Abstract
This study deals with the biodiversity and distribution of cavernicolous Amphipoda in caves of the Arabika massif (Western Caucasus). The Sarma, Trojka and Orlinoe Gnezdo caves were explored during speleological expeditions over the years 2011–12. Two new species of Amphipoda were found: a sub-surface dweller Zenkevitchia sandroruffoi sp. nov. is reported from the Sarma, Trojka and Orlinoe Gnezdo caves at depths from -30 m to -350 m; the second one, a deep dweller Adaugammarus pilosus gen. et sp. nov. is reported from the Sarma Cave at depths of -1270 to -1700 m. Adaugammarus gen. nov. shares similarities with Typhlogammarus Schäferna, 1907 and Zenkevitchia Birstein, 1940. The species Anopogammarus birsteini Derzhavin, 1945 is also re-described herein based on new samples that suggest close affinity of this species with the family Gammaridae. The original taxonomic combination is resurrected for Zenkevitchia revazi Birstein & Ljovuschkin, 1970, comb. resurr. (from Anopogammarus Derzhavin, 1945). To accommodate morphologically different species in the genus Zenkevitchia, two new groups are proposed. These are the admirabilis-group (Z. admirabilis Birstein, 1940 and Z. yakovi Sidorov, 2015) and the sandroruffoi-group (Z. sandroruffoi sp. nov. and Z. revazi). An updated molecular (mt-cox1) phylogeny, an identification key to the genera and a distribution map for the typhlogammarid amphipod species of Transcaucasia are provided.
Highlights
The Arabika karst massif is one of the largest and highest in the limestone band of the Western Caucasus
The family Typhlogammaridae was proposed by Bousfield (1978) and consists of five genera: Typhlogammarus Schäferna, 1907; Metohia Absolon, 1927; Zenkevitchia Birstein, 1940; Anopogammarus Derzhavin, 1945 and Accubogammarus G
The samples of blind, unpigmented aquatic amphipods were collected in three limestone caves; the meters refer to the explored cave depth: Sarma (-1830 m), Trojka (-257 m), and Orlinoe Gnezdo (-75 m) in the Arabika massif of Abkhazia (Fig. 1, Table 1)
Summary
The Arabika karst massif is one of the largest and highest in the limestone band of the Western Caucasus. It is bounded by the canyons of the rivers Kutu-Sara, Gega and Bzyb on the North and East, by the Black Sea coast on the Southwest and by the valleys of the Khashupse and Tsandrypsh rivers in the West. The following separation and nomenclature for the speleological areas of the Arabika massif is adopted: the Ortobalagan trough, Gel’geluk trough, Treugol’nik caving district (Zont-Utug-Khyrka), Minskaja Valley trough and the Dzou tract. The family Typhlogammaridae was proposed by Bousfield (1978) and consists of five genera: Typhlogammarus Schäferna, 1907; Metohia Absolon, 1927; Zenkevitchia Birstein, 1940; Anopogammarus Derzhavin, 1945 and Accubogammarus G.
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