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In the paper the crenobiont, stygophile and stygobiont malacofauna of the karst area of Popovo Polje around Trebinje (Eastern Herzegovina, BiH) is presented. The materials were collected from springs, caves and interstitial habitats (with a Bou-Rouch pump) at 23 localities. The following species were found: Pisidium cf. personatum A.W. Malm, 1855, Theodoxus callosus (Deshayes, 1833), Sadleriana fluminensis (Küster, 1852), Radomaniola curta (Küster, 1852), Radomaniola cf. bosniaca (Radoman, 1973), Kerkia briani Rysiewska & Osikowski, 2020, Montenegrospeum bogici (Pešić & Glöer, 2012), Litthabitella chilodia (Westerlund, 1886), Travunijana vruljakensis Grego & Glöer, 2019, a new genus and species of the Sadlerianinae, Emmericia ventricosa Brusina, 1870, Iglica cf. absoloni (A.J. Wagner, 1914), Plagigeyeria tribunicae Schütt, 1963, Paladilhiopsis arion Rysiewska & Osikowski, 2021, Valvata montenegrina Glöer & Pešić, 2008, Radix labiata (Rossmässler, 1835), Galba truncatula (O. F. Müller, 1774), Ancylus recurvus Martens, 1783, Ancylus sp. and the amphibiotic Succinea cf. putris (Linnaeus, 1758). The redescription of the genus Travunijana Grego & Glöer, 2019, applying the characteristics of shell, female reproductive organs and penis, is also presented. The new genus and species are described, based on the shell, penis, radula and fragmentary data on the female reproductive organs. For all species, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) is applied to confirm the determination; in the case of Travunijana and the new genus, the nuclear histone H3 locus is also used, in order to infer both their distinctiveness and phylogenetic relationships.

50. Ancylus fluviatilis O. F. Müller, 1774 Findings in Serbia. Ancylus fluviatilis: Jaeckel et al. (1958); Jovanović (1995 a, 1995 b, 1998); Reh et al. (1997); Karaman (2001); Karaman & Živić (2001, 2005); Jović et al. (2006); Živić et al. (2006); Karaman & Karaman (2007); Đikanović et al. (2008); Savić et al. (2016); Stojanović (2017); Živić (2020). Ancylus capuloides: possible misidentification in Möllendorff (1873). Common name. River limpet. Morphology. Small-sized snail (up to 8 mm long). Shell is flat and translucent with reticulate sculpture. Apex is blunt and slightly bent to the right side, animal is grey. For more details see Welter-Schultes (2012: 48, figure on the top of the page). Distribution and ecology. Palearctic species up to 2300 m.a.s.l (in Serbia up to 1200 m.a.s.l.). Common in clean springs, streams, smaller and medium-sized rivers with hard substrate and high oxygen content (Welter-Schultes 2012). In Serbia, one of the most frequent species in the southern hilly-mountainous parts. Reports from the northern, Pannonian part, are scarce, and limited to few streams at Fruška Gora Mtn.. It has been reported from the Iron Gate Danube (Karataš) as well. Other remarks. On the IUCN Red List of threatened species it has been assessed as LC (Albrecht et al. 2011). Genus Ferrissia B. Walker, 1903, Published as part of Marković, Vanja, Gojšina, Vukašin, Novaković, Boris, Božanić, Milenka, Stojanović, Katarina, Karan-Žnidaršič, Tamara & Živić, Ivana, 2021, The freshwater molluscs of Serbia: Annotated checklist with remarks on distribution and protection status, pp. 1-64 in Zootaxa 5003 (1) on pages 27-28, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5003.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5120059, {"references":["Jaeckel, S. V., Klemm, W. & Meise, W. (1958) Die Land und Susswasser-Mollusken der nordlichen Balkanhalbinsel. Abhandlungen und Berichte aus dem staatlichen Museum fur Tierkunde Dresden, 23, 141 - 205.","Jovanovic, B. (1995 a) Vodeni puzevi (Gastropoda, Mollusca) podrucja Bora. Zbornik radova Nasa ekoloska istina, 3, 337 - 341. [in Serbian]","Jovanovic, B. (1995 b) Preliminarni prikaz faune Gastropoda (Mollusca) podrucja Bora. Drugi Simpozijum o zastiti karsta, Akademsko speleolosko alpinisticki klub Beograd, Beograd, pp. 235 - 245. [in Serbian]","Jovanovic, B. (1998) Diverzitet faune Gastropoda (Mollusca) Borskog regiona (Srbija). Zbornik radova Ekoloska istina, 6, 239 - 241. [in Serbian]","Reh, Z., Jovanovic, B. & Bobic, M. (1997) Preliminarna hidrobioloska istrazivanja Brestovacke reke. Zbornik radova Nasa ekoloska istina, 5, 126 - 131.","Karaman, B. & Zivic, I. (2001) Fauna Gastropoda (Mollusca) nekih fruskogorskih potoka (Vojvodina, Srbija). Zbornik radova Zasavica 2001, 1, 201 - 207. [in Serbian]","Karaman, B. (2005) Fauna Gastropoda (Mollusca) sliva Juzne Morave (Srbija i Crna Gora). Crnogorska Akademija nauka i umjetnosti, Glasnik odeljenja prirodnih nauka, 16, 41 - 49. [in Serbian]","Jovic, A., Paunovic, M., Stojanovic, B., Milosevic, S. & Nikolic, V. (2006) Aquatic invertebrates of the Ribnica and Lepenica rivers: composition of the community and water quality. Archives of Biological Sciences, 58 (2), 115 - 119. https: // doi. org / 10.2298 / ABS 0602115 J","Zivic, I., Markovic, Z. & Brajkovic, M. (2006) Influence of the temperature regime on the composition of the macrozoobenthos community in a thermal brook in Serbia. Biologia, 61 (2), 179 - 191. https: // doi. org / 10.2478 / s 11756 - 006 - 0029 - 5","Karaman, B. & Karaman, G. (2007) Catalogus of the freshwater snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda) of Serbia. Crnogorska Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Glasnik Odjeljenja prirodnih nauka, Podgorica, 17, 167 - 222.","Dikanovic, V., Jakovcev-Todorovic, D., Nikolic, V., Paunovic, M. & Cakic, P. (2008) Qualitative composition of communities of aquatic macroinvertebrates along the course of the Golijska Moravica River (West-Central Serbia). Archives of Biological Sciences, 60 (1), 133 - 144. https: // doi. org / 10.2298 / ABS 0801133 D","Savic, A., Randelovic, V., Dordevic, M. & Pesic, V. (2016) Assemblages of freshwater snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Nisava River, Serbia: ecological factors defining their structure and spatial distribution. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 68 (2), 235 - 242.","Stojanovic, K. Z. (2017) Influence of trout farms on macrozoobenthos communities with special emphasis on larvae of the genus Baetis (Ephemeroptera, Insecta). University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 374 pp. [PhD. thesis, in Serbian]","Zivic, I. (2020) Monitoring of biological, physico-chemical and hydromorphological parameters in order to define reference sites in the Republic of Serbia. Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, sumarstva i vodoprivrede republike Srbije, Beograd, 439 pp. [in Serbian]","Mollendorff, O. (1873) Zur Molluskenfauna von Serbien. Malakozoologische Blatter, 21, 129 - 149.","Welter-Schultes, F. W. (2012) European non-marine molluscs, a guide for species identification, planet poster editions. Planet Poster Editions, Gottingen, 674 pp. [in German]","Albrecht, C., Seddon, M. B. & Van Damme, D. (2011) Ancylus fluviatilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2011, e. T 156181 A 4919610. [downloaded 3 May 2021]","Walker, B. (1903) Notes on eastern American Ancyli. The Nautilus, 17 (2 / 3), 13 - 19, 25 - 31."]}

We found strong signals of two cooling events around 9700 and 8200 cal yrs. BP in lakes Store Finnsjøen and Flåfattjønna at Dovre, mid-Norway. Analyses included pollen in both lakes, and C/N-ratio, biomarkers (e.g. alkanes and br-GDGTs), and XRF scanning in Finnsjøen. The positions of these lakes close to ecotones (upper forest-lines of birch and pine, respectively) reduced their resilience to cold events causing vegetation regression at both sites. The global 8.2 event reflects the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The 9.7 event with impact restricted to Scandinavia and traced by pollen at Dovre only, reflects the drainage of the Baltic Ancylus Lake. More detailed analysis in Finnsjøen shows that the events also caused increased allochtonous input (K, Ca), increased sedimentation rate, and decreased sediment density and aquatic production. br-GDGT-based temperatures indicate gradual cooling through the early Holocene. In Finnsjøen, ca. 3100 maxima-minima couplets in sediment density along the analysed sequence of ca. 3100 calibrated years show the presence of varves for the first time in Norway. Impact of the 9.7 and 8.2 events lasted ca. 60 and 370 years, respectively. Pine pollen percentages were halved and re-established in less than 60 years, indicating the reduction of pine pollen production and not vegetative growth during the 9.7 event. The local impact of the 8.2 event sensu lato (ca. 8420–8050 cal yrs. BP) divides the event into a precursor, an erosional phase, and a recovery phase. At the onset of the erosional phase, summer temperatures increased. acceptedVersion

The study presents the first description and analysis of ostracod records from three sites cored in different parts of the Baltic Sea during the IODP Expedition 347, Baltic Sea Paleoenvironment. Our data present the first high-resolution ostracod records from the Late Weichselian and Holocene sediments collected across the Baltic Sea Basin. Using published data on modern ostracod species ecology of the Baltic Sea, we were able to provide ostracod-based palaeoreconstructions of the history of the region. The stratigraphical framework for the sites is based on radiocarbon-based age models. The three studied sites reveal different ostracod assemblage successions that reflect environmental changes in the study area. Site M0060, located in the Kattegat area, contains the oldest ostracod assemblages that document a marine environment with very high sedimentation rates during the most recent deglaciation. Between ~13 000 and 7500 cal. a BP a modern-like near-shore environment developed. Site M0059 in the southwestern Baltic Sea, Little Belt area, contains assemblages reflecting the transition from a freshwater lake to the brackish Littorina Sea between ~7500 and 7300 cal. a BP. Site M0063 is the deepest location in the central Baltic, Landsort Deep, and yielded very limited ostracod data, but comparison with our organic carbon data allowed us to distinguish the Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea intervals. The ostracod record correlates well with the organic carbon record with alternation between periods of hypoxia and periods of low oxygen that still supported ostracods. (Less)

A multidisciplinary investigation performed on gravity cores, supplemented by a new radiocarbon dating of macrofossils, outlined the environmental evolution of Arkona Basin in the Holocene. Studies comprising the analysis of diatoms, geochemistry, grain size, and radiocarbon dating clarified the knowledge about the age and environmental changes during freshwater and marine transgressions and regressions. The acoustic profiling method allowed proper interpretation of the analysis results from sediment cores and created a proper lithostratigraphic model of the investigated basin. Baltic Ice Lake and Yoldia Sea sediment layers were identified acoustically and cores penetrated the final regression surface of the Baltic Ice Lake. The analyses of cores concentrated on Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea sediments. Two phases of the Ancylus Lake stage were identified. The peaks of loss on ignition in the cores, observed as a strong acoustic reflector, were identified as a marker of Ancylus Lake regression between the first, high-water level phase and the second, shallow-water phase. The age of onset of Littorina transgression was estimated at around 7000–7200 cal BP and was younger than some previous estimations. The retrieved age confirmed the suggestion that the marine environment appeared first in Mecklenburg Bay and then after a few hundred years in Arkona Basin as an intensive transgression. The appearance of Littorina Sea revealed a fast shift of the environment from lacustrine to marine. The first phase of the Littorina stage was recognised as a rapidly increasing water level and high-energy environment; the second showed rapidly increasing salinity in the calmer conditions of sedimentation.

DNA barcoding utilizes short standardized DNA sequences to identify species and is increasingly used in biodiversity assessments. The technique has unveiled an unforeseeably high number of morphologically cryptic species. However, if speciation has occurred relatively recently and rapidly, the use of single gene markers, and especially the exclusive use of mitochondrial markers, will presumably fail in delimitating species. Therefore, the true number of biological species might be even higher. One mechanism that can result in rapid speciation is hybridization of different species in combination with polyploidization, that is, allopolyploid speciation. In this study, we analyzed the population genetic structure of the polyploid freshwater snail Ancylus fluviatilis, for which allopolyploidization was postulated as a speciation mechanism. DNA barcoding has already revealed four cryptic species within A. fluviatilis (i.e., A. fluviatilis s. str., Ancylus sp. A–C), but early allozyme data even hint at the presence of additional cryptic lineages in Central Europe. We combined COI sequencing with high-resolution genome-wide SNP data (ddRAD data) to analyze the genetic structure of A. fluviatilis populations in a Central German low mountain range (Sauerland). The ddRAD data results indicate the presence of three cryptic species within A. fluviatilis s. str. occurring in sympatry and even syntopy, whereas mitochondrial sequence data only support the existence of one species, with shared haplotypes between species. Our study hence points to the limitations of DNA barcoding when dealing with organismal groups where speciation is assumed to have occurred rapidly, for example, through the process of allopolyploidization. We therefore emphasize that single marker DNA barcoding can underestimate the true species diversity and argue in strong favor of using genome-wide data for species delimitation in such groups. OA gold - CA Weiss

Summary Stone loach, Barbatula barbatula, occurs in scattered localities in Sweden. Some of the populations have usually been considered as feral descendants of escaped 18th Century pond stock, but historical documentation is inconclusive. Using the mitochondrial COI gene as a marker, we analyzed specimens from seven Swedish localities. One of the middle Swedish localities, in Stockholm, belongs to a haplotype found also in Poland and Lithuania. Two other samples, from near Nykoping and Lake Hjalmaren, belong to a haplotype found in northeastern Europe (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Volga basin in Russia). Those two Swedish populations are probably descendants from at least two introductions, probably for pond rearing for human consumption. Samples from Skane and Halland in southern Sweden belong to the haplotype found in Denmark, northern Germany and Poland; and whereas it remains possible that they also represent feral populations, they may be naturally occurring, having reached Sweden during the Ancylus period, about 8,000–10,000 years ago. A recently discovered population from the central South Swedish Highlands belongs to a mainly southeastern European haplotype. It probably represents a release of imported aquarium specimens or live bait carried by sport fishing tourists.

High-resolution shallow seismic data, sediment core information, radiocarbon dating and sequence stratigraphy have been used to interpret the late glacial to early Holocene geological evolution of Hesselø Bay in the southern Kattegat, Denmark. A reconstruction of the early Holocene coastal environment and a description of coastal processes associated with a river outlet into the bay are presented. Weichselian glacial deposits form the lowermost interpreted unit, covered by late glacial (LG) and postglacial (PG, Holocene) sediments. A funnel-shaped estuary existed at the mouth of channels in the period 10.3–9.2 cal. ka BP; the channels drained water from south to north. The early PG is characterised by estuarine and coastal deposits. The early Holocene bars that developed in the estuary are preserved as morphological features on the present-day seabed, possibly as a result of rapid relative sea-level rise. The estuary existed simultaneously with the occurrence and drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The drainage of this lake occurred through the Dana River (palaeo-Great Belt channel) into the southern Kattegat and then into the study area. The level of the Ancylus Lake in the Baltic Sea region dropped significantly at about 10.2 cal. ka BP at the same time as the estuary developed in the Kattegat region. One outcome of the present study is an enhanced understanding of the Ancylus Lake drainage path. No evidence of major erosion is seen, which indicates non-catastrophic continuous water flow from the south without major drainage events of the Ancylus Lake to the southern Kattegat. During the Littorina transgression, coastal estuarine conditions characterized the Hesselø Bay area where elongated ridges formed a bar system. As the Littorina transgression continued, back-stepping of the bar system and coastline occurred. When the transgression breached the Great Belt threshold, flooding caused major erosion throughout the study area.

In this study, we attempted to reconstruction of level changes of the Baltic Sea in the Holocene based on investigation of more than 30 sediment cores from bottom sediments of three lakes located on the Karelian Isthmus. It is mostly that there were one phase of Ancylus transgression and two phases of Litorina transgression. The low content of individual halophilic species, indicate that the lake was only slightly affected by saline waters, therefore the level of the Baltic Sea at that time was about 12 m higher than the present one.

Genus Ancylus O. F. Müller, 1773 Type species: Ancylus fluviatilis O. F. Müller, 1774, Published as part of Anistratenko, V. V., Furyk, Yu. I., Anistratenko, O. Yu. & Degtyarenko, E. V., 2019, A Review Of Species Diversity, Distribution And Ecology Of Freshwater Gastropod Molluscs Inhabiting The Ukrainian Transcarpathian, pp. 349-374 in Vestnik Zoologii 53 (5) on page 370, DOI: 10.2478/vzoo-2019-0033, http://zenodo.org/record/6949164

Ancylus fluviatilis O. F. Müller, 1774 (fig. 4, 21–23) D i s t r i b u t i o n. In Ukraine A. fluviatilis is registered in all regions except Crimea (Anistratenko, Сhernogorenko, 1989; Stadnichenko, 1990). This river limpet was repeatedly recorded in the Transcarpathian Region (Zdun, 1960; Stadnichenko, Gyrin, 2011 b; Anistratenko et al., 2018) where it appears to be one of the most common and widespread pulmonate species — we found its populations in 7 localities: 12, 18, 19, 25, 28, 51 and 58 (table 1). Global distribution — Europe, Northern Africa and north-western Asia (Vinarski, Kantor, 2016). Remarks. According to our observations in Transcarpathia, this species inhabits shallow (up to 0.2 m) zone of springs and rivers in both lowland and mountainous areas in the altitude range 110–570 m a. s. l. (table 2). Limpets prefer clean and oxygen-rich conditions with hard, mostly rocky substrates on the surface of which they are firmly adhere., Published as part of Anistratenko, V. V., Furyk, Yu. I., Anistratenko, O. Yu. & Degtyarenko, E. V., 2019, A Review Of Species Diversity, Distribution And Ecology Of Freshwater Gastropod Molluscs Inhabiting The Ukrainian Transcarpathian, pp. 349-374 in Vestnik Zoologii 53 (5) on page 370, DOI: 10.2478/vzoo-2019-0033, http://zenodo.org/record/6949164, {"references":["Stadnichenko A. P. 1990. Fauna Ukraine: In 40 vol. Vol. 29: Mollusca. Fasc. 4: Lymnaeiformes (physids, bulinids, planorbids). Naukova dumka, Kiev, 1 - 282 [In Russian].","Zdun, V. I. 1960. On the fauna of Transcarpathian Mollusca, Naukovi Zapyski Lvivskogo naukovo-pryrodnychogo museyu AN URSR, 8, 83 - 95 [In Ukrainian].","Stadnichenko, A. P., Gyrin, V. K. 2011 b. On fauna and ecology of fresh-water molluscs of the Transcarpathian (families Planorbidae, Valvatidae, Viviparidae, Hydrobiidae, Bithyniidae, Lithoglyphidae, Unionidae, Pisidiidae). Communication 2. Wyksztalcenie i nauka bez granic- 2011. Materialy VII Miedzynarodowej naukowi-praktycznej konferencji 07 - 15 grudnia 2011 roku, Vol. 25. Biologiczne nauki. Nauka i studia, Przemysl, 22 - 24 [In Russian].","Anistratenko, V. V., Vinarski, M. V., Anistratenko, O. Yu., Furyk, Yu. I., Degtyarenko, E. V. 2018. New data on pond snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae) inhabiting the Ukrainian Transcarpathian: diversity, distribution and ecology. Ecologica Montenegrina, 18, 1 - 14.","Vinarski, M. V., Kantor, Yu. I. 2016. Analytical catalogue of fresh and brackish water molluscs of Russia and adjacent countries. A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of RAS, Moscow, 1 - 544."]}

Species distributions are structured by regional and local determinants, which operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The purpose of our work was to distinguish the relative roles of local variables, climate, geographical location and post glaciation condition (i.e., delineation between supra- and subaquatic lakes during the post-glacial Ancylus Lake) in explaining variation in macrophyte community composition of all taxa, helophytes and hydrophytes. In addition, we investigated how these four explanatory variable groups affected macrophyte strategy groups based on Grime’s classification. Using partial linear regression and variation partitioning, we found that macrophyte communities are primarily filtered by local determinants together with regional characteristics at the studied spatial scale. We further evidenced that post glaciation condition indirectly influenced on local water quality variables, which in turn directly contributed to the macrophyte communities. We thus suggest that regional determinants interact with local-scale abiotic factors in explaining macrophyte community patterns and examining only regional or local factors is not sufficient for understanding how aquatic macrophyte communities are structured locally and regionally.

This article presents the results of diatom studies from three cores taken from the Arkona Basin. The main stages of the Baltic Sea evolution in the Holocene - Ancylus Lake, Mastogloia Sea, Littorina Sea, and Post-Littorina Sea - were identified in diatom assemblages. The transition stage between Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea, called Mastogloia Sea, was not such a long period as in the Mecklenburg Bay but was essential in the evolution of the Baltic Sea. The most pronounced feature of this period was an increase in the number of halophilous species, which reflected the existence of the littoral environment at the onset of this stage. The appearance and development of halophilous species was stimulated by stepwise inflows of saline waters. The composition of diatom assemblages reflected natural eutrophication of the Baltic Sea during the Littorina Sea stage.

Two sediment cores from the Mecklenburg Bay and Arkona Basin were analysed in terms of their geochemical composition and stratigraphy. The main stages of the Baltic Sea evolution – Baltic Ice Lake, Ancylus Lake, and Littorina Sea – were identified in both analysed cores. The most pronounced period was the transition between the Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea. The character of the initial stage of the Littorina Sea was clearly defined in the Mecklenburg Bay sediments and is marked by a stepwise increase in loss on ignition and contents of biogenic silica, calcium, magnesium, iron, and strontium. The record of the onset of the Littorina Sea in the Arkona Basin sediments is marked by an abrupt change of the geochemical parameters. The age of the initial Littorina Sea in the Mecklenburg Bay was estimated at about 8200 cal years BP and was probably older than the transgression within the Arkona Basin.

Late- and postglacial geological evolution of the southern Kattegat connection to the Great Belt was investigated from high-resolution seismic data and radiocarbon-dated sediment cores in order to elucidate the Ancylus Lake drainage/Littorina Sea transgression. It was found that glacial deposits form the acoustic basement and are covered by Lateglacial (LG) marine sediments and postglacial (PG; Holocene) material. The LG deposits form a highstand systems tract, whereas the PG deposits cover a full depositional sequence, consisting of a lowstand systems tract (PG I), transgressive systems tract (PG II; subdivided into three parasequences) and finally a highstand systems tract (PG III). PG I sand deposits (11.7–10.8 cal. ka BP) are found in a major western channel and in a secondary eastern channel. PG II (10.8–9.8 cal. ka BP) consists of estuarine and coastal deposits linked to an estuary located at the mouth of the channels. Both channels drained fresh water from south to north. The PG III, that is younger than 9.8 cal. ka BP, represents the threshold marine flooding at the southeastern branch of the palaeo-Great Belt channel. At 9.3 cal. ka BP, fully marine conditions were established, shortly before the flooding of the threshold to the northern part of the Great Belt. These early Holocene spits and sand bars are preserved as features on the present seabed, probably as a result of the rapid sea-level rise that led to back-stepping of the early Holocene palaeo-coast system. This study shows no evidence of major erosion or delta deposition linked to the emptying of the Ancylus Lake, which suggests that continuous water flow from the south characterized the area, without any major drainage event of the Ancylus Lake impacting the southwestern Kattegat.

Multi-proxy studies of the sediment cores and acoustic profiles from Mecklenburg Bay display a more detailed picture of the evolution of the environment in the Holocene. Studies of diatoms, geochemistry, grain size and radiocarbon dating clearly reveal the age and character of freshwater and marine transgressions and regressions. After the final regression of the Baltic Ice Lake, a local lake and swamp environment was recorded by peat gyttja sediments. This environment existed until the Ancylus Lake transgression dated ca 10,500 cal BP. During the Ancylus Lake period, the area remained a shallow-water lake, transitional isolated from the main Baltic Basin. The first slightly brackish marine inflows confirmed by the appearance of planktonic, mesohalobous and halophilous diatoms were identified at the beginning of the Initial Littorina Sea stage and dated ca 8800 cal BP. The boundary between the Ancylus Lake and the Initial Littorina Sea is marked by increasing contents of biogenic silica and iron. The Initial Littorina Sea stage was characterized by increasing mesohalobous and polyhalobous diatom forms and decreasing oligohalobous species. The Initial Littorina Sea environment was recorded as a slightly brackish reservoir sporadically affected by weak marine inflows. The Littorina transgression appeared in the Mecklenburg Bay at ca 7500–7700 cal BP and is reflected by the domination of polyhalobous diatoms, increasing mean grain size, biogenic silica, and calcium and magnesium contents. The Initial Littorina Sea was a 1500-year-long period in Mecklenburg Bay, existing until the Littorina transgression. The main Littorina transgression first appeared in Mecklenburg Bay around 7700 cal BP and after a few hundred years at around 7200 cal BP in the Arkona Basin.

Mollusks living in surface water in Jordan can be used as indicators of water quality. They are predominantly represented by gastropods and only locally by bivalves. Within this framework, gastropod species of the genera Theodoxus, Melanopsis, Melanoides, Physa, Bulinus, Galba, Hydrobia, Ovatella, Falsipyrgula, Prosostenia, Pseudamnicola proved to be useful. Most commonly encountered are Theodoxus, Melanopsis Melanoides and Physa, and their presence alone presents good information about the quality of the water body they are living in. The results of the study indicate that Theodoxus and Melanopsis represent indicators of pure and clean fresh water while Physa is an indicator of polluted water. Of very special interest is the fauna in King Abdullah Canal influenced by the fauna of Lake Tiberias, represented by Falsipyrgula, and the bivalves of the two species of Unionidae and of Corbicula. Species of Falsipyrgula. Pseudamnicola, Melanoides, and Prosostenia tolerate increasing water salinity which when reaching sea water salinity Ovatella becomes present. Locally Pseudamnicola documents influence of mineral water which can tolerate high Sr2+ and Br− concentrations. Other members of Gastropods, especially Planorbis, Gyraulus and Ancylus have almost disappeared from running or standing fresh water in Jordan because of increasing pollution. The bivalves, Unio, Pisidium, Sphaerium, and Corbicula are found confined to freshwater environment. With exception of King Abdullah Canal where they used to be useful indicators for the quality of its water, they are rare in Jordanian waters. The study concludes that aquatic mollusks, mainly gastropods, can easily be used as biological indicators of environmental quality of surface water bodies. It is a fast, easy and trustful way of observing changes taking place in the environment, especially salinity, added chemical and pollution parameters.

Heterocyst glycolipids (HGs) are lipids exclusively produced by heterocystous dinitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. The Baltic Sea is an ideal environment to study the distribution of HGs and test their potential as biomarkers because of its recurring summer phytoplankton blooms, dominated by a few heterocystous cyanobacterial species of the genera Nodularia and Aphanizomenon. A multi-core and a gravity core from the Gotland Basin were analyzed to determine the abundance and distribution of a suite of selected HGs at a high resolution to investigate the changes in past cyanobacterial communities during the Holocene. The HG distribution of the sediments deposited during the Modern Warm Period (MoWP) was compared with those of cultivated heterocystous cyanobacteria, including those isolated from Baltic Sea waters, revealing high similarity. However, the abundance of HGs dropped substantially with depth, and this may be caused by either a decrease in the occurrence of the cyanobacterial blooms or diagenesis, resulting in partial destruction of the HGs. The record also shows that the HG distribution has remained stable since the Baltic turned into a brackish semi-enclosed basin ∼ 7200 cal. yr BP. This suggests that the heterocystous cyanobacterial species composition remained relatively stable as well. During the earlier freshwater phase of the Baltic (i.e., the Ancylus Lake and Yoldia Sea phases), the distribution of the HGs varied much more than in the subsequent brackish phase, and the absolute abundance of HGs was much lower than during the brackish phase. This suggests that the cyanobacterial community adjusted to the different environmental conditions in the basin. Our results confirm the potential of HGs as a specific biomarker of heterocystous cyanobacteria in paleo-environmental studies.

Four sediment cores from the southern part of the Arkona Basin were analyzed in terms of their geochemical composition, age and stratigraphy. The main stages of the Baltic Sea: the Baltic Ice Lake, the Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea were identified in all the analyzed cores. The data confirmed the high water fluctuation and significant environmental changes during the Baltic Sea evolution in the Late-Glacial and the Holocene. The signs of the second regression of the Baltic Ice Lake, dated at around 11 000 cal BP, were identified at a depth of 24 m b.s.l. Regression of the Ancylus Lake, dated at 9300 cal BP, was identified at a depth of 23 m b.s.l. The most pronounced period was the transition stage between the Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea. The record of the Littorina Sea onset in the sediments of the Arkona Basin is marked as a sudden increase in loss on ignition, biogenic silica, magnesium, calcium, iron and strontium. The age of the Littorina Sea in the Arkona Basin was estimated as younger than 8200 cal BP.

The Late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial and postglacial sediments of the Baltic Sea basin are conventionally classified into units according to the so-called Baltic Sea stages: Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea. The Baltic Sea stages have been identified in offshore sediment cores by fundamentally different criteria, precluding detailed comparisons of the sediment units amongst different sea areas and studies. Here, long sediment cores and reflection seismic and pinger sub-bottom profiles were studied from an offshore area in the Gulf of Finland, northern Baltic Sea. The strata are divided on the basis of sedimentological criteria into three allostratigraphical formations with subordinate allostratigraphical members and lithostratigraphical formations, following the combined allostratigraphical and lithostratigraphical (CUAL) approach. Sedimentological features are recommended as the primary stratigraphical classification criteria because they do not require the palaeoenvironmental inferences of salinity and water level that are inherent in the conventional classification practice. The presented stratigraphical division is proposed as a flexible template for future stratigraphical work on the Baltic Sea basin, whereby lower-rank allounits and lithounits can be included and removed locally, while the alloformations will remain at the highest hierarchical level and guarantee regional correlatability. The stratigraphical division is compatible with international guidelines, facilitating communication to the wider scientific community and comparison with other similar basins.

Two sediment cores have been obtained from the southern and eastern parts of the Gdansk Basin for lithological, geochemical and diatom analysis. The data revealed provides information about environmental changes during the transition of the Ancylus Lake to the Litorina Sea stages. The Ancylus Lake transgression and regression phases have been well traced in the diatom flora of the shallower, eastern slope of the Gdansk Depression, whereas mentioned water level changes have not been detected in the deepwater (southern) part of the basin. The Litorina Sea has been clearly defined according to geochemical, lithological and diatom analysis. The Initial Litorina Sea transition was observed as gradually increasing numbers of brackish water diatoms and higher contents of C org and N in the sediments, when saline water influx reached the basin before 7600±184 cal. yr BP.

barilensis, Ancylus, S. Moricand, 1846: 159, pl. 5 figs 30-32. Type locality: [Brazil] lac Baril près de Bahia [Blanchet]. Syntypes: MHNG-INVE-87402 (10) (Ancylidae) [Figs 17-19]. – Remarks. An additional label in a later hand mentions “type / B. H-ck [Hubendick]” but it remains unsure which specimen was selected and we have been unable to find any published lectotype designation. Additional syntypes NMB 6906a (2)., Published as part of Breure, Abraham S. H. & Tardy, Emmanuel, 2016, From the shadows of the past: Moricand senior and junior, two 19 th century naturalists from Geneva, with their newly described taxa and molluscan types, pp. 113-138 in Revue suisse de Zoologie 123 (1) on page 119, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.46292

Anthropogenic impacts like intensified land use and climate change are severe threats to freshwater biodiversity and effective biodiversity monitoring is therefore one of the most urgent tasks. This is however often hampered by the lack of knowledge regarding the number and ecology of species. Molecular tools have shown many freshwater taxa to comprise morphologically cryptic species, which often occur in sympatry on a small geographic scale. Here, we studied the freshwater snail Ancylus fluviatilis (MUELLER, 1774) species complex in the Iberian Montseny Mountains. We hypothesised 1) that several species of A. fluviatilis sensu lato occur in the Montseny, 2) that different Ancylus species seldom co-occur in syntopy due to different ecological demands or interspecific competition, and 3) that species show a pattern of strong population structure within streams or catchments due to ecological preferences or local adaptation. We barcoded 180 specimens from 36 sites in the Montseny for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding gene and molecularly identified two Ancylus species. These species seldom occurred in syntopy and a species distribution modelling approach showed differing bioclimatic preferences of the species. One species mainly occurs in cooler, higher altitude streams while the second species occurs in lower-altitude areas with higher temperatures. Tests of population structure showed that both species possibly do not disperse well in the study area and that populations within species are likely adapted to certain bioclimatic conditions in different regions of the Montseny. Our results highlight the need to incorporate molecular techniques into routine monitoring programmes.

Marine sediment cores from the Pomeranian Bay and Arkona Basin were analysed in terms of geochemical composition, diatom assemblages and radiocarbon dating, in order to evaluate the characteristics of the Littorina transgression, on the environment of the south Baltic basin. The data show that this transgression had a strong influence on the evolution of the hydrographic system, which has changed substantially from the Ancylus Lake to the Littorina Sea. The beginning of the period of the Littorina Sea was estimated at 7400–8000 cal BP, but culmination of the marine ingression appeared a few hundred years afterwards in the western cores from the Arkona Basin, and almost 2000 years later in the eastern cores from the Pomeranian Bay. In this study we present a new look at the evolution of the Baltic Sea during the Holocene, based on the statistical analysis of relations between geochemical composition and diatom occurrence. Canonical correlation analysis clearly describes Ancylus and Littorina environments. The Ancylus Lake was characterised as a cold lacustrine environment with poor nutrient availability and high mineral matter inflow, probably from adjacent rivers, while the Littorina Sea environment was much warmer, with a high inflow of nutrients that favoured biogenic production.

The Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea stages of regression and transgression controlled the history of the Baltic Sea since the last glacial period. Many details regarding their development remain unknown, including the question whether the regression of the Ancylus Lake (between 10,700 and 10,200 cal yr BP) took place west of the Darss Sill, or elsewhere. This study addresses whether a drowned river system in Fehmarn Belt (SW Baltic Sea) can be related to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The river channel is cut into glacial till in the western part of Fehmarn Belt. Here, the channel reaches an incision depth of up to 12 m at a base level of 40 m b.s.l. (below sea level). Near Mecklenburg Bay, the buried channel is incised down to 60 m b.s.l. and widens rapidly from several hundred meters to more than 1 km, fading towards east. It was mainly shaped as part of a glacial meltwater system at a maximum water level of 30 m b.s.l., and is therefore not related to the Ancylus Lake drainage. During the lowstand of the Baltic Ice Lake, local shallow water bodies covered the study area. A previously reported westward directed drainage of a lake in the eastern Fehmarn Belt could be restricted to a time interval between the highstand of the Ancylus Lake and prior to the Littorina Transgression. Timing, water level and potential water discharge of this event suggest a connection to a partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake. It is concluded that the threshold separating the Ancylus Lake from the North Sea needs to be located west of Fehmarn Belt. Highlights ► A paleo-river channel is incised into the seafloor of Fehmarn Belt, SW Baltic Sea. ► This channel is unrelated to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake through the Dana River. ► Widespread erosion took place after the Ancylus Lake phase of the Baltic Sea. ► This event relates to a partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake. ► A new threshold of the Ancylus Lake west of Fehmarn Belt is suggested.

Core Psd-590 (length 947 cm, water depth 124 m) penetrated the entire sequence of marine (Littorina) mud (730 cm) and stopped in gray lacustrine (Ancylus) clays with hydrotroilitic films. The Littorina mud is gray-colored, microlaminated in the interval of 730 to 700 cm, and dark gray with hydrotoilitic films and obscure microlamination higher in the section. According to the diatom data, typical marine sediments begin at the level of 620 cm, while the lithological-geochemical data indicate this change at the level of 730 cm. This level is marked by a considerable increase in the concentrations of SiO2amorph, CO2, Corg, and Mn in the sediments. In the interval of 730 to 620 cm, diatoms are represented by both freshwater and brackish-water species. The Littorina transgression began in the form of individual flows of saline North Sea waters into the Baltic Sea, which is evident from the microlamination and sharp peaks in the concentrations of the chemical elements. The transgression exhibits two weakening and one strengthening (core interval of 380 to 220 cm) stages; the latter was marked by the maximal water salinity. The post-Littorina mud contains molluscan shells and fish bones and is enriched in the fraction of 0.05–0.01 mm. The microlaminated Littorina mud was deposited during periods with stagnant conditions in the bottom water layer, while the homogenous sediments accumulated during periods of its aeration.

Rosler, D., Moros, M. & Lemke, W. 2010: The Littorina transgression in the southwestern Baltic Sea: new insights based on proxy methods and radiocarbon dating of sediment cores. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2010.00180.x. ISSN 0300-9483. The Littorina transgression is one of the most pronounced environmental events in the Holocene history of the Baltic Sea. It changed the hydrographic system from the freshwater Ancylus Lake into the brackish-marine Littorina Sea. Here, 18 cores from two western Baltic basins, Mecklenburg Bay and the Arkona Basin, were analysed. We show that, besides biological indicators, sedimentary organic carbon, C/N ratio, bulk δ13C isotope values and carbonate content display clearly the transition from Ancylus Lake to the Littorina Sea. The first appearances of benthic foraminifers, marine molluscs and ostracods represent the onset of brackish-marine conditions in the bottom waters. Central Arkona Basin sediments display more abrupt shifts in geochemical parameters and microfossil records at the transition from Ancylus Lake to the Littorina Sea than those from Mecklenburg Bay. Mixing of reworked Ancylus material with Littorina Sea stage material was stronger in Mecklenburg Bay, resulting in less pronounced proxy parameter changes and older bulk material dates. Radiocarbon dating of both calcareous material (benthic foraminifers, mollusc shells) and bulk fractions at the transgression horizon shows large age discrepancies. Based on calcareous fossil dates it appears that marine waters began to enter Mecklenburg Bay c. 8000 cal. a BP. In the Arkona Basin the first marine signals are recorded approximately 800 years later, c. 7200 cal. a BP. This indicates a transgression pathway via the Great Belt into Mecklenburg Bay and then into the Arkona Basin.

Data on the morphology of two Ancylus Mediterranean species (A. striatus, A. pileolus) are given. The structure of their teleoconch, protoconch, and radula has been examined by means of scanning electronic microscopy. Some anatomic features of the A. striatus have been studied. The possibility of applying the features found for the purposes of taxonomy is discussed.

Bulinus truncatus the intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium, is widely distributed in modern irrigation schemes in Morocco. These schemes have intermittent irrigation and canals dry out in between irrigation periods. The snail species is therefore associated with the ‘siphon boxes’ connecting canal segments, as these contain water that stagnates between irrigation cycles. The micro-distribution of snails in siphon boxes, was studied before and after one irrigation period, to identify factors that could be manipulated in order to control this snail species. Density of B. truncatus, Ancylus fluviatilis, Lymnaea peregra and Melanopsis praemorsa varied significantly with water depth before and after irrigation. The pulmonate snail species had the highest densities at depths ranging between 20 and 80 cm. After an irrigation period of 10 to 12 hours B. truncatus, A. fluviatilis and L. peregra were relatively more abundant at the bottom of the siphon boxes than in the upper sections. Aggregation at the corners of the boxes could be among the factors that enable snail species to avoid the detrimental effect of turbulent water flow during irrigation. The relevance of changes in density and micro-distribution following an irrigation cycle in the control of B. truncatus is discussed. African Journal of Aquatic Science 2009, 34(1): 27–33

The geological history of Lake Ladoga, its connection with the Baltic basin, the formation of the Neva River, and the development of the whole region by people have been studied by Russian and Finnish scholars for a long time. Investigations carried out over the last fifteen years [1‐4] have made it possible to obtain new data on the problem; nevertheless, many problems still remain to be solved. To fill the existing gaps as well as to reveal the effect of hydrological changes on the early human settlements, international complex studies were carried out within an INTAS project and a project of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. As subjects of investigation there were chosen peat bogs and lakes located in the central part of the Karelian Isthmus, in the region of the Vetokalio Rapids, the lowest area of the Ladoga‐Baltic watershed (the absolute height is 15.4 m above sea level) situated near the settlement of Veshcheevo, Vyborg raion, Leningrad oblast. Moreover, sections in the Neva River valley and in the southern part of the Ladoga region at the Volkhov and Oyat’ rivers (Fig. 1) were also studied. In the region of Veshcheevo (Karelian Isthmus), deposits of the Nizhneosinovskoe bog and Lamskoe and Makarovskoe lakes located west and east of the Vetokalio Rapids respectively were studied (Fig. 2). The section of the Nizhneosinovskoe bog located 23 m above sea level (masl) exposed the sequence of lacustrine and mire lake‐bog deposits reflecting early stages of the existence of the so-called Hejnijoki Strait: a Baltic Ice lake (BIL), the Yoldia Sea, the later stage of which was dated at 9580 ± 100 years (9200‐8600 cal BC, LY-5306), and Ancylus Lake. Judging from the data obtained, the level of the Yoldia Sea in the central part of the Karelian Isthmus (25 masl) was reached 9400 ± 130 years (9150‐8250 cal BC, LU-5309). Overlying deposits comprise the diatom assemblage characteristic of the Ancylus freshwater lake. Between 8250 and 7100 cal BC, following the regressive lowering of the Ancylus Lake level, the basin in Nizhnesinovskoe peatbog area became isolated, existed for some time as a small lake and consequently became transformed into a bog. The study of bottom deposits of Makarovskoe (11.4 masl), Lamskoe (14.5 masl), and Uzlovoe (13.0 masl) lakes revealed final episodes of the existence of the Hejnijoki Strait. Deposits represented by lake mud were formed under conditions of shallowwater, slightly running-water, and stagnant lakes. The disappearance of “Ladoga elements” from the diatom flora and a change of the sedimentary environment from the strong-flow (sandy deposits), to slow-flow and stagnant ones (organogenic deposits) perceptible after 1980 cal BC, are indicative of isolation of lakes in the course of recession of the Lake Ladoga water level.

Two bisequal Gleysol profiles were studied in western Estonia to characterize pedogenetic features on aqueous sediments of the Litorina Sea and Ancylus Lake in similar topographical and geological situations. The development of Gleysols during the Late Holocene has been uniform and depends on the composition and sediment structure of both sandy and silty parent materials. Saturated R2O3-humic-fulvic organic matter of hydromorphic origin has increased the specific surface area and exchange properties during all stages of the Holocene while the textural-chemical properties of deposits in groundwater regimes have been preserved from Ancylus Lake time up to the present.

The grain-size and chemical composition of the bottom sediments and their diatom assemblages from the northern Baltic Sea is discussed. Characteristic layers are distinguished based on the lithostratgraphy and sediment core correlation, which reflect the transition from the lacustrine to marine sedimentation settings during the initial Holocene. Sediment cores demonstrate lateral variations in the sedimentation patterns during the marine (Yoldia Sea), the lacustrine (Ancylus Lake), and the subsequent marine (Littorina Sea) stages: first two stages were characterized by the clay deposition, while the latter one featured accumulation of silty-clayey and clayey muds in bottom depressions. Sea-level fluctuations and corresponding environmental changes are recorded in microlaminated sequences, in particular, sapropelic muds.

The purpose of this application, under Article 29 of the Code, is to emend the family-group name ancylini Michener, 1944 (Insecta, Hymenoptera), a junior homonym of ancylini Rafinesque, 1815 (Mollusca, Gastropoda), thereby removing the homonymy between the two names. It is proposed that the stem of the generic name Ancyla Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1841, on which the hymenopteran family-group name is based, be emended to give ancylaini, while leaving the molluscan name (based on Ancylus Muller, 1774) unaltered.