A survey of the Spanish Euphyllopoda

Abstract

The study of many euphyllopod populations found in various locations throughout Spain on severa1 sampling trips has enabled the identification of 15 species: 10 anostraceans, 2 notostraceans and 3 conchostraceans. At the same time, vaiuable biogeographical and ecological information has been obtained of the different species because of the large area prospected and the heterogeneity of the environments involved. Some of the species are from saline environments, Artemia salina is from the permanent ones, while Branchinecta cervantesi, Branchinella spinosa and Branchinectella media are from the temporary ones of endorheic regions of the eastern half of the Peninsula. The remaining species colonize temporary waters. Tanymastix stagnalis and Lepidurus apus are from clear waters and foiiow a northerm distribution, while the rest prefer turbid waters. Streptocephalus torvicornis lives in the eastern half of Spain; Branchipus schaefferi, Branchinecta ferox, Triops cancriformis simplex, Eoleptestheria ticinensis and Cyzicus tetracents in the north one, and T. c. mauritanicus and C. grubei in the south. Chirocephalus diaphanus, the most eurycorous and cosmopolitan, is also the species most frequently found in the mountains.