Atyaephyra tuerkayi Christodoulou et al., 2012 and Palaemon turcorum (Holthuis, 1961) (Decapoda, Caridea) in the Middle Eastern Region of the Mediterranean

Abstract

The real distribution range of a species is mostly unknown due to the lack of sampling in certain regions in the world. This may be especially problematic for freshwater species in the Mediterranean basin since its freshwater inhabitants are taxa highly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbances. The cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene inAtyaephyra recognized seven Atyaephyraspecies in the Mediterranean basin in recent years. However, the lack of sampling in the Middle East does not help to clarify what Atyaephyra species are present in this region and their distributions. The most extended species in the area is A. orientalis,while A. tuerkayihas been found only in the River Nahr Al-Kabir, which is located along the borders of Lebanon with Syria. DNA barcodes of Atyaephyraspecimens collected in this study confirm the first record of A. tuerkayiin Turkey. In addition, Palaemon turcorum, an endemic species to the Sakarya River Basin which flows into the Black sea was collected outside this basin, in rivers of the Mediterranean coast. The fact that the Middle East has not been well surveyed for shrimp could explain the unknown distribution of these species.