Diversity of Groundwater Crustaceans in Wells in Various Geologic Formations of Southern Poland

Abstract

Data on Crustacea from underground waters accessed through wells are limited in Poland. A recent study was undertaken to determine diversity and factors influencing the crustacean communities inhabiting wells drilled in three bedrocks, Jurassic limestone, Cretaceous marls and flysch. A total of 23 crustacean species and subspecies were recorded belonging to Copepoda, Ostracoda, Amphipoda and Bathynellacea. Only four species of low abundance, however, were stygobionts. Our studies showed that abundance and species number of Copepoda and Ostracoda were affected by bedrock geology (with higher abundances and species richness in wells of Cretaceous marls), and in the case of copepods, also by sampling season. Furthermore, this paper lists all species of Crustacea recorded from inland groundwater habitats of Poland based published over the last 133 years. The most species-rich group was Copepoda with 43 representatives (four stygobites), followed by Ostracoda and Amphipoda with a total of 37 and 12 species, respectively (each with nine stygobites). In addition, two species of Isopoda (one stygobite) and one Bathynellid appear in the checklist. The checklist identifies geographical (and environmental) gaps which require further research.

Ephemeral Puddles—Potential Sites for Feeding and Reproduction of Hyporheic Copepoda

“…The three species recorded in the present study-Acanthocyclops vernalis, Diacyclops bisetosus, and Cyclops furcifer-were among those eight, and all three also occurred throughout the year and in much greater densities in the puddle than in the groundwater [7,8]. Acanthocyclops vernalis and Diacyclops bisetosus were also common components of the groundwater fauna in mountainous areas of southern Poland [30] and lowland areas of Central Europe [31], which confirms the common occurrence of these species in groundwater. Therefore, our research may indicate that groundwater serves as an important corridor for the dispersal of copepods, while temporary puddles serve as convenient places for them to find large amounts of food, in contrast to the meager food resources and oligotrophy typical of groundwater habitats [6].…”

Composition, Abundance and Diversity of Plankton in Hand-Dug Wells in Ikpe Community, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

“…This could be attributed to their capacity to tolerate wide range of physicochemical parameters (Hamaidi-Chergui et al, 2013). However, Cladocerans recorded in related studies (Cavite et al, 2017;Korbel et al, 2017;Bozkurt, 2019;Pociecha, et al, 2021;Bozkurt, 2022) was completely absent. This could be an indication that the well waters have not deteriorated badly (Jahan and Tabassum, 2019).…”

“…However, the overall abundance was high and comparable to some surfacewater environment in Nigeria. Elsewhere across the globe groundwater zooplankton were well documented (Cavite et al, 2017;Korbel et al, 2017;Bozkurt, 2019;Pociecha, et al, 2021;Bozkurt, 2022). Rotifera had the highest abundance with 16 taxa and 659 individuals; contributing 68.8% of the total zooplankton assemblage, followed by Copepoda -6 taxa and 228 individuals (23.8%) and Protozoa had 2 taxa and 71 individuals (7.4%).…”

Insights on the Existence of Ancient Glacial Refugee in the Northern Black/Azov Sea Lowland, with the Description of the First Stygobiotic Microcrustacean Species of the Genus Niphargus Schiödte, 1849 from the Mouth of the Don River

“…The deepest known ancient episodes of glaciation to the south reached the northern borders of Ukraine and the modern Rostov and Samara regions (for example, Don Glaciation (Donian Glaciation or the Donian Stage)), the major glaciation of the Eastern European Plain, 0.5-0.8 Mya, during the Cromerian Stage of the Middle Pleistocene [113]. The northernmost of the currently known representatives, for example, of the genus Niphargus, are distributed up to the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and further north have been not found, indicating that their northward distribution boundary was probably limited by the Pleistocene glaciation [51,[114][115][116][117]. Moreover, Volgonyx dershavini (Behning, 1928) is one of the northernmost stygobiotic crangonyctid amphipods (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae), survived in the Saratov region of the Volga Upland since at least Miocene [118], also pointing to the southeastern border of the past events of glaciations.…”