Carmona-Calero, Emilia M.

Castañeyra-Perdomo, Agustín

Castañeyra-Ruiz, Agustín

Castañeyra-Ruiz, Leandro

Docoito, José R.

Martínez-Soto, Beneharo

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

RESUM
Durant tres mesos dels últims dos hiverns vam observar i vam recollir per primera vegada a
les Illes Canàries (Fuerteventura) gambetes d’aigua dolça del gènere Branchipus, les quals
apareixen en abundància als tolls d’aigua de pluja localitzats als barrancs del nord-est de
Fuerteventura. La reproducció del Branchipus al laboratori ens va permetre observar que el
cicle efímer complet dura entre quinze i disset dies, i les característiques anatòmiques i taxo-
nòmiques són similars a les descripcions existents del Branchipus schaefferi Fischer Wald-
heim, 1834. No obstant això, vam observar una petita variació al cap del mascle.
RESUMEN
Durante tres meses de los últimos dos inviernos fueron observados y recogidos por primera
vez en las Islas Canarias camarones de agua dulce del género Branchipus, los cuales apare-
cen en abundancia en los charcos de agua de lluvia localizados en los barrancos del nordeste
de Fuerteventura. La reproducción del Branchipus en el laboratorio nos permitió observar
que el ciclo efímero completo dura entre quince y decisiete días, y las características anató-
micas y taxonómicas son similares a las descripciones existentes del Branchipus schaefferi
Fischer Waldheim, 1834. Sin embargo, se observó una pequeña variación en la cabeza del
macho.
ABSTRACT
During three months of the last two winters fairy shrimps of the genus Branchipus, which
appear in abundance in the raining rock pools located in a northeast gully of Fuerteventura,
were observed and collected for the first time in the Canary Islands (Fuerteventura). Branchi-
pus reproduction in the laboratory allowed us to observe that the complete cycle was
ephemeral, lasting 15-17 days, and anatomic and taxonomic features were consistent with the
existing descriptions of the Branchipus schaefferi Fischer, 1834 , although a small variation
was observed in the male head.
Key words: Branchipus schaefferi - Anostraca, taxonomy- zoogeography
SCIENTIA gerundensis, 28: 63-69 (2007)
FIRST DATAON THE PRESENCE OFTHE GENUS
BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFERI 1766 (CRUSTACEA:
ANOSTRACA) IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
José R. Docoito1, Beneharo Martínez-Soto1, Leandro Castañeyra-
Ruiz1, Agustín Castañeyra-Ruiz1, Emilia M. Carmona-Calero2 and
Agustín Castañeyra-Perdomo*2
1. Departamento de Biotecnología del Instituto de Investigación y Ciencias de Puerto del Rosario
(INIPRO). Tenerife 35, 35600 Puerto del Rosario. Fuerteventura, Islas Canarias, Spain.
2. Departamento de Anatomía, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain.
*Corresponding author: acastane@ull.es
INTRODUCTION
The Anostraca Branchipus schaefferi belongs to the most endangered crustacean
species in Europe. Branchipus schaefferi inhabits small, temporary ponds with tur-
bid water, and overcomes periods of desiccation by laying resting eggs. Branchipus
schaefferi is often associated with other rare crustacean species (Mura, 1999). In
restrictive colonization of the ephemeral rock pool habitats, some groups of the
specimen are considered to be typical of fresh water—including cladocera, ostraco-
da, copepoda and branchipoda (Williams, 1975)—but have rarely been described
in rock pools of the Canary Islands. The presence or absence of these groups could
be a consequence of their greater or smaller capacity to survive in a habitat with
biota subjected to long periods of drought. Consequently, that biota would have to
consist of organisms which have high rates of fertility and short life cycles and
attain reproductive capacity quickly (Williams, 1985). These characteristics have
been described for the adaptation of organisms that colonize puddles of rainwater in
dry zones (Williams, 1985), much like the climate on the island of Fuerteventura.
The aim of the present work is to describe, for the first time, the presence of fresh-
water crustaceans (Branchipus) in the raining rock pools of the island and to con-
tribute new taxonomic and ecological data.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The exanimate material was collected in Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura), in the
temporary rock pools formed by rainwater during the months of December and Jan-
uary. The rock pools had depths of 0.5 to 1 metre, and sandy-muddy bottoms. The
specimens were collected directly with the aid of small nets. Six of them were
fixed, first in a solution of 4% formaldehyde and then in a solution of 70% alcohol.
Thirty live Branchipus (70% females) specimens were conserved in a fishbowl with
the substratum and water from the rock pools for observation and to carry out
experiments 1 and 2. Five specimens, 3 females and 2 males, were dissected with
tungsten needles.
RESULTS
The specimens were captured in the ephemeral, temporary rainwater puddles that
form during the rainy period in areas of Fuerteventura Island. The puddle water was
slightly mineralised (Table 1). In the puddles two well differentiated sizes of
Branchipus were observed. In puddle 1, the collected specimens were orangeade
colours and larger in size (maximum 27 mm) than those in puddle 2. In the sample
from puddle 2, the specimens were as long as 15 mm and transparent pink in
colour.
In both puddles (1 and 2) a great quantity of cladocera, ostracoda and some cope-
poda were found (12-4-0.25 respectively) for each specimen of Branchipus.
FIRST DATES ON THE PRESENCE OF THE GENUS BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFER 1766...64
REPRODUCTION EXPERIMENTS ON BRANCHIPUS
FROM THE DRY SUBSTRATUM
Experiment 1
Thirty Branchipus (70% females) were maintained in the water and substrate from
the puddles in an aerated 8 litre fishbowl. Every four days a small quantity of com-
plete goldfish food (TetraAmniMin) was added to the water. The number of
Branchipus diminished during the first month, leaving a total of seven Branchipus
(five females and two males) which stabilized in number and size during the second
month. Two months after beginning the experiment, only five Branchipus remained
(three females and two males) and two days later the Branchipus had disappeared
completely. During all this time and after the Branchipus had disappeared, there
were no Branchipus births. Only other crustaceans were observed (cladocera, cope-
pods and others) and they too had practically disappeared in the end.
Experiment 2
Two hundred grams of substrate from the puddle of the Branchipus were extracted
and put on a glass plate, 6 cm in diameter by 1 cm high, and placed in the sun at a
temperature that oscillated between 18ºC at night and 28ºC during the day. After a
month, the substrate was completely dry and was introduced with the plate of glass
in a fishbowl with 1.5 litres of distilled water (50%) and puddle water (50%) which
was not aerated. Four days later, 17 Branchipus of different sizes (0.2 to 0.5 cm)
were observed. Five of them were extracted for taxonomic study. On the eighth day
after the experiment started, three females with eggs in the ovisac were observed
and a day later (the ninth day after the experiment began) there were already seven
females with ovisacs full of eggs. During those two days the Branchipus increased
in size from 0.8 to 1.5 cm and a small quantity of goldfish food (TetraAmniMin)
was added to the water. Four Branchipus (two males and two females) were extract-
ed for other studies.
On the 14th day after the experiment started, five females and two males measuring
between 2 and 2.5 cm were observed. In the females’ ovisacs multiple eggs and a
white or clear gray mucous was observed. A day later (the fifteenth day) their size
had stabilized at 2.5 cm, the mucous plug of the ovisac was disappearing and the
Branchipus movements were slow and clumsy. During the 15 days the water of the
container had diminished by 30%. On the following day (day 16) only two females,
with their ovisacs quite empty of eggs, and a male that tried to bury itself in the sub-
strate with slow movements, were alive. Ten hours later only a female that practi-
cally could not move by herself was still alive; the other two were dead and half
buried in the substrate. A day later (the sixteenth day after the start of the experi-
ment) the Branchipus were all dead and not even their remains could be observed;
only other types of small sized crustaceans such as cladocera and copepods were
alive. On the seventeenth day after the beginning of the experiment, only other
types of crustaceans (cladocera and others) were still alive.
Experiment 2 was repeated several times and similar results were obtained.
Morphologic description.
FIRST DATES ON THE PRESENCE OF THE GENUS BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFER 1766... 65
In most cases the Branchipus species are opaque, and have a fragile colourless
body, although some specimens present reddish, orange and even green shades. As
a result of this transparency, the digestive tract is seen to be rectilinear and passing
through the telson.
The head bears a pair of stalked, lateral, compound eyes and a single, median, non
stalked naupliar eye at the anterior end. The antennae are generally conical. The
maxilla presents two bristles, one long and terminal and the other shorter and proxi-
mal. The labrum shows a short ellipsoidal extreme. The antennules present eight
small scales and three long sub terminal bristles. The thoracopods have two sub ter-
minal bristles and one long anterior bristle in the first and the second endites respec-
tively. Proto epipodites have incisures which can be more or less prominent at the
edge. The exopod is extended, and the proto epipodites have a serrated margin. The
abdomen has visible ventral bristles in the fourth, sixth and eighth somites, lateral
bristles in the third, fifth and seventh somites, and dorsal bristles are only observed
in the eighth somite. The seminal vesicles are slightly notorious.
Female (Fig. 1A). The observed specimen has a maximum length of 27 mm. The
antennae have concentrated sensory bristles on the base and around the sharp
extreme (Fig. 1B, 2C). The thoracopods have the third and fourth endites equipped
with two anterior and two posterior bristles. The proximal bristles are observed to
be longer than the others inside the first ten thoracopods. The dorsal margin of the
epipod is serrated with a lax form, and on the dorsal-distal part of the margin the
proto epipodites are serrated. The brood sac (ovisac) is short and wide, with a ven-
tral protuberance caudally directed till it reaches halfway on the second abdominal
somite (Fig. 1C); moreover, the majority of the specimen show refringence. Eggs
showed complex geometric forms, with several faces delimited by crests but, in the
last stages they evolved a yellowish sphere with diameters between 0.20-0.30 mm.
Male (Fig.2B). The maximum length observed was 25 mm. The head had an inden-
tation at the edge of its anterolateral part. The basal segments of the antennae were
fused, while the apical segment did not show any widening in the middle parts (Fig.
1D, 2D-E). The antennal appendices were much longer than the antennae. The first
thoracopods had three to five anterior bristles on the fifth endites.
Ventrally the male have a pair of tubular penes which have a split retractable arm of
denticles (Fig. 1E-F).
The data described above suggest that this crustacean belongs to:
Order Branchipoda Anostraca G.OR. SARS
Family BranchipodidaeMILNE-EDWARDS, 1840
Genus Branchipus SCHAEFFERI, 1766
Probable species Branchipus schaefferi Fischer, 1834
DISCUSSION
Fuerteventura is a part of the Canary Islands, which are a rocky archipelago consti-
tuted by seven larger and six smaller islands and located northwest of Africa, at the
level of the 28th parallel. Fuerteventura, at 100 km from the Western Sahara, is the
FIRST DATES ON THE PRESENCE OF THE GENUS BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFER 1766...66
island that is closest to Africa. It has an arid climate, where rainy periods are scarce
and limited to December, January and April. During these months ephemeral fresh-
water rock pools are formed in the depths of gullies. Temporary freshwater rock
pools occur in hollows of basaltic stone, containing a substrata with a solution of
clay and limestone coming from upper levels of the gully. The freshwater from pre-
cipitation and runoff accumulates in such a solution, forming the rock pool environ-
ment. During the time the rock pools are filled with water, several macro and
microplanktonic resident biota are present and dry flora of terrestrial macrophytes
could colonise the substratum.
There are very few works on the localization of crustaceans branchiopoda in the
Canary Islands. The specimens only mentioned on the islands correspond to the
Artemia parthenogenetica, limited to the coastal region, living in saline or hyper-
saline water of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote Islands (Varo et al., 1987). With
respect to inland rainwater rock pools, we did not find references to this Branchipus
in the Canary archipelago. It could be due to the short existence of these habitats on
the islands, which implies they were not considered and sufficient information on
the presence of this Branchipus in the Canary Islands has not been found. However,
in the present work, the ephemeral Branchipus cycle, using a fishbowl containing
substratum and water precedent from the rock pools, was reproduced several times.
On the other hand, the occurrence or co-occurrence of different species of Branchi-
pus in ephemeral ponds throughout the Mediterranean countries and region (Belad-
jal et al., 2003) has been recorded and updated: in Italy (Mura, 2001; Mura et al.,
2003), in Spain (Catalonia) (Sala et al., 2003) and in Macedonia (Petkovski, 1997).
The morphology of the specimens captured in Fuerteventura coincides well with the
anatomy of Branchipus schaefferi described in recent taxonomic works (Alonso,
1990; Machado et al.,1999; Petkovski, 1997). However, the male head of the
Branchipus found in Fuerteventura presents in its anterolateral part a slight anatom-
ic difference from the Branchipus schaefferi described by Fischer.
Current reports confirm the distribution of Branchipus schaefferi Fischer in these
latitudes, coinciding with the northern distribution (Alonso, 1990; Berrios and
Sielfeld, 2000; Brendonck ,1989; Brtek and Thiery ,1995), although the existence
of this species in the oceanic islands located in the northwest of Africa have not
been described. In an environment more similar to Fuerteventura, such as the Mal-
tese archipelago (Central Mediterranean), a sporadic occurrence of Branchipus
schaefferi has also been recorded from inland pools and coastal mesohaline habitats
(Lanfranco et al., 1991). Although the minimum temperature during the winter in
Malta (0ºC) is lower than in Fuerteventura (12ºC) and the maximum is similar in
both islands (26ºC in Malta and 30ºC in Fuerteventura), we could conclude that the
Branchipus found in Fuerteventura Island have an ephemeral cycle of 15 days and
is quite similar to Branchipus schaefferi Fischer, 1834 (Branchiopoda, Branchipo-
didae), although anatomic differences can be pointed out, such us the anterolateral
part of the male head. Our study in preparation on “The genotype of the Branchipus
schaefferi found in the Canary Islands” will confirm if this Branchipus belongs to
this genus Branchipus schaefferi Fischer.
FIRST DATES ON THE PRESENCE OF THE GENUS BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFER 1766... 67
Acknowledgments
We thank Beneharo Martinez-Soto for the generous gift of the Branchipus used in
the present study, and Antonio Rodríguez-Molina and Juan Castañeya-Gongora for
their assistance. This work was supported by Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería
y Pesca del Cabildo de Fuerteventura.
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Figures and table legend
FIRST DATES ON THE PRESENCE OF THE GENUS BRANCHIPUS SCHAEFFER 1766... 69
Fig. 2 - Branchipus schaefferi: A,
female Branchipus, anterolateral view;
B, male specimen, lateral view; C,
female specimen, head detail; D, male
specimen, head detail; E, mandible male
specimen, anterior view; F, male pleon,
G female pleon.
Fig. 1 - Branchipus schaefferi: A,
female specimen, lateral view ; B,
antennae, anterior dorsolateral view; C,
ovisac; D, head of male specimen, ante-
rior view; E, penis, ventral view; F,
elongated penis, lateral view.
Conductivity Salinity
ms/cm a 25 ºC pH mg/l T (ºC)
Puddle 1 1,160 7,76 742 14
Puddle 2 925 7,87 592 13
Table 1. Data of the different puddles where the Branchipus specimens were captured


First data on the presence of the genus Branchipus Schaefferi 1766 (Crustacea: Anostraca) in the canary islands

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