ISSN:
1573-5117
Keywords:
Canary Islands
;
groundwater Amphipoda
;
Rhipidogammarus
;
biogeography
;
geological origin
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract The discovery of a new species ofRhipidogammarus, Rh. nivariae n. sp., in water supply shafts of Tenerife (Canary Islands), presents an interesting biogeographic problem. Up to now, members of the genus were known exclusively from stygohabitats in the peri-Mediterranean belt. Its sister-genus is found in very shallow waters of the Mediterranean, and on morphological grounds the genus seems to have got adapted only fairly recently to continental hypogean waters. The occurrence of a member ofRhipidogammarus on an oceanic island like Tenerife can be explained by one of the following two scenarios: (1) Tenerife is a fragment of the African plate, or (2) the island's volcanic outcrops arose from a very shallow submarine bank and drifted later into deeper waters.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00007551
