Comparative ecology of Ostracoda (Crustacea) in two rheocrene springs (Bolu, Turkey)

Abstract

A total of ten taxa belonging to the class Ostracoda of the Crustacea (Darwinula stevensoni, Candona neglecta, Cypria ophthalmica, Ilyocypris bradyi, Prionocypris zenkeri, Herpetocypris chevreuxi, Psychrodromus olivaceus, Heterocypris incongruens, Scottia pseudobrowniana, Eucypris sp.) were collected from two rheocrene Darwinula stevensoni springs (Cetin Bey and Caygokpinar springs) on 15 separate occasions between November 2002 and November 2004. Almost all of the species identified exhibit cosmopolitan distributions – at least in the Holarctic region. The presence of Scottia pseudobrowniana represents the second recording of this species in the ostracod fauna of Turkey. The dominant taxa in both springs was Cy. ophthalmica, I. bradyi, Pr. zenkeri and Ca. neglecta. Correlation analyses suggested a significant positive relationship in relative abundance between I. bradyi, Pr. zenkeri and Cy. ophthalmica. Species composition differed significantly between the upper and lower study sites for each spring, but differences could not be detected between sites at the same elevation across sites. Environmental tolerance index (ETI) values suggest that species with high optima and tolerance ranges show cosmopolitan characteristics.