakes are of post-glacial origin. The artificial lakes in both datasets were built in the last century and offer the opportunity to evaluate the possible short-term effects of ageing on the structur…
Protein differences among the Mediterranean species of the genus Spicara.
1996
Protein electrophoresis (PAGE) was used to study the three morphologically different species of Spicara (S. flexuosa, S. maena, S. smaris). Of the 28 enzymatic and additional myogenic loci, five monomorphic loci (LDH-1*, G6PD-1*, PGI-1* and two PMMs*) were species-specific markers of S. smaris with respect to S. flexuosa and S. maena. Four of the 28 enzymatic loci were polymorphic (EST-1*, GLDH*, PEPD*, PGI-2*). Discriminating genetic markers were not identified between S. flexuosa and S. maena. Genetic distance (D) as calculated by Nei’s index (1978), between S. smaris v. S. maena and S. flexuosa showed a value, respectively of D=0·137 and 0·141. Between S. flexuosa and S. maena the value …
The water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of the standing waters of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily: review and new data
2014
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,…