Animal life in the chemoautotrophic ecosystem of the hypogenic groundwater cave of Ayyalon (Israel): A summing up

F. D. Por, Ch. Dimentman, A. Frumkin, I. Naaman

Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and National Collections of Natural History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel The Hermann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2013.54A002                

Abstract

Seven years after the discovery of the chemoautotrophic sulfidic groundwater site of the Ayyalon cave, its macrofauna can be fully reviewed. It consists of six endemic stygobiont and troglo-biont crustaceans and other arthropods and two species still with unclear status. The taxonomic list is followed by brief discussions on the systematics of the species as well as by a few comments concerning the eventual broader zoogeographical and speleological implications of the Ayyalon faunistic findings, as they appeared in literature.

Keywords

Chemoautotrophy; Sulfidic Groundwaters; Hypogenic Pool; Ophel Biome; Extremophily; Anaerobism; Ayyalon Cave; Thermosbaenacea

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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