Meyer-Milne Elizabeth, Mlambo Musa C, Rogers D Christopher
South African Environmental Observation Network, P.O. Box 110040, Hadison Park, Kimberley, 8306, South Africa. E-mail:
Department of Freshwater Invertebrates, Albany Museum, Rhodes University affiliated Research Institute, Somerset Street, Grahamstown, 9139, South Africa. E-mail:
Zool Stud. 2020 Aug 5;59:e39. doi: 10.6620/ZS.2020.59-39. eCollection 2020.
The ephemeral waterbodies of southern Africa are regarded a global hotspot for large Branchiopod diversity. Although the distributions and systematics of Anostraca and Notostraca have been fairly well defined, clam shrimps have received much less attention. So far, 18 clam shrimp species are known from the sub-region, but none of the available published literature defines their distribution in South Africa. Furthermore, most of the recent studies were concentrated in the mesic provinces, while very little information is available from the Northern Cape, where most ephemeral waterbodies in the country occur. This study reviews the distribution of clam shrimps in South Africa by reviewing published distribution records and contributing novel data from surveys in the Northern Cape. We found that 13 of the 18 species from the sub-region occur in South Africa, of which four are restricted to their respective provinces. We further clarify the current state of endemism patterns in South Africa and provide novel findings from the Northern Cape, including three new range extensions. The Northern Cape hosts the highest species richness, with nine species, followed by the Eastern Cape, where seven species have been recorded so far. Most other provinces have low species richness and endemism, while no species records have been published from the Limpopo province yet. Surveys over large geographical scales are important, and more research is needed on clam shrimp systematics in South Africa.
南部非洲的临时性水体被视为大型鳃足动物多样性的全球热点地区。尽管无甲目和背甲目的分布及分类学已得到相当明确的界定，但蚌虾受到的关注要少得多。到目前为止，该次区域已知有18种蚌虾，但现有的已发表文献均未明确其在南非的分布情况。此外，最近的大多数研究都集中在湿润省份，而来自北开普省的信息非常少，而该国大部分临时性水体都位于北开普省。本研究通过回顾已发表的分布记录并提供来自北开普省调查的新数据，对南非蚌虾的分布进行了综述。我们发现该次区域的18个物种中有13个出现在南非，其中4个仅限于各自所在的省份。我们进一步阐明了南非特有模式的现状，并提供了来自北开普省的新发现，包括三个新的分布范围扩展。北开普省的物种丰富度最高，有9种，其次是东开普省，到目前为止已记录到7种。其他大多数省份的物种丰富度和特有性较低，而林波波省尚未发表任何物种记录。在大地理尺度上进行调查很重要，南非蚌虾分类学还需要更多研究。
