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Fossil remains of an unknown Alona species (Chydoridae, Aloninae) from a high arctic lake in Nordaustlandet (Svalbard) in relation to glaciation and Holocene environmental history

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Abstract

We analyzed a lacustrine sediment core covering the Holocene from Lake Einstaken, Nordaustlandet, for its fossil Cladocera (Crustacea) with an aim to reconstruct past aquatic communities in this environmentally extreme and unexplored region. In the analysis, we encountered remains (carapaces, ephippia, headshields, and postabdomens) of an unknown chydorid (Chydoridae, Aloninae) species during two separate periods in the early Holocene. The remains had some comparable morphological characters with the European Alona guttata s.str. Sars, 1862 and with the glacial relict Alona werestschagini Sinev, 1999, but they differed clearly from the previous species; the headshield had broadly rounded rostrum and narrow fornices, the ephippium was heavily pigmented and reticulated, and the postabdomen had convex dorsal and ventral margins. The postabdomen had evidently similar morphology with Alona bergi Røen, 1992, which has been described, although inadequately, from arctic Canada and northern Greenland. We conclude, based on the morphology of the postabdomen, that the unknown remains belong to species closely resembling A. bergi, named here Alona cf. bergi, and assume that the species, whether the true A. bergi or some other cryptic species of the A. guttata group, is a postglacial relict of the high arctic adapted to cold climate. Herewith, we emphasize the need for extensive biogeographical investigations into both fossil and intact specimens of chydorids in the arctic.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Academy of Finland (project 1116509) and the Waldemar Von Frenckell’s Fund (for LN). We sincerely thank Dr. Kaarina Sarmaja-Korjonen (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Dr. Artem Y. Sinev (Moscow State University, Russia) for their invaluable taxonomic help and discussions and Dr. Antti Ojala for his help with the sedimentological analyses. Reviews by Dr. Johanna Laybourn-Parry, Dr. Alexey A. Kotov, Dr. Artem Y. Sinev, and an anonymous reviewer greatly improved the quality of the manuscript and are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Limnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Mondseestraße 9, 5310, Mondsee, Austria

    Liisa Nevalainen & Tomi P. Luoto

  2. Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Kay Van Damme

  3. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Tomi P. Luoto & Veli-Pekka Salonen

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  1. Liisa Nevalainen
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  2. Kay Van Damme
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  4. Veli-Pekka Salonen
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Correspondence to Liisa Nevalainen.

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Nevalainen, L., Van Damme, K., Luoto, T.P. et al. Fossil remains of an unknown Alona species (Chydoridae, Aloninae) from a high arctic lake in Nordaustlandet (Svalbard) in relation to glaciation and Holocene environmental history. Polar Biol 35, 325–333 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-1077-z

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