Rediscovery and redescription of Niphargus enslini Karaman, 1932 (Amphipoda, Niphargidae) in southern Germany

By

Weber, Dieter
Brad, Traian
Stoch, Fabio
Flot, Jean-François

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

Subterranean Biology

Volume

40

Pages

65--89

Subjects

28S rRNA , Baden-Württemberg , COI , integrative taxonomy , Niphargus orcinus , Niphargus virei , species delimitation

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.40.73017

 

Abstract

Niphargus enslini Karaman, 1932 was collected only once in 1905 from the Falkensteiner Höhle (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Two years after its description, the species was synonymized with Niphargus virei and not studied any more. During recent surveys on German niphargids, further samples collected in this cave did not yield N. enslini specimens, but this species was collected in the Blätterteighöhle and in the Schwarzer Brunnen, two caves located in Baden-Württemberg and intercepting the same karstic aquifer feeding Falkensteiner Höhle. In an integrative taxonomic approach, we carefully studied the morphology of the newly collected specimens and sequenced two molecular markers (fragments of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene) to test for possible conspecificity of N. enslini with N. virei. Morphological analysis confirmed that N. enslini is distinct from the N. virei species complex. We provide a redescription of newly collected material, together with new drawings of a more than 100 years old topotypic female. We briefly discuss the putative origin of N. enslini and the age of its split from the N. virei species complex.