Abstract
In the paper the crenobiont, stygophile and stygobiont malacofauna of the karst area of Popovo Polje around Trebinje (Eastern Herzegovina, BiH) is presented. The materials were collected from springs, caves and interstitial habitats (with a Bou-Rouch pump) at 23 localities. The following species were found: Pisidium cf. personatum A.W. Malm, 1855, Theodoxus callosus (Deshayes, 1833), Sadleriana fluminensis (Küster, 1852), Radomaniola curta (Küster, 1852), Radomaniola cf. bosniaca (Radoman, 1973), Kerkia briani Rysiewska & Osikowski, 2020, Montenegrospeum bogici (Pešić & Glöer, 2012), Litthabitella chilodia (Westerlund, 1886), Travunijana vruljakensis Grego & Glöer, 2019, a new genus and species of the Sadlerianinae, Emmericia ventricosa Brusina, 1870, Iglica cf. absoloni (A.J. Wagner, 1914), Plagigeyeria tribunicae Schütt, 1963, Paladilhiopsis arion Rysiewska & Osikowski, 2021, Valvata montenegrina Glöer & Pešić, 2008, Radix labiata (Rossmässler, 1835), Galba truncatula (O. F. Müller, 1774), Ancylus recurvus Martens, 1783, Ancylus sp. and the amphibiotic Succinea cf. putris (Linnaeus, 1758). The redescription of the genus Travunijana Grego & Glöer, 2019, applying the characteristics of shell, female reproductive organs and penis, is also presented. The new genus and species are described, based on the shell, penis, radula and fragmentary data on the female reproductive organs. For all species, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) is applied to confirm the determination; in the case of Travunijana and the new genus, the nuclear histone H3 locus is also used, in order to infer both their distinctiveness and phylogenetic relationships.
Highlights
The Dinaric Karst is a global hotspot for subterranean biodiversity
This is true in the case of its stygobiont, stygophilic and crenobiont communities
The contribution made by the visiting team of malacologists from the Department of Malacology of the Jagiellonian University’s Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research and from Department of Animal Reproduction, Anatomy and Genomics of University of Agriculture in Krakow, both in Poland, has provided the “Proteus Project” with vital information on the biological characteristics and geographic distribution of a range of genera and species of malacofauna collected at 23 locations connected to 11 separate karst conduit-aquifer ecosystems across a wide area of the Trebišnjica River Basin
Summary
The Dinaric Karst is a global hotspot for subterranean biodiversity. One of the objectives of the Project is to fully characterise these ecosystems and in doing so, to provide an inventory of their biodiversity In this context, the contribution made by the visiting team of malacologists from the Department of Malacology of the Jagiellonian University’s Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research and from Department of Animal Reproduction, Anatomy and Genomics of University of Agriculture in Krakow, both in Poland, has provided the “Proteus Project” with vital information on the biological characteristics and geographic distribution of a range of genera and species of malacofauna collected at 23 locations connected to 11 separate karst conduit-aquifer ecosystems across a wide area of the Trebišnjica River Basin. The 23 sampling locations were purposely selected by the Director of the “Proteus Project” to represent a typical range of karst hydrological features, such as cave resurgence springs (vrelo), ponors and estavelles, either underground or at surface outlets or inlets
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