An annotated checklist of the Recent non-marine ostracods (Ostracoda: Crustacea) from Italy

Abstract

We present an updated checklist of non-marine ostracods from Italy. Data were obtained from the published literature up to April 2013 and new collections carried out in 18 out of 20 Italian regions. Altogether, 1665 ostracod samples were collected from 1241 new sites visited between 1981 and 2013. Sites were selected to encompass the most widespread types of freshwater aquatic habitats (i.e., pools, ponds, peat bogs, springs and streams, etc.). This field study led to the identification of 89 ostracod species. Five additional taxa remained at the generic level because only few (juvenile) individuals were available or the material was damaged. Of particular interest is the occurrence of four species new to Italy: Candonocypris novaezelandiae, Eucypris elongata, Ilyocypris getica and I. hartmanni. In addition, three putative new species (Pseudolimnocythere sp., Candona sp.1 and Eucypris sp.1) are left in open nomenclature. After synonymising several species and removing invalid taxa reported in the literature, the updated checklist now includes 152 species and 5 taxa identified at supraspecific level, belonging to 57 genera and 12 families (Candonidae, Cyprididae, Cytherideidae, Darwinulidae, Ilyocyprididae, Notodromadidae, Limnocytheridae, Leptocytheridae, Loxochonchidae, Hemicytheridae, Xestoleberididae and Entocytheridae). For each species, its distribution in Italy and its bibliographic records (including synonyms) for Italy are provided.

Benthic foraminifera or Ostracoda? Comparing the accuracy of palaeoenvironmental indicators from a Pleistocene lagoon of the Romagna coastal plain (Italy)

“…Pseudocandona and Candona are freshwater-mesohaline taxa found only within the uppermost samples, frequent in European ponds and lakes (Meisch, 2000;Pieri et al, 2005).…”

Ecology and distribution of living ostracod assemblages in a shallow endorheic lake: the example of the Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, central Italy)

“…and Degrassi, 1995), Bracciano (Mastrantuono, 1995), and Martignano (Mastrantuono and Mancinelli, 2003). Additionally, Pieri et al (2015) reported ostracods from some small mountain lakes in Piedmont, the Dolomites (northern Italy) and the central Apennines (Abruzzo Region). However, only few of these studies analyse the presence of ostracods in their environment, linking their assemblages with the dominant physical, chemical and biological conditions.…”

“…The 19 species collected among the living meiobenthos of Lake Trasimeno are widely recorded in other Italian freshwater or brackish sites (Pieri et al, 2015) but three of them (C. torosa, I. salebrosa, L. stationis) deserve an in-depth discussion.…”

“…salebrosa in Lake Trasimeno is the southernmost appearance of this species in Italy. Mazzini et al (2014b) and Pieri et al (2015) reported it only from northern Italy (Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna regions). More generally, Italy is the Eurasian westernmost country in which this species occurs.…”

“…latialis' from the surroundings of Rome and Sicily, remarked that the dorsal border was faintly inclined forwards. Masi's variety is considered synonym of H. helenae by Pieri et al (2015). Thus, we consider this slightly different feature to fall within the morphological variability of H. helenae.…”