Patterns of diversity and endemism of soft-bodied meiofauna in an oceanic island, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

TY - JOUR

T1 - Patterns of diversity and endemism of soft-bodied meiofauna in an oceanic island, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

AU - Martinez, Alejandro

AU - Di Domenico, Maikon

AU - Leasi, Francesca

AU - Curini-Galletti, Marco

AU - Todaro, M. Antonio

AU - Dal Zotto, Matteo

AU - Gobert, Stefan

AU - Artois, Tom

AU - Norenburg, Jon

AU - Jörger, Katharina M.

AU - Núñez, Jorge

AU - Fontaneto, Diego

AU - Worsaae, Katrine

PY - 2019/10/1

Y1 - 2019/10/1

N2 - Oceanic islands, characterized by high levels of endemism and distinct faunas when compared to neighbouring continents, represent natural evolutionary laboratories for biologists to understand ecological and evolutionary processes. However, most studies on oceanic islands have focused on terrestrial and marine macrofaunal organisms, and ignored microscopic animals. We present here an inventory of all soft-bodied meiofaunal organisms collected during a 2-week workshop on the oceanic island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Our checklist included 239 species, with 88 of them endemic to the archipelago. The number of endemic species was lower in groups with a higher proportion of parthenogenetic species, while it was not significantly affected by body size and percentage of species with dispersal stages. A higher percentage of endemic species was found in isolated habitats and environments, with only annelids showing significantly higher number of endemic species in anchialine caves. Our results might be biased by the high number of indeterminate species found in our samples and the lack of knowledge of the meiofauna of the African coast. Our findings, however, provide the first insight of patterns of diversity of soft-bodied meiofauna in Atlantic oceanic islands, suggesting that island endemic species might also exist amongst microscopic animals.

AB - Oceanic islands, characterized by high levels of endemism and distinct faunas when compared to neighbouring continents, represent natural evolutionary laboratories for biologists to understand ecological and evolutionary processes. However, most studies on oceanic islands have focused on terrestrial and marine macrofaunal organisms, and ignored microscopic animals. We present here an inventory of all soft-bodied meiofaunal organisms collected during a 2-week workshop on the oceanic island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Our checklist included 239 species, with 88 of them endemic to the archipelago. The number of endemic species was lower in groups with a higher proportion of parthenogenetic species, while it was not significantly affected by body size and percentage of species with dispersal stages. A higher percentage of endemic species was found in isolated habitats and environments, with only annelids showing significantly higher number of endemic species in anchialine caves. Our results might be biased by the high number of indeterminate species found in our samples and the lack of knowledge of the meiofauna of the African coast. Our findings, however, provide the first insight of patterns of diversity of soft-bodied meiofauna in Atlantic oceanic islands, suggesting that island endemic species might also exist amongst microscopic animals.

KW - Anchialine

KW - Annelida

KW - Biogeography

KW - Gastrotricha

KW - Interstitial fauna

KW - Caves

KW - Proseriata

KW - Rhabdocoela

KW - Rotifera

U2 - 10.1007/s12526-019-01007-0

DO - 10.1007/s12526-019-01007-0

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1867-1616

VL - 49

SP - 2033

EP - 2055

JO - Marine Biodiversity

JF - Marine Biodiversity

IS - 5

ER -