A reassessment of the origin and distribution of the subterranean genus Pseudolimnocythere Klie, 1938 (Ostracoda, Loxoconchidae), with description of two new species from Italy

Abstract

Groundwater ecosystems host a rich and unique, but still largely unexplored and undescribed, biodiversity. Several lineages of ostracod crustaceans have subterranean representatives or are exclusively living in groundwaters. The stygobitic genus Pseudolimnocythere Klie, 1938 has a West Palearctic distribution, and includes few living and fossil species of marine origin. Through a comprehensive literature review and the description of the two new living species, Pseudolimnocythere abditasp. nov. and Pseudolimnocythere sofiaesp. nov., from springs in the Northern Apennines, Italy, a morphological analysis was carried out with the aim of comparing the valve morphology of living and fossil species, and to discuss previous hypotheses about time and mode of colonization of inland waters. Pseudolimnocythere species show a low variability in valve morphology, with a remarkable stasis over geological times. The distribution of extant and fossil species is consistent with a scenario of multiple and independent events of colonization of continental habitats linked to sea level variations starting from Middle Miocene in the Paratethys and, later, in the Mediterranean. The most common colonization routes of inland waters have taken place through karst formations along ancient coastlines, although we cannot exclude some minor active migration through the hyporheic zone of streams. Available distribution data suggest a poor dispersal ability of Pseudolimnocythere species after they had colonized continental waters.

Mediterranean springs: Keystone ecosystems and biodiversity refugia threatened by global change

“…In turn, these spring ecosystems support a higher number of endemic and narrow‐ranging mollusk species as compared to other freshwater habitats within the same region. In this context, three new genera of gastropods have also been recently described as endemic from Tunisian spring ecosystems (Khalloufi et al., 2020), and two new species of ostracods have recently been found in Italian spring ecosystems (Rossetti et al., 2022). Also among crustaceans, the amphipod genus Echinogammarus is a paradigmatic case.…”