Colour polymorphism in common primrose (Primula vulgaris Huds.): many colours–many species?

Primula vulgaris exhibits flower colour polymorphism in the eastern part of its range, especially pronounced on the NE coast of the Black Sea. This polymorphism in the Caucasian populations has been taxonomically described and some segregated species are listed as rare and endangered. We used sequence variation in two chloroplast noncoding regions (trnL–trnF and rpll32–trnL) and the complete nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of ribosomal DNA region to investigate correspondence between flower colour and geographical distribution of both nuclear and chloroplast haplotypes. It appears that variability in these DNA regions does not correlate with flower colour, being, however, clearly structured geographically. We used nested clade analysis to explore this geographical structure. It seems that the territory of the Colchis refugium on the E coast of the Black Sea contains both the highest flower colour and haplotype diversities. The results suggest that common primroses colonized the NE coast of the Black Sea from this refugium, spreading along the coast westward. At the same time, the analysis of ITS haplotypes indicates that P. vulgaris colonized the Crimea from NW Anatolia. This makes it clear that no segregated species can be recognized within flower colour polymorphic P. vulgaris in the Caucasus region. However, its phylogeography needs further detailed study on a broader scale.     

Isolated population of the Middle Eastern Phoenicolacerta laevis from the Georgian Black Sea Coast,and its genetic closeness to populations from southern Turkey

The Lebanon Lizard (Phoenicolacerta laevis) occurs on the Levantine coast and scattered populations are found in isolated coastal habitats along the southern and south-western coast of Turkey. We found an isolated but dense population of this species at and around the castle of Anaklia on Georgia’s Black Sea Coast, near the mouth of the river Enguri. The analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence suggests closeness of this population to the populations in the provinces of Kahramanmara?, Adana and Içel in southern Turkey, rather than to those in Lebanon and Israel. It is thought that the species was introduced from a Turkish region to Anaklia, which was an important trade location at the eastern Black Sea coast until the late 18^th century. This is the first established location of this species outside the eastern Mediterranean area. Climate and competition with rock lizards of the genus Darevskia are the most likely reasons preventing expansion of the species into the neighboring areas of Western Georgia.     

Acartia tonsa: a species new for the Black Sea fauna

The presence of Acartia tonsa in Black Sea waters (South Crimean coast, Ukraine) is reported for the first time. A. tonsa may be a recently introduced species in the Black Sea. Morphological features of the adults have been shown by S.E.M.     

Phytogeography of upwelling areas in the Arabian Sea

Aim The identification of the marine plant communities of two islands from different upwelling areas of the Arabian Sea, with a similar diversity in biotopes. A comparison of the species composition of these macroalgal communities and their biogeographical affinities within the Indian Ocean should give insight into the biogeographical position of the Arabian Sea within the larger Indian Ocean. The incorporation of environmental parameters in the analysis is instructive in understanding their importance in shaping the diverse marine assemblages of the Arabian Sea. Location Arabian Sea: (1) the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen; 12.47° N, 53.87° E) in the Somali upwelling area, (2) Masirah Island (Oman; 20.42° N, 58.79° E) in the upwelling area of the southern Arabian Peninsula. Methods The marine flora of different biotopes around both islands were examined by means of qualitative assessments. Ordination analysis [detrended correspondence analysis (DCA)] was used to identify the different plant communities and to correlate these with environmental parameters. The species composition of the identified communities were compared (tripartite similarity index) and their biogeographical affinity with nations bordering the Indian Ocean was determined. Indicator species analyses were performed to identify the characteristic species of the different plant communities and their biotopes. Results The DCA analysis shows a clustering of sites (plant communities) corresponding with their geographical position, linked in turn to the prevailing environmental conditions of the different coastal areas. The combined interpretation of the ordination, similarity and biogeographical analyses results in the aggregation of similar plant communities of both upwelling areas into four biotopes. Main conclusions The north coast communities of Socotra and the west coast communities of Masirah can be grouped into three biotopes related to the degree of exposure (to upwelling) and sedimentation. These biotopes are typified by indicator species, characteristic for specific substrata, and have a high biogeographical affinity with the East African coast. The plant communities of Socotra's south coast and Masirah's east coast constitute a fourth biotope, being diverse and species rich, typified by a large proportion of red macroalgae including the characteristic species of the unique Arabian Sea flora. This biotope has a pronounced biogeographical affinity with distant regions (disjunctly distributed taxa) as South Africa's East Coast and Western Australia. Within the different biotopes, the communities of Masirah are more divergent from an East African flora in comparison to Socotra, the latter being a stepping stone between the East African and Arabian Sea flora.     

Description of two new species of the genus Gobio (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Black Sea coast of Turkey

Thesystematics of the genus Gobio, especially of the populations on the southern Black Sea coast, seems to be still far from being resolved. Seven species were rec-orded from the northern Black Sea coast while three species were recognized from the southern Black Sea coast. We examined in total 43 specimens from K?z?l?rmak River (southern Black Sea basin), 80 specimens from Çoruh River (the Western Cau-casus of the Black Sea basin), 14 specimens from Rioni River (the Western Caucasus of the Black Sea basin), and 6 specimens from Kherota and Shakhe Rivers (the Western Caucasus of the Black Sea basin). Based on an analysis of 32 metric and 5 meristic data as well as the number of vertebrae, we concluded that the K?z?l?rmak and Coruh populations are two distinct, unnamed species, and we describe them here as Gobio kizilirmakensis from the K?z?l?rmak River and G. artvinicus from the Çoruh River.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1ED54FB1-588F-4412-B376-4BE4E4516EB1     

Effect of salinity on vegetative growth and sexual reproduction of algae from the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ardissonea</Emphasis> de Notaris (Bacillariophyta)

Effect of salinity on vegetative growth and sexual reproduction was investigated in laboratory cultures of a benthic diatom Ardissonea crystallina (C. Agardh) Grunow from the Black Sea and vegetative growth of Ardissonea sp. from the coast of Martinique, the Atlantic Ocean. Typical water salinity in the places where the populations inhabit differs two times. It was shown that the clones of both populations have a broad tolerance and great ability to adapt to changes in salinity. Cells of different size (i.e., in different stages of the life cycle) responded differently to desalination. Salinities optimal for vegetative growth of these species were not the same. Ardissonea from the coast of Martinique was more sensitive to low levels of salinity as compared with A. crystallina from the Black Sea. It was surprising that salinity optimal for vegetative growth and sexual reproduction of the Black Sea species did not coincide with the real salinity level of the Black Sea. Position of physiological optimums indicates an oceanic (or Mediterranean) origin of the Black Sea population of A. crystallina.     

The northern gannet (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Morus bassanus</Emphasis>, Pelecaniformes,Sulidae) in the Black Sea in the Late Holocene

Fossil remains of gannets were found during excavations in the port area of the ancient city of Chersonesus (Sevastopol) in the layers dating to the 5th and 10th centuries AD. Judging by the joint findings of gannet bones and those of other marine fish-eating diving birds, they had been captured in fishing nets, where they died while diving for fish. The species composition of the aquatic birds accompanying the findings of gannets suggests that gannets appeared on the northern coast of the Black Sea mainly during cold seasons. The distribution and number of findings of gannets in the northern Black Sea region indicates that these birds were widespread there. Gannets could have appeared in the Black Sea from the Mediterranean Sea penetrating there from the Atlantic Ocean during long eastward migrations. Gannets appeared in the fauna of the Black Sea no later than the 6th century BC and became extinct no earlier than the tenth century AD, probably surviving up until the 14th–15th centuries AD.     

Climatic responses of Pinus brutia along the Black Sea coast of Crimea and the Caucasus

Pinus brutia var. pityusa (Steven) Silba (Calabrian pine) is considered a vulnerable species because of reductions in its population sizes linked to habitat decline in recent decades. Global warming alongside the collateral modification of precipitation regimes may markedly affect the distribution ranges of this species.In this dendroecological study, we identified the most influential climatic factors affecting the radial growth of P. brutia on the northern and eastern coasts of the Black Sea among the northern refugia of this species. Chronologies from five sites located on the Crimea Peninsula and the Caucasian coast and exposed to varying climatic conditions were used in this analysis. The study of environmental factors controlling the growth of P. brutia trees in the coastal populations of Crimea and the Caucasus revealed that within the longitudinal transect, which encompasses a specific range of climatic conditions, correlations between climate and the growth of P. brutia under analogous orographic conditions are similar.Aridisation of the dry Crimean climate in 1981–2012 led to an increase in the tree growth response. In the same period, populations of P. brutia trees growing in the subtropical climate of the Black Sea coast exhibited a weakened growth response to the point of disappearance. The northern populations of P. brutia, which are at the climatic limit of the species’ distribution, are exposed to a high risk of increasing climate aridisation. Our findings could provide useful information for further research on the effects of climate change on Black Sea coastal forest ecosystems.     

On the formation of net phytoplankton patches in the southern Black Sea during the spring

Species composition, community structure and spatial distribution of net phytoplankton in the southern Black Sea have been studied. In the fraction over 55 m, diatoms were found to be predominant in cell abundance and followed by dinoflagellates. Net phytoplankters were found to be more abundant in the southwestern sector, especially near the Bosporus and near Sakarya River mouth. MDS (Multi-Dimensional Scaling) analysis has projected four distinct patches along the coast, two of which appear to occupy smaller regions compared to the main western and eastern patches which have lower species numbers and diversity. The diatom species Pseudo-nitzschia seriata and Cerataulina pelagica and the dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans and Scrippsiella trochoidea dominate the west, while diatom species Synedra acus and Asterionella formosa together with Microspora sp. and Ankistrodesmus falcatus from chlorophyceae dominate the east.     

Harpacticoiden (Crustacea, Copepoda) aus dem Küstengrundwasser der französischen Mittelmeerküste

Investigations of the ground water of the French Mediterranean coast gave 28 different species of harpacticoid copepods. Among them, six species are new to the French coast and three species and one form are described as new, viz. Ectinosoma mediterraneum sp.n., Sigmatidium rouchi sp.n., Ameira atlántica mediterránea forma n., and Taurocletodes gallicus sp.n. Comparison of the harpacticoid fauna of the French coast with other marine districts shows close relations to the fauna of the Black Sea, while the relations to the Atlantic coast (Portugal) and the Baltic Sea (Bay of Kiel) are only remote. A genus is established, Taurocletodes gen.n. Sigmatidium noodti sp.n. is described from the Sea of Marmara.     

Distribution and morphology of the sea lamprey from the Balkan coast of the Adriatic Sea

In contrast to the Apennine Peninsula coast, the relatively rare occurrence of sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus in the Balkan Peninsula (eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea) is probably due to the closeness of the steep mountains causing unsuitable hydrological conditions of streams and impeded access to the coast. Most specimens are probably represented by invaders carried from the Mediterranean and other regions of the Adriatic Sea. Morphology was similar to that recorded for the sea lampreys from other geographical regions.     

Cestode communities in non-breeding populations of four grebe species (Aves: Podicipedidae) from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

Cestode communities in Podiceps cristatus, P. grisegena, P. nigricollis and Tachybaptus ruficollis during their migrations and overwintering are studied at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The infracommunities exhibit high richness, abundance and dominance, and low diversity and similarity. The component communities have a similar taxonomic structure at the levels higher than species, a small number of core species and a high portion of grebe specialists in the richness and abundance. The comparison with cestode communities in grebes from Canada (Stock & Holmes, 1987) reveals several differences and similarities. The higher richness and abundance of the infracommunities in Canada are explained by the constant conditions of breeding habitats enhancing higher transmission rates. At the component community level, there is a significant difference between the two species lists. The degree of parasite exchange among the grebe species in Bulgaria is lower. Several characters of cestode component communities in grebes do not depend on either historical factors or different habitats. These are the similar patterns of the taxonomic structure at the levels higher than species, almost the same list of generalists, the participation of specialists of anatids, and the leading role of grebe specialists in the structure.     

First record of shape Saturnius papernai Overstreet, 1977 in the Black Sea,with a review of the genus shape Saturnius Manter, 1969 (Digenea,Bunocotylidae)

Saturnius papernai Overstreet, 1977 is recorded from the stomach of Mugil cephalus L. (Osteichthyes, Mugilidae) in the Black Sea (a new geographical record) off the southern part of the Bulgarian coast. The species is redescribed and figured on the basis of the Black Sea specimens. Some amendments to the generic diagnosis are proposed concerning the presence of a uterine seminal receptacle and a posterior (third) circular flange. It is proposed that the occurrence of S. papernai is a feature of one of the three shoals of M. cephalus in the Black Sea, i.e. the Balkan shoal. In a zoogeographical analysis, S. papernai is regarded as a Mediterranean immigrant, probably a characteristic element of only the South-Western Faunistic Region of the Black Sea. A review of the genus Saturnius Manter, 1969 is presented.     

Dispersal routes and species identification of freshwater animals in Northern Europe: A review of molecular evidence

According to genetic data, North European freshwater areas were colonized from refugia along the eastern Atlantic coast, in southern and eastern basins of Baltic Sea, in Siberia, North America, and areas of the Caspian and Black seas. Probably, a refugium also existed in Southern Norway. Colonization from the sea also took place. The taxonomic position of some forms, such as members of the complex groups of Arctic chars and coregonids, was refined in the course of combined studies including morphological analysis and molecular markers.     

Fungi ahoy! Diversity on marine wooden substrata in the high North

Marine fungi are severely understudied in the polar regions. We used molecularly identified cultures to study fungi inhabiting 50 intertidal and sea-floor logs along the North Norwegian coast. The aim was to explore the taxonomic and ecological diversity and to examine factors shaping the marine wood-inhabiting fungal communities. The 577 pure cultures analyzed clustered into 147 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 97 % ITS sequence similarity. Ascomycota dominated, but OTUs belonging to Basidiomycota, Mucoromycotina and Chytridiomycota were also isolated. Nine OTUs could not be assigned to any fungal phylum. Almost half of the OTUs were considered non-marine. The western and eastern part of the Norwegian Barents Sea coast hosted different communities. Geography, substratum and site level variables contributed to shaping these communities. We characterized a previously overlooked fungal community in a poorly studied area, discovered high diversity and report many taxa for the first time from the marine environment.     

Length–weight and length–length relationships for four shad species along the western Black Sea coast of Turkey

This study investigates length–weight and length–length relationships of four shad species (Alosa caspia caspia, Alosa immaculata, Alosa maeotica, Alosa tanaica) captured in the western Black Sea coast of Turkey. A total of 686 specimens, 355 females and 331 males, were caught by gill net, trammel net and longline from 2006 through 2007 along the western Black Sea coast of Turkey. The relationships of total length (TL), fork length (FL) and standard length (SL) are presented for inhabiting in the Black Sea four shad species and the relationships between total length (TL) and body weight (BW) from the two localities, Sile and Karasu in the western Black Sea coast of Turkey. The Length–weight relationships generally indicated positive allometric growth in Alosa species for both males and females and an isometric growth for A. immaculata females. The coefficient b ranged from a minimum 2.97 for females of A. immaculata to a maximum 3.75 for both sexes A. c. caspia. Results indicated that the length–length relationship between the three length measurements were highly correlated (r² > 0.99, P < 0.001).     

Saturnius minutus n. sp. and S. dimitrovi n. sp. (Digenea: Hemiuridae) from Mugil cephalus L. (Teleostei: Mugilidae), with a multivariate morphological analysis of the Mediterranean species of Saturnius Manter, 1969

Three species of the bunocotyline genus Saturnius Manter, 1969 are described from the stomach lining of mugilid fishes of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Two of the species are new: S. minutus n. sp. occurs in Mugil cephalus off the Mediterranean coast of Spain; and S. dimitrovi n. sp., a parasite of M. cephalus off the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and the Spanish Mediterranean coast, was originally described as S. papernai by Dimitrov et al. (1998). In addition, S. papernai Overstreet, 1977 is redescribed from M. cephalus off the Spanish Mediterranean coast and from Liza aurata and L. saliens off the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The three species are distinguished morphometrically using univariate and multivariate analyses. These results were verified using Linear Discriminant Analysis which correctly allocated all specimens to their species designations based on morphology (i.e. 100% successful classification rate) and assigned almost all specimens to the correct population (locality). The following variables were selected for optimal separation between samples: the length of the forebody, ventral sucker and posterior testis, the length and width of the posteriormost pseudosegment, and the width of the muscular flange at ventral sucker level.     

Spatial Biodiversity Patterns of Madagascar's Amphibians and Reptiles

Madagascar has become a model region for testing hypotheses of species diversification and biogeography, and many studies have focused on its diverse and highly endemic herpetofauna. Here we combine species distribution models of a near-complete set of species of reptiles and amphibians known from the island with body size data and a tabulation of herpetofaunal communities from field surveys, compiled up to 2008. Though taxonomic revisions and novel distributional records arose since compilation, we are confident that the data are appropriate for inferring and comparing biogeographic patterns among these groups of organisms. We observed species richness of both amphibians and reptiles was highest in the humid rainforest biome of eastern Madagascar, but reptiles also show areas of high richness in the dry and subarid western biomes. In several amphibian subclades, especially within the Mantellidae, species richness peaks in the central eastern geographic regions while in reptiles different subclades differ distinctly in their richness centers. A high proportion of clades and subclades of both amphibians and reptiles have a peak of local endemism in the topographically and bioclimatically diverse northern geographic regions. This northern area is roughly delimited by a diagonal spanning from 15.5°S on the east coast to ca. 15.0°S on the west coast. Amphibian diversity is highest at altitudes between 800–1200 m above sea-level whereas reptiles have their highest richness at low elevations, probably reflecting the comparatively large number of species specialized to the extended low-elevation areas in the dry and subarid biomes. We found that the range sizes of both amphibians and reptiles strongly correlated with body size, and differences between the two groups are explained by the larger body sizes of reptiles. However, snakes have larger range sizes than lizards which cannot be readily explained by their larger body sizes alone. Range filling, i.e., the amount of suitable habitat occupied by a species, is less expressed in amphibians than in reptiles, possibly reflecting their lower dispersal capacity. Taxonomic composition of communities assessed by field surveys is largely explained by bioclimatic regions, with communities from the dry and especially subarid biomes distinctly differing from humid and subhumid biomes.     

Molecular evidence of Pleistocene bidirectional faunal exchange between Europe and the Near East: the case of the bicoloured shrew (Crocidura leucodon, Soricidae)

We sequenced 1077 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and 511 bp of the nuclear Apolipoprotein B gene in bicoloured shrew (Crocidura leucodon, Soricidae) populations ranging from France to Georgia. The aims of the study were to identify the main genetic clades within this species and the influence of Pleistocene climatic variations on the respective clades. The mitochondrial analyses revealed a European clade distributed from France eastwards to north-western Turkey and a Near East clade distributed from Georgia to Romania; the two clades separated during the Middle Pleistocene. We clearly identified a population expansion after a bottleneck for the European clade based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequencing data; this expansion was not observed for the eastern clade. We hypothesize that the western population was confined to a small Italo-Balkanic refugium, whereas the eastern population subsisted in several refugia along the southern coast of the Black Sea.