The Sicilian province, in spite of its great speleological interest due to the presence of some extensive karstic areas, as well as several carbonatic and volcanic caves and other diversified groundwater habitats, is, up to now, still poorly known from a stygofaunistic standpoint: in particular, there are surprisingly few recorded data concerning stygobitic taxa of this area, the most information being available on stygophilic, stygoxen or terrestrial species.

At present, a good number of stygobiontes can be found only among the harpacticoid and cyclopid copepods, which include the following species and subspecies, for the most part endemic to Sicily:


Diacyclops clandestinus
Diacyclops crassicaudis lagrecai
Diacyclops crassicaudis trinacriae
Eucyclops ibleicus
Halicyclops troglodites
Metacyclops stammeri
Metacyclops subdolus
Schizopera lagrecai
Nitocrella stammeri
Attheyella paranaphtalica
Elaphoidella italica
Parastenocaris kalypso
Parastenocaris trinacriae

Other stygobitic taxa, such as amphipods, isopods, thermosbaenaceans and syncarids are present with fewer or no species.

The only representative of the widespread amphipod genus Niphargus is Niphargus longicaudatus, the other subterranean amphipods of the region being Tyrrhenogammarus catacumbae, Rhipidogammarus rhipidophorus and the following Pseudoniphargus species and subspecies:

Pseudoniphargus adriaticus
Pseudoniphargus africanus italicus
Pseudoniphargus inconditus
Pseudoniphargus sodalis

The only isopod species are the widespread Microcharon marinus and Typhlocirolana moraguesi. Thermosbaenaceans are represented by the stygobitic species Tethysbaena siracusae.

However, it may be realistic to expect that the above list could be certainly extended in the future, since intensive stygofaunistical research in this province, carried ou by the Zoological Departments of the universities of Catania and Rome, already seem to indicate that the stygofauna of this province could be more rich and diversified than previously thought.


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