Troglocaris

Troglocaris
Troglocaris anophthalmus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Atyidae
Genus: Troglocaris
Dormitzer, 1853
Type species
Palaemon anophthalmus
Kollar, 1848

Troglocaris is a genus of freshwater shrimp in the family Atyidae.[1] These stygobitic, whitish and eyeless shrimp are found in Southern Europe (Dinaric Alps and West Caucasus).[2] Although locally very common,[3] the small ranges of the individual species make them highly vulnerable to habitat loss, for example by water extraction.[4] Their underground habitat is often extremely stable; for example, the Vipavska jama cave in Slovenia is home to a population of T. anophthalmus, and its water only varies from 10 °C (50 °F) in the winter to 11 °C (52 °F) in the summer.[4] In some Dinaric caves, notably Vjetrenica, as many as three species may occur together.[3]

These shrimp sometimes fall prey to olm salamanders, but are able to survive injuries if the attack fails.[4] The Dinaric Troglocaris are the main host of several species of parasitic or epizoic flatworms of the family Scutariellidae (order Temnocephalida).[3]

Species

Troglocaris currently contains 15 described species, but there are also a number of undescribed species.[2][5] Gallocaris inermis, a stygobitic shrimp from southern France, was formerly included in Troglocaris.[2]

Subgenus Troglocaris
Subgenus Xiphocaridinella
Subgenus Troglocaridella
Subgenus Spelaeocaris

See also

  • Typhlatya – the only other atyid shrimp from subterranean habitats in Europe
  • Typhlocaris – the only non-atyid shrimp from subterranean habitats in Europe

References

  1. ^ Sammy De Grave; N. Dean Pentcheff; Shane T. Ahyong; et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 21: 1–109.
  2. ^ a b c Boris Sket & Valerija Zakšek (2009). "European cave shrimp species (Decapoda: Caridea: Atyidae), redefined after a phylogenetic study; redefinition of some taxa, a new genus and four new Troglocaris species". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (4): 786–818. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00473.x.
  3. ^ a b c White, W.B.; D.C. Culver, eds. (2012). Encyclopedia of Caves (2 ed.). p. 234. ISBN 978-0-12-383832-2.
  4. ^ a b c Jugovic E.; J.E. Praprotnik; V. Buzan; M. Lužnik (2015). "Estimating population size of the cave shrimp Troglocaris anophthalmus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Caridea) using mark–release–recapture data". Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. 38 (1): 77–86.
  5. ^ Ivan Marin (2018). "Cryptic Diversity of Stygobiotic Shrimp Genus Xiphocaridinella Sadowsky, 1930 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae): The First Case of Species Co-occurrence in the Same Cave System in the Western Caucasus". Zootaxa. 4441 (2): 201–224. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4441.2.1. PMID 30314006.