Mollusc species from the Pontocaspian region – an expert opinion list

By

Wesselingh, Frank
Neubauer, Thomas A.
Anistratenko, V. V.
Vinarski, Maxim V.
Yanina, Tamara
Poorten, Jan Johan ter
Kijashko, Pavel
Albrecht, Christian
Anistratenko, Olga Yu.
D'Hont, Anouk
Frolov, Pavel
Martínez Gándara, Alberto
Gittenberger, Adriaan
Gogaladze, Aleksandre
Karpinsky, Mikhail
Lattuada, Matteo
Popa, Luis Ovidiu
Sands, Arthur F.
Velde, Sabrina van de
Vandendorpe, Justine
Wilke, Thomas

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

827

Pages

31-124

Subjects

Aral Sea , Bivalves , Black Sea , Caspian Sea , Conservation , gastropods , Nomenclature , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.827.31365

 

Abstract

Defining and recording the loss of species diversity is a daunting task, especially if identities of species under threat are not fully resolved. An example is the Pontocaspian biota. The mostly endemic invertebrate faunas that evolved in the Black Sea – Caspian Sea – Aral Sea region and live under variable salinity conditions are undergoing strong change, yet within several groups species boundaries are not well established. Collection efforts in the past decade have failed to produce living material of various species groups whose taxonomic status is unclear. This lack of data precludes an integrated taxonomic assessment to clarify species identities and estimate species richness of Pontocaspian biota combining morphological, ecological, genetic, and distribution data. In this paper, we present an expert-working list of Pontocaspian and invasive mollusc species associated to Pontocaspian habitats. This list is based on published and unpublished data on morphology, ecology, anatomy, and molecular biology. It allows us to (1) document Pontocaspian mollusc species, (2) make species richness estimates, and (3) identify and discuss taxonomic uncertainties. The endemic Pontocaspian mollusc species richness is estimated between 55 and 99 species, but there are several groups that may harbour cryptic species. Even though the conservation status of most of the species is not assessed or data deficient, our observations point to deterioration for many of the Pontocaspian species.