Home > Journals > European Journal of Taxonomy > 2017 > A new species of freshwater Chaetonotidae (Gastrotricha, Chaetonotida) from Obodska Cave (Montenegro) based on morphological and molecular characters
A new species of freshwater Chaetonotidae (Gastrotricha, Chaetonotida) from Obodska Cave (Montenegro) based on morphological and molecular characters
European Journal of Taxonomy
2017 (354) - Pages 1-30 (EJT-354)
Published on
28 September 2017
Gastrotricha is a cosmopolitan phylum of aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrates that comprises about 820 described species. Current knowledge regarding freshwater gastrotrichs inhabiting caves is extremely poor and there are no extant data regarding Gastrotricha from Montenegro. We describe a new species from Obodska Cave, which is also the first record of a gastrotrich from this region. Due to its unusual habitat and morphological characteristics, this species may be important when considering the evolution and dispersion routes of Chaetonotidae Gosse, 1864 (sensu Leasi & Todaro 2008). We provide morphometric, molecular and phylogenetic data for the new species, together with photomicrographs and drawings.
Keywords:
Balkan Peninsula, cave fauna, Chaetonotus (Chaetonotus) antrumus sp. nov., DNA barcode, Gastrotricha.
KOLICKA M., GADAWSKI P. & DABERT M. 2017. — A new species of freshwater Chaetonotidae (Gastrotricha, Chaetonotida) from Obodska Cave (Montenegro) based on morphological and molecular characters. European Journal of Taxonomy 2017 (354): 1-30 (EJT-354). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.354