TITLE:
Animal life in the chemoautotrophic ecosystem of the hypogenic groundwater cave of Ayyalon (Israel): A summing up
AUTHORS:
F. D. Por, Ch. Dimentman, A. Frumkin, I. Naaman
KEYWORDS:
Chemoautotrophy; Sulfidic Groundwaters; Hypogenic Pool; Ophel Biome; Extremophily; Anaerobism; Ayyalon Cave; Thermosbaenacea
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.5 No.4A,
April
30,
2013
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.