Abstract
Niphargus enslini Karaman, 1932 was collected only once in 1905 from the Falkensteiner Höhle (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Two years after its description, the species was synonymized with Niphargus virei and not studied any more. During recent surveys on German niphargids, further samples collected in this cave did not yield N. enslini specimens, but this species was collected in the Blätterteighöhle and in the Schwarzer Brunnen, two caves located in Baden-Württemberg and intercepting the same karstic aquifer feeding Falkensteiner Höhle. In an integrative taxonomic approach, we carefully studied the morphology of the newly collected specimens and sequenced two molecular markers (fragments of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene) to test for possible conspecificity of N. enslini with N. virei. Morphological analysis confirmed that N. enslini is distinct from the N. virei species complex. We provide a redescription of newly collected material, together with new drawings of a more than 100 years old topotypic female. We briefly discuss the putative origin of N. enslini and the age of its split from the N. virei species complex.
Highlights
Species of the genus Niphargus Schiödte, 1849 have been intensively studied for more than 170 years and more than 400 species of this genus have been described so far (Horton et al 2021)
A detail of the 28S ML tree is reported in Fig. 3 to clarify the relationships within this clade (N. virei A, B, and C are the acronyms used by Léfebure et al 2006 in their attempt to separate three putative cryptic species within the N. virei species complex)
The haplotype network based on c oxidase subunit I (COI) (Fig. 4) clearly confirmed the separation of the four species within the target clade, showing that N. enslini is the species with the greatest genetic distance from other ones
Summary
Species of the genus Niphargus Schiödte, 1849 have been intensively studied for more than 170 years and more than 400 species of this genus have been described so far (Horton et al 2021). Most the descriptions of the German species were performed using morphological characters alone. Niphargus enslini Karaman, 1932 was described based on four specimens collected in 1905 in the Falkensteiner Höhle by Eduard Enslin. Karaman’s (1932) description and drawings corresponded to the taxonomic standards of their time but are nowadays considered poor and incomplete. Karaman (1932) suggested that N. enslini was closely related in morphology and habitus to Niphargus orcinus Joseph, 1869 (a Slovenian species, at that time confused with the French Niphargus virei Chevreux, 1896). A holotype was not defined, so all the four specimens used in original description must be considered as syntypes
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