A black, non-troglomorphic amphibian from the karst of Slovenia: Proteus anguinus parkelj n. ssp. (Urodela: Proteidae)

Abstract

A morphologically distinct cavernicolous salamander Proteus anguinus from southeastern Slovenia (Bela Krajina) is described as P. a. parkelj ssp. n. It differs from P. a. anguinus in a dark pigmentation, fully developed eyes, a skull with broader and shorter bones and fewer teeth, a voluminous jaw musculature that gives the head a bulky appearance, a proportionally longer trunk with a higher number of vertebrae, shorter extremities, and a shorter tail. Most of these traits are considered to be plesiomorphic character states. An allozyme analysis over 40 loci has shown the new dark pigmented taxon to be genetically similar to a white and troglomorphic neighbouring population from Stična (DNei = 0.23). Both populations in turn are genetically dissimilar to a geographically more distant population from Postojna (D Nei = 0.49). The observed level of genetic differentiation suggests that western and southeastern Slovenian populations form separate lineages since the uppermost Miocene but conservatively hitherto only a single species is recognised. The new taxon is only known from a small area and may be rare. P. a. parkelj, now under strict legal protection, is threatened by industrial pollution.

Structure and evolution of the mitochondrial control region and flanking sequences in the European cave salamander Proteus anguinus

“…The former is distributed throughout the species' range in several hydrographically isolated areas (Sket, 1997), whereas the black subspecies occurs only in the vicinity of Črnomelj in southeastern Slovenia (Sket and Arntzen, 1994). High morphological resemblance between hydrographically isolated populations of the white subspecies is in stark contrast to the findings of the allozyme study by Sket and Arntzen (1994), that the degree of differentiation within the white subspecies exceeds that between both subspecies. Due, however, to the limited number of sampled populations and small sample size, the above study failed to provide a full insight into the relationships among populations of Proteus.…”

“…Two subspecies are presently recognized: the white, troglomorphic P. anguinus anguinus and the non-troglomorphic, dark-pigmented P. anguinus parkelj Sket and Arntzen 1994. The former is distributed throughout the species' range in several hydrographically isolated areas (Sket, 1997), whereas the black subspecies occurs only in the vicinity of Črnomelj in southeastern Slovenia (Sket and Arntzen, 1994).…”

“…Two subspecies are presently recognized: the white, troglomorphic P. anguinus anguinus and the non-troglomorphic, dark-pigmented P. anguinus parkelj Sket and Arntzen 1994. The former is distributed throughout the species' range in several hydrographically isolated areas (Sket, 1997), whereas the black subspecies occurs only in the vicinity of Črnomelj in southeastern Slovenia (Sket and Arntzen, 1994). High morphological resemblance between hydrographically isolated populations of the white subspecies is in stark contrast to the findings of the allozyme study by Sket and Arntzen (1994), that the degree of differentiation within the white subspecies exceeds that between both subspecies.…”

Immunocytochemical demonstration of visual pigments in the degenerate retinal and pineal photoreceptors of the blind cave salamander ( Proteus anguinus )

“…The remarkable structural and immunocytochemical differences between populations from the Planina cave and from the Otovec doline must be genetically determined. These animals belong to two genetically distinct groups of populations, as shown by allozyme analysis (Sket and Arntzen 1994). Different environmental conditions are not responsible for the differences between these two populations, because in animals from the Otovec doline, which have occasional contact with weak light, the photoreceptors are much more degenerate than in animals from the Planina cave, which are never exposed to any light.…”

“…A recently discovered small population from southeastern Slovenia, described as a subspecies P. a. parkelj (Sket and Arntzen 1994), is black pigmented and has eyes that can be regarded as normal. Although this black proteus is also a cave animal, it has retained a mostly unchanged retinal structure (Kos and Bulog 1996b) that can be considered as ancestral.…”