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Microplastic (MP) contamination is a globally recognised issue in aquatic environments, and recently, there has been an increase in investigations focusing on lake contamination, revealing significant amounts of dispersed MPs. However, our understanding of the ingestion and effects of MPs on organisms living in lake ecosystems remains limited. This study aims to develop an effective protocol for assessing the ingestion of MPs by the talitrid amphipod Cryptorchestia garbinii, with the goal of verifying and evaluating the biological effects following ingestion. Individuals sampled from the shores of Lake Albano were exposed to four different polymers, namely low-density polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyester (PES), and polypropylene (PP), under laboratory conditions. To deliver MPs through the diet, we decided to employ DECOTABs (DEcomposition and COnsumption TABlets) which have been successfully used as a food source in aquatic toxicity tests. At the end of the experiments, we employed the solvatochromic and fluorescent dye Nile red to detect and quantify the MPs present in the digestive tube contents of the animals. The results clearly demonstrate the ingestion of the supplied polymers through the tabs, validating this method of exposure as effective. Furthermore, the measurement of glucose, glycogen, and lipid levels reveals that within 24 h of ingestion, MPs had an impact on the macromolecules involved in the energy metabolism of C. garbinii. This research underscores the suitability of this species as a model organism for studying MP uptake and its effects.

The species commonly known as Orchestia cavimana belonging to the Talitridae family (Amphipoda) has been used as crustacean model species. Here, we point out that this talitrid amphipod species is related to species in the genus Orchestia but now falls under what is described as Cryptorchestia garbinii, which is a different species from the nominal species Cryptorchestia cavimana endemic to the Island of Cyprus. It is therefore important that future basic research and applied studies involving this model organism refer to it as C. garbinii. Its old assignment O. cavimana, or even C. cavimana, as still reported in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank and in recent papers, may lead to confusion.

Cryptorchestia gen. nov. Type species. Orchestia cavimana Heller, 1865. Etymology. Crypto- from the Greek for hidden and referring to this unknown taxon within the genus Orchestia. Diagnostic description (based on male). Eyes present. Antenna 1 short, not longer than article 4 of antenna 2 peduncle. Antenna 2 peduncular articles slender; peduncular article 3 without ventral process. Labrum without robust setae. Mandible left lacinia mobilis 4 -dentate . Maxilliped palp article 2 distomedial lobe well developed ; article 4 reduced, button-shaped or fused with article 3. Gnathopod 1 subchelate; posterior margin of merus, carpus and propodus each with lobe covered in palmate setae. Gnathopod 2 subchelate ; merus and carpus free; dactylus slender distally. Pereopods 3���7 cuspidactylation not known. Pereopods 6���7 not sexually dimorphic, both without row of short setae along posterior margin of dactyli. Pleonites 1���3 without dorsal spines. Pleopods 1���3 biramous, well developed. Epimera without vertical slits. Uropod 1 outer ramus slender, with marginal robust setae. Uropod 3 well developed; ramus subequal in length or slightly longer than peduncle. Telson incised, with 5���10 robust setae per lobe. Included species (9 species). Cryptorchestia canariensis (Dahl, 1950) (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands); C. cavimana (Heller, 1865) (Cyprus); C. chevreuxi (de Guerne, 1887) (Fayal Island, The Azores); C. gomeri (Stock, 1989) (La Gomera, Canary Islands); C. guancha (Stock & Boxshall, 1989) (Tenerife, Canary Islands); C. kosswigi (Ruffo, 1949) (east Turkish coast); C. mateusi (Afonso, 1977) (the Azores); C. monticola (Stock & Abreu, 1992) (Madeira); C. stocki (Ruffo, 1990) (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands). Remarks. Cryptorchestia differs from Orchestia in male gnathopod 1 which has palmate lobes on the merus, carpus and propodus and in generally having fewer robust setae (5���6) on the telson. The species in Cryptorchestia are all terrestrial species associated with freshwater. Species of Orchestia occur in the supralittoral marine environment. Cryptorchestia appears to be similar to Traskorchestia Bousfield, 1982, a marine supralittoral group from the North Pacific Ocean in which at least the type species (T. traskiana (Stimpson, 1857)) has a palmate lobe on the merus of male gnathopod 1. The type species, Cryptorchestia cavimana (Heller, 1865) is seriously in need of redescription; however, the original illustrations of Heller undoubtedly depict the characters of the genus. Even though C. monticola apparently does not have a palmate lobe on the merus of male gnathopod 1, it fits into this genus based on overall character assessment and appears to be most similar to C. gomeri which does have this particular character. Stock & Boxshall (1989), based on logical arguments, considered Orchestia mateusi Afonso, 1977 to be a junior synonym of C. chevreuxi. It also does not have the palmate lobe on the merus of male gnathopod 1, but appears to be in the genus. It differs from C. monticola in having an attenuated dactylus on male gnathopod 1. Herbst & Dimentman (1983) considered that the freshwater talitrid Orchestia tiberiadis Lortet, 1883, known from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), is a synonym of C. cavimana, based on advice from G. Karaman. Karaman (1978) had earlier considered that the Orchestia tiberiadis Lortet, 1883 was a senior synonym of C. kosswigi Ruffo, 1949. Karaman came to this conclusion based on the similarity of the male second gnathopods and the proximity of geographic locations. Bellan-Santini (1993) accepted this synonymy with reservation. The male dactylus of O. tiberiadis and C. kosswigi appears to be very long (reaching nearly to the proximal end of the posterior margin of the propodus), an unusual character state. But in all other aspects O. tiberiadis is undescribed so that, for the timebeing, it must be considered as dubious and the species from Israel remains undetermined. In a further complication Herbst & Dimentman (1983) imply that there is only one species in Israel, characterised by a short dactylus on male gnathopod 2, but this seems improbable based on the illustration of O. tiberiadis, by Lortet (1883) which shows a long dactylus. Cryptorchestia mateusi fits into the genus except that it apparently does not have a plamate lobe on the merus of male gnathopod 2. But it fits in no other genus. For this reason it is placed into Cryptorchestia. We include C. kosswigi in the genus. In the illustrations of Ruffo (1949) and Bellan-Santini (1993) there is a small lobe on the merus of male gnathopod 1. This character, coupled with its apparent preference for freshwater lake habitats (Karaman 1978) indicates that this species belongs in Cryptorchestia. The mouthparts are not known for the species., Published as part of Lowry, J. K. & Fanini, Lucia, 2013, Substrate dependent talitrid amphipods from fragmented beaches on the north coast of Crete (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Talitridae), including a redefinition of the genus Orchestia and descriptions of Orchestia xylino sp. nov. and Cryptorchestia gen. nov., pp. 201-229 in Zootaxa 3709 (3) on pages 204-205, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3709.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/215773, {"references":["Heller, C. (1865) Kleine Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Susswasser-Amphipoden. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-koniglichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 15, 979 - 984, pl. 17.","Dahl, E. (1950) On some terrestrial Amphipoda from the Canary Island and Madeira. Arkiv for Zoologi, 1 (14), 195 - 198.","de Guerne, J. (1887) Notes sur la faune des Acores. Le Naturaliste, (2), 9, 16.","Stock, J. H. & Boxshall, G. A. (1989) Comparison between the landhoppers (Amphipoda, Talitridae) of the genus Orchestia from Tenerife (Canary Islands) and the Azores. Beaufortia, 39 (2), 45 - 54.","Ruffo, S. (1949) Hatayda tutulan yeni bir Talitrid'in teshisi. Etude sur les Crustaces Amphipodes. XX. Description d'un nouveau Talitride du Hatay (Orchestia Kosswigi n. sp.). Istanbul Universitesi fen Fakuiltesi mecmuasi, (B) 14 (4), 321 - 326, 2 figs.","Afonso, O. (1977) Contribution a l'etude des Amphipodes des Acores - description d'une nouvelle espece. Publicacoes do Instituto de Zoologia Doutor Augusto Nobre, 135, 11 - 32.","Stock, J. & Abreu, A. D. (1992) Talitridae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from non-marine habitats in Madeira. Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal, 44 (240), 115 - 129.","Ruffo, S. (1990) A new Orchestia from Gran Canaria: O. stocki n. sp. (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Talitridae) studies on Crustacea Amphipoda, 116. Beaufortia, 41 (23), 163 - 167.","Bousfield, E. L. (1982) The amphipod superfamily Talitroidea in the northeastern Pacific region. Family Talitridae. Systematics and distributional ecology. National. Museum of Natural Science, Publications in Biological Oceanography, 11, i - vii, 1 - 73.","Stimpson, W. (1857) On some Californian Crustacea. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science, 1, 87 - 90.","Herbst, G. N. & Dimentman, C. (1983) Distributional patterns and habitat characteristics of Amphipoda (Crustacea) in the inland waters of Israel and Sinai. Hydrobiologia, 98, 17 - 24. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1007 / bf 00019247","Lortet, L. (1883) Crustacea, in: 1. Poissons et reptiles du lac de Tiberiade, In: Etudes zoologiques sur la faune des lacs d'Antioche et de Horns. Archives du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Lyon, 3, 99 - 192.","Bellan-Santini, D. (1993) Family Talitridae. In Ruffo, S. (ed.) The Amphipoda of the Mediterranean, Part 3, Gammaridea (Melphidippidae to Talitridae) Ingolfiellidea, Caprellidea. Memoires de l'Institute Oceanographique, Monaco, 13, 728 - 760."]}