The shallow Vrana (Vransko) Lake in Dalmatia, Croatia, is a brackish water (oligohaline) lake that was artificially connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Prosika Canal, built in the 18th century. The aim of this study was to provide an updated overview of macro-crustacean diversity (class Malacostraca) in the Vrana Lake Basin. This synthesis includes all available records, combining the author's field observations with data from the scientific literature, and focuses on macro-crustacean taxa within the orders Amphipoda, Decapoda, Isopoda, and Mysida. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled using a hand net between 2011 and 2022, while baited crayfish traps were deployed during a one-night sampling effort in May/June 2024. Specimens of the invasive blue crab were collected manually in 2023 and 2024. In total, 32 sites were surveyed, 29 with a hand net and three exclusively with baited traps. A total of 21 macro-crustacean taxa were recorded in the Vrana Lake Basin between 2011 and 2024, comprising 16 species and five genera. The order Amphipoda was the most taxonomically diverse, with 11 taxa, followed by Isopoda (4), Decapoda (4), and Mysida (2). The highest species richness (16 taxa) was observed at the mouth of the Prosika Canal into the Adriatic Sea. The macro-crustacean fauna of the Vrana Lake Basin represents a unique assemblage of freshwater/oligohaline and brackish/marine species. The freshwater/oligohaline species, including the isopod Proasellus coxalis , amphipod Niphargus dalmatinus , and decapods Palaemon antennarius and Austropotamobius fulcisianus , were more abundant and widely distributed in the tributaries, with P. coxalis and P. antennarius also occurring in the lake. Most of the brackish/marine species were recorded only at the mouth of the Prosika Canal into the Adriatic Sea. Amphipods Gammarus aequicauda and Pectenogammarus stocki , and the isopod Lekanesphaera hookeri , were dominant in the lake and the Prosika Canal during, and immediately after periods of increased salinity. A recent addition to the brackish/marine group is the invasive blue crab ( Callinectes sapidus ), whose continued spread may pose a serious threat to biodiversity in the Vrana Lake Basin. The endangered white-clawed crayfish ( A. fulcisianus ) was recorded only in the freshwater Lateral Canal. Its continued monitoring is essential to assess the effectiveness of conservation measures, especially in light of planned sediment and vegetation removal to maintain flow in the canal. Salinization remains the primary threat to aquatic biodiversity in the basin. Urgent implementation of active management strategies, such as construction of a movable gate on the Prosika Canal, is necessary to mitigate this risk. The data presented in this study are critical for understanding and anticipating future changes in the macro-crustacean assemblages of this ecologically sensitive ecosystem.
New faunistic and distributional data are provided on scorpion fauna from the Oriental region of Morocco, a poorly studied area, covering 90,130 km2. Altogether 119 specimens belonging to eight species are recorded, allowing an update on the distribution of these species. A total of 12 scorpion species from four genera are recognized to occur in the Oriental region of Morocco presented here. We also provide new distribution records for newly described and micro-endemic scorpion species which is a key element in promoting their conservation in the country.
Peatlands are unique ecosystems that differ significantly from other wetlands in terms of landforms, hydromorphology, water chemistry, nutrient availability, and the diversity of organisms and life forms they support. They are globally important for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and the preservation of long-term paleoenvironmental records due to their slow accumulation of organic matter. In Croatia, the four southernmost peatlands (Sunđerac, Ljubica, Rakita, and Vodice kod Petrašice) are located along the Velebit Mountain range. However, for decades, scientific literature suggested the presence of an additional peatland known as “Sunđer.” This name caused confusion as it implied the existence of a separate site, distinct from Sunđerac. The misinterpretations probably stemmed from Pevalek’s 1925 report, where he misnamed Sunđerac, calling it “Sunđer”, and was inaccurate in his mapping of the location. The discovery of a permanent pond, Solila, close to the “Sunđer” locality, has reopened the debate and led to further ecological research. We investigated bryophytes, vascular plants and ground beetles, reliable indicators of peatland habitat quality, to test whetherSolila could represent the long-misidentified “Sunđer” mire. No species characteristic of peatland ecosystems were found in any of the indicator groups. The only vascular plant species associated with mire vegetation was Carex echinata , which also occurs in acidic grasslands and spruce mire forests. Nevertheless, in this relatively small area, we found a surprisingly high diversity of plants and ground beetles, including riparian species, that would not be found in this area without permanent surface water. Permanent ponds such as Solila can therefore make a significant contribution to localbiodiversity in karst landscapes.
Xerobdella anulata is a rare species of land leech endemic to the Dinaric Alps, distributed from southern Slovenia to northern Montenegro. Previously, the only known locality where this species had been recorded in Serbia was the village of Rastište on Mt Tara, in the far west of the country. In this article, we present the second record of X. anulata in Serbia, found in the village of Sokolac, near Ljubovija. A single specimen was discovered on land near a stream in an area with a limestone substrate. We briefly describe the collected specimen, with particular emphasis on the arrangement of the gonopores. Despite the significant lack of distributional data for this species, we believe that western Serbia and the Podrinje region represent the easternmost limit of species’ complete distribution.
The El Kala wetland complex, located in the far northeast of Algeria, provides ideal ecological conditions for wintering migratory waterbirds. Among these sites, the Mekhada marsh, designated a Ramsar site in 2004, stands out as one of the most biologically diverse wetlands in the region. It supports several emblematic waterbird species, including the Red-crested Pochard ( Netta rufina ), which is the focus of this study. This species is rarely observed in Algerian wetlands and typically occurs in very small numbers. In June 2025, an exceptional observation was made of a female Red-crested Pochard accompanied by her ducklings at the Mekhada marsh. To our knowledge, this represents the first documented breeding record of Netta rufina in the El Kala wetland complex.
