FiŠer Cene, Zagmajster Maja, Dethier Michel
SubBio Lab, Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia..
Zootaxa. 2018 Feb 26;4387(1):47-74. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4387.1.2.
Niphargidae is among the largest families of freshwater subterranean amphipods in the world, and one of the most important macroinvertebrate groups in European groundwaters. The knowledge of their species diversity on a country level is often incomplete due to demanding taxonomy. In this paper we critically evaluated species diversity of the family in Belgium, using published records and samples from our own field work. Morphology-based identifications confirmed the presence of genera Microniphargus and Niphargus, represented with one and eight species, respectively. Most of the species found in Belgium belonged to complexes of cryptic species, which are still awaiting their taxonomic epilogue. Four species belong to phylogenetic lineages distributed also across British Isles, whereas three species belong to lineages distributed in the west-continental Europe. Identity of one species was doubtful, and two populations, partially illustrated herein, showed distinct morphology and might belong to a new species. All together, Niphargidae were found at 172 localities, with 80% of sites harboring one species only. At 12 localities three to six species co-occurred. When mapped onto 10x10 km grid, up to seven different species were recorded per quadrate. Species richest quadrates were situated in the southeastern part of the country. Paucity of records from the northern part of the country imply lack of research, rather than absence of Niphargidae. Conservation status of Belgian Niphargidae has not been evaluated so far; assessment of this status would require further sampling and detailed taxonomic work.
尼菲摇蚊科是世界上最大的淡水地下双足节肢动物科之一，也是欧洲地下水最重要的大型无脊椎动物类群之一。由于分类学要求苛刻，该国层面上对其物种多样性的了解往往并不完整。在本文中，我们通过已发表的记录和我们自己实地调查的样本，对比利时境内该科的物种多样性进行了批判性评估。基于形态学的鉴定证实了微米尼菲摇蚊属和尼菲摇蚊属的存在，分别有1个和8个物种。在比利时发现的大多数物种属于隐存物种复合体，它们的分类学结论仍有待确定。四个物种属于也分布在不列颠群岛的系统发育谱系，而三个物种属于分布在欧洲大陆西部的谱系。一个物种的身份存疑，本文部分展示的两个种群表现出明显的形态特征，可能属于一个新物种。总之，在172个地点发现了尼菲摇蚊科，其中80%的地点仅栖息着一个物种。在12个地点，三到六个物种同时出现。当绘制在10×10公里的网格上时，每个方格记录到多达七个不同的物种。物种最丰富的方格位于该国东南部。该国北部记录稀少意味着缺乏研究，而非没有尼菲摇蚊科。比利时尼菲摇蚊科的保护状况迄今尚未评估；对这一状况的评估需要进一步采样和详细的分类学工作。
