Labidostomma motasi rediscovered: a witness of the Messinian crisis?(Acari: Labidostommatidae)

Abstract

Summary Labidostomma motasi Iavorschi, 1992 was discovered and described from a single female in the newly discovered hypoxic sulfidic, ancient and isolated Movile Cave (Romania). Male and female specimens collected recently brought new data for the description of this species. The morphology shows affinities and close relation with the species allied to L. integrum Berlese, 1911 which is distributed all around the Mediterranean Basin and Asia. As representatives of the family are also known from Baltic Amber (more than 40 My), this blind species in Movile Cave first attests of a probable adaptation of an epigean species to the cave environment: a model of two congeneric and sympatric species, one living in a cave and the second (L. integrum) living in soils in a region where the labidostommatid fauna is well referenced. This species may have migrated in caves, a winning option which allowed it to survive during past climatic variation since Miocene. Genetic data obtained from three specimens of this species were compared with the data published in Genbank showing a clear distinction between the subgenera Labidostomma Kramer, 1879 and Nicoletiella Canestrini, 1882. Overall, this species completes the long list of endemic invertebrates found in the sulfidic groundwater ecosystem of Movile Cave. Knowledge of the history of this cave system allowed us to estimate the isolation of this species in the Movile labyrinth during the ancient geological episodes following the Messinian Crisis.