by Ivana Karanovic & Giuseppe L. Pesce

Most stygobitic ostracods belong to the order Podocopida and they can be found mostly in marine or limnic interstitial; fewer species and subspecies are cave or karst waters inhabitants. Representatives of the order Myodocopida are generally limited to marine interstitial habitats. The evolutionary origin of groundwater ostracodes remains still undetermined. For the most part freshwater subterranean ostracods originated from surface limnic ancestors, few marine (deep or shallow sea) ostracods adapted to ground freshwater environments or to anchialine habitats.

The ostracod fauna from the subterranean waters of Italy has been poorly studied (Klie, 1930, 1938; Danielopol, 1981; Ghetti & McKenzie, 1981; Wagenleitner, 1990). Until now only few species are known to inhabit Italian ground waters. Pseudolimnocythere hypogea Klie, 1938 and Trapezicandona stammeri (Klie, 1938) were first described from southern Italy. Pseudolimnocythere hypogea was collected in a few underground localities of Puglia (Klie, 1938), while Trapezicandona stammeri was described from the cave Castelcivita near Naples. Trapezicandona cottarellii (Danielopol, 1981) and T. sp. group laisi-chappuisi are both known from interstitial environments of Sardinia (Danielopol, 1981). Sphaeromicola stammeri Klie, 1930 and Cypria cavernae Wagenleitner,1990 were described from the karst region of north-eastern Italy (Klie, 1930; Wagenleitner, 1990).

According to Ghetti & McKenzie (1981), besides the above mentioned species, Notodromas persica (Gurney, 1921) and Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820) were also recorded in Italian underground waters. Both were collected in ground waters of Puglia (Klie, 1938); but these species are often more frequent in surficial than subterranean waters.

In the couse of recearch in different groundwater habitats (wells, anchialine caves) in southern Italy by the "Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali" of the University of L'Aquila from 1974 to 1983,11 ostracod species were found: Polycope sp., Pseudolimnocythere hypogea Klie, 1938, Eucandona fabaeformis (Fischer, 1851), Pseudocandona pratensis (Hartwig, 1901), Trapezicandona italica Karanovic & Pesce (in press), Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820), Herpetocypris brevicaudata (Kaufmann, 1900), Notodromas persica Guerney, 1921, Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Muller, 1776), Plesiocypridopsis newtoni (Brady & Robertson, 1870) and Sarscypridopsis aculeata (Costa, 1847).

Trapezicandona italica was described recently from wells in Puglia (Karanovic & Pesce, in press). Polycope sp. is the only undetermined species, while all the others are already known from Italy (see Ghetti & McKenzie, 1981). The most interesting species is Pseudolimnocythere hypogea. Ours is the first record since its original descrption (Klie, 1938), and also enlarges its area of distribution to north. Nevertheless, although the groundwater fauna of Puglia has been intensively investigated (Caroli, 1923, 1924, 1937; Chappuis, 1938; Kiefer, 1938; Klie, 1938; Pesce, 1983, 1985; Pesce et al., 1978; Pesce & Pagliani, 1997; Pesce & Tete, 1977; Ruffo, 1947, 1949; 1949a, 1968, 1982; Vietz, 1939), the subterranean ostracods from this region remain poorly known.

As far as we know, the following species (stygobitic and stygophilic) are at present known from the ground waters of Italy:

LOXOCONCHIDAE

Fabaeformiscandona aff. latens (Klie, 1940) [north Italy; cave waters]

CYCLOCYPRIDAE

Cypria ophtalmica (Jur.) [north, central and south Italy, surface and cave waters]

CYPRIDIDAE

Herpetocypris brevicaudata Kaufmann, 1900 [south Italy; phreatic waters]

Notodromas persica Gurney, 1921 [south Italy; phreatic waters]

Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Muller, 1776) [south Italy; phreatic waters]

Plesiocypridopsis newtoni (Brady & Robertson, 1870) [south Italy; cave waters]

Sarscypridopsis aculeata (Costa, 1847) [south Italy; phreatic waters]

Cavernocycpris subterranea (Wolf, 1921) [north Italy; cave waters]

Potamocycpris fulva (Brady, 1868) [epigean waters]

Psychodromus cf. betharrami Baltanas et al., 1993 [cave waters]

ENTOCYTHERIDAE

Sphaeromicola stammeri Klie, 1930 [north Italy; cave waters]

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RELEVANT LITERATURE DANIELOPOL D.L. 1981. Mixtacandona cottarellii n.sp. un Ostracode interstitiel de Sardaigne. Boll. Mus. Civ. St. Nat. Verona, 8: 419-425. DANIELOPOL D.L. 1990. The origin of the anchialine cave fauna - the "deep sea" versus the "shallow water" hypothesis tested against the empirical evidence of the Thaumatocyprididae (Ostracoda). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 60(3/4):137-143. DANIEPOL L., A. BALTANAS & G. BONADUCE. 1996. The darkness syndrome in subsurface-shallow and deep-sea dwelling Ostracoda (Crustacea). In: F. Uiblein, J. Ott and M. Stachowitsch, editors, Deep-Sea and Extreme Shallow-Water Habitats: Affinities and Adaptations. Biosystematics and Ecology Series, 11:123-144. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences. DANIELOPOL D.L. & G. HARTMANN. 1986. Ostracoda, pp. 265-294. In: L. Botosaneanu (ed) Stygofauna Mundi. E.J. Brill, Leiden. DANIELOPOL D.L. & P.MORMONIER. 1994. Ostracoda. In: Encyclopaedia Biospeleologica. Tome I.C. Juberthie & V. Decu ed.. Moulis-Bucarest, pp.91-97. P.F. GHETTI & K. MC KENZIE. 1981. Ostracodi (Crustacea, Ostracoda) In: Guide per il riconoscimento delle specie animali delle acque interne italiane. 11. CNR AQ/1/108, pp.1-83. ILIFFE T. M. 1990. Crevicular dispersal of marine cave faunas. Memoires de Biospeologie, 17:93-96. ILIFFE T. M. 1991. Anchialine fauna of the Galapagos Islands. In: M.J. James, editor, Galapagos Marine Invertebrates. Pages 209-231. New York: Plenum Press. KARANOVIC I. & G.L. PESCE. (in press) Trapezicandona italica n.sp. (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from fresh waters of southern Italy. Fragm. Entom., Roma. KARANOVIC I. & G. L. PESCE. (in press) Ostracods from ground waters of Puglia (south Italy). an update and redescription of Pseudolimnocythere hypogaea Klie, 1938. Thalassia Salentina. Lecce. KLIE W. 1938. Ostracoden aus unterirdischen Gewassern in Suditalien. Zool. Anz.,123: 148-155. KORNICKER L. S. & T. M.ILIFFE. 1998. Myodocopid Ostracoda (Halocypridina, Cladocopina) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas, Canary Islands, and Mexico. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 599:1-93. KORNICKER L. S. & R. J. PALMER. 1987. Deeveya bransoni, A New Species of Troglobitic Halocyprid Ostracode From Anchialine Caves on South Andros Island, Bahamas (Crustacea: Ostracoda). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 100: 610-623, 6 figures, 1 table. STOCH F. 2000. indagini sulla fauna acquatica delle grotte del trentino (Italia settentrionale). Studi trentini Sc. Nat., Acta Biologica, 74: 117-132. WEB PAGES WITH OSTRACOD INFORMATION ETI Biodiversity Center Ostracods Bibliography International Research Group on Ostracoda Ostracod Systematics Anchialine Fauna of the Bahamas Anchialine Fauna of Yucatan Ostracods from Tropical America Ostracods Paleontology JOURNALS Cypris - The International Ostracoda Newsletter Copyright © 1999-2001 G.L.Pesce | Email: pesce@univaq.it All Rights Reserved. Text and images on this website may not be redistributed or put as part of any collection (image archives, CDs etc) without prior written permission.