Crustaceans from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: Diversity, Origin, and Endemism

Abstract

We review the crustacean diversity found in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB), integrating published and collection records. A total of 45 species was found representing 4 classes, 18 families, and 32 genera; Copepoda with 26 species is the most diverse group. Of the total diversity, seven species are endemic to the CCB: three copepods, two amphipods, one isopod, and one shrimp; there is one introduced species, the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii; and there are two cosmopolitan synanthropic species of terrestrial isopods. The rest of the species have wide distribution ranges. Regarding their origin, most species belong to lineages that are distributed mostly in North America that find their southernmost presence in or around the CCB. Further, many of the lineages present are old, some originating in Cretaceous times, strengthening the idea that the CCB has been in a stable land mass for a long period of time. Another interesting pattern, derived from the distribution of several species of copepods and the existence of cryptic species in amphipods and shrimps, is that the CCB might have served for temperate species as a refuge during glaciations.