Heterotardigrada of Two Submarine Cavesin S. Domino Island (Tremiti Islands) in the Mediterranean Sea with the Description of Two New Species of Stygarctidae

D'addabbo, Maria Gallo; Grimaldi, Susanna De Zio; Sandulli, Roberto

doi:10.1078/0044-5231-00043

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Until now, the Orosei Gulf seems to provide the best habitat, and it represents the widest distribution of tardigrades families and species. Among the new records of Sardinia, it is worth noting the finding of (a) Parastygarctus mediterranicus Gallo D'Addabbo et al, 2001 at 30 m depth, previously known only from two subtidal caves at the Tremiti Islands; and (b) two new species, Florarctus n. sp. and Batillipes n.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Further studies on the marine tardigrade fauna from Sardinia (Italy)

D’Addabbo¹,

Gallo²,

Leonardis³

et al. 2007

J Limnol

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Further studies on the marine tardigrade fauna from Sardinia (Italy)

D’Addabbo¹,

Gallo²,

Leonardis³

et al. 2007

J Limnol

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“…Several marine caves in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Australia have been investigated for the presence of meiofauna. Many species of nematodes, gastrotrichs, tardigrades, crustaceans, polychaetes and aplacophorans were found and several new species of tardigrades (Grimaldi de Zio et al 1982a, b;Villora-Moreno 1996;Boesgaard and Kristensen 2001;Gallo D'Addabbo et al 2001;Martínez García et al 2009;Jørgensen et al 2014), kinorhynchs (Sørensen et al 2000), gastrotrichs (Todaro et al 2001) and priapulids (Todaro and Shirley 2003;Schmidt-Rhaesa et al 2013) were also described.…”

Section: Meiofauna From Submarine Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The finding of Actinarctus neretinus, previously described from an Italian submarine cave (Grimaldi de Zio et al 1982b), supports the theory that cave meiofauna might be related to the deep-sea fauna, as suggested by Danielopol (1990), and that caves could be considered as 'refuges' for ancient fauna dating back to Tethys (Janssen et al 2013). Gallo D'Addabbo et al (2001) described two new species of tardigrades (Parastygarctus mediterraneus and Pseudostygarctus rugosus) from two submarine caves of St. Domino Island (Violets Cave and Moray Eels Cave, Tremiti Islands, Italy), along with 23 additional species already known from the Mediterranean. Most recently, a new tardigrade genus and species Quisarctus yasumurai was found in a Japanese submarine cave off Iejima, Ryukyu Islands (Fujimoto 2015).…”

Section: Meiofauna From Submarine Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review

et al. 2017

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Extreme marine environments cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface and offer many opportunities for investigating the biological responses and adaptations of organisms to stressful life conditions. Extreme marine environments are sometimes associated with ephemeral and unstable ecosystems, but can host abundant, often endemic and welladapted meiofaunal species. In this review, we present an integrated view of the biodiversity, ecology and physiological responses of marine meiofauna inhabiting several extreme marine environments (mangroves, submarine caves, Polar ecosystems, hypersaline areas, hypoxic/anoxic environments, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, carcasses/sunken woods, deep-sea canyons, deep hypersaline anoxic basins [DHABs] and hadal zones). Foraminiferans, nematodes and copepods are abundant in almost all of these habitats and are dominant in deep-sea ecosystems. The presence and dominance of some other taxa that are normally less common may be typical of certain extreme conditions. Kinorhynchs are particularly well adapted to cold seeps and other environments that experience drastic changes in salinity, rotifers are well represented in polar ecosystems and loriciferans seem to be the only metazoan able to survive multiple stressors in DHABs. As well as natural processes, human activities may generate stressful conditions, including deoxygenation, acidification and rises in temperature. The behaviour and physiology of different meiofaunal taxa, such as some foraminiferans, nematode and copepod species, can provide vital information on how organisms may respond to these challenges and can provide a warning signal of anthropogenic impacts. From an evolutionary perspective, the discovery of new meiofauna taxa from extreme environments very often sheds light on phylogenetic relationships, while understanding how meiofaunal organisms are able to survive or even flourish in these conditions can explain evolutionary pathways. Finally, there are multiple potential economic benefits to be gained from ecological, biological, physiological and evolutionary studies of meiofauna in extreme environments. Despite all the advantages offered by meiofauna studies from extreme environments, there is still an urgent need to foster meiofauna research in terms of composition, ecology, biology and physiology focusing on extreme environments.

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“…Due to their peculiar environmental and biotic characteristics, submarine caves may constitute a sheltered and favourable environment for meiofaunal communities, thus representing a very interesting habitat for researchers dealing with meiofauna biodiversity and ecology (Todaro et al, 2006b). Studies on the meiofauna communities in marine caves are generally scarce and have been published only over the last two decades (Villora-Moreno, 1996;Gallo-D'Addabbo et al, 2001;Boesgaard & Kristensen, 2001). Most of these studies described new species of some meiofauna taxa, such as Tardigrades (Villora-Moreno, 1996;Gallo-D'Addabbo et al, 2001), Kinorhynchs (Sørensen et al, 2000), Priapulids (Todaro & Shirley, 2003) and Gastrotrichs (Todaro et al, 2006b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on the meiofauna communities in marine caves are generally scarce and have been published only over the last two decades (Villora-Moreno, 1996;Gallo-D'Addabbo et al, 2001;Boesgaard & Kristensen, 2001). Most of these studies described new species of some meiofauna taxa, such as Tardigrades (Villora-Moreno, 1996;Gallo-D'Addabbo et al, 2001), Kinorhynchs (Sørensen et al, 2000), Priapulids (Todaro & Shirley, 2003) and Gastrotrichs (Todaro et al, 2006b). Until now the study of the entire meiofaunal community in Mediterranean submarine caves has been neglected and detailed information regarding the taxa of Nematoda (in terms of taxonomic and trophic group composition) is not available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meiofaunal Diversityand Nematode Assemblages in Two Submarine Caves of a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area

Ape¹,

Arigo²,

Gristina³

et al. 2015

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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Submarine caves are environments of great ecological interest because of the occurrence of peculiar conditions, such as the attenuation of light and reduced water turnover, which can determine oligotrophic conditions from the entrance to the interior part of the cave. These environmental gradients may influence the distribution of the communities inhabiting submarine caves. In this study we investigated the meiofaunal community and nematode assemblages from the sediments inside and outside two submarine caves in Ustica Island Marine Protected Area (southwest Italy): Grotta Falconiera and Grotta dei Gamberi. Consistently with a general pattern of distribution reported by several studies on benthic organisms, our results showed a decrease in the abundance and changes in the taxa composition of the meiofaunal community along the exterior-interior axis of the caves, also highlighting the dissimilarity between the dark and semi-dark communities. We found a significant influence of the availability of organic matter (i.e. phytopigment concentrations) on the distribution and composition of both the meiofauna and the nematode community inside the caves. Different nematode assemblages characterized the inside and the outside of the two caves, with species occurring exclusively in the sediment of both caves, particularly in the dark portions, and completely absent in the external sediments. Environmental features of submarine caves may affect food resources inside the caves and consequently trophic nematode assemblages. Our results showed a difference in feeding strategies between nematodes inhabiting the caves and those living outside, suggesting that in the two caves investigated, bacteria might represent the most important food source for nematodes.

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Heterotardigrada of Two Submarine Cavesin S. Domino Island (Tremiti Islands) in the Mediterranean Sea with the Description of Two New Species of Stygarctidae

Cited by 22 publications

References 4 publications

Further studies on the marine tardigrade fauna from Sardinia (Italy)

Further studies on the marine tardigrade fauna from Sardinia (Italy)

Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review

Meiofaunal Diversityand Nematode Assemblages in Two Submarine Caves of a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area

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