Disentangling cryptic species in Parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) with an integrative approach: the case of Stammericaris similior sp. nov. and Stammericaris destillans Bruno & Cottarelli 2017.

Stammericaris similior sp. nov. is described combining light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and genetic barcoding. The new species was collected from rimstone pools in Scrivilleri Cave, a cave in Sicily with so far unexplored microcrustacean fauna. The new species is particularly interesting because it is morphologically very similar to Stammericaris destillans, an epikarstic parastenocaridid endemic to a different Sicilian cave; however, the phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial COI gene of sixteen parastenocaridids shows that these two Stammericaris are two distinct species, with an uncorrected p-distance of 22.9, and the sequences of Stammericaris similior sp. nov. cluster together in a well-supported monophyletic clade, with two different haplotypes. To our knowledge, the presence of different species of almost identical morphology had not been recorded before for the genus Stammericaris. The integrated molecular and morphological analysis, the latter conducted with the support of SEM, allows disentangling the affinities of the new species and identifying a few distinctive characters: the males of the new species are characterized by the caudal rami shorter than the anal somite; the morphology of the P3, which is thin and slightly arched, with three proximal spinules on exp-1; the peculiar structure of the P4 enp; the P4 basis ornamented with two spinules of different length, the one closest to the endopod being the shortest one, and a half-moon shaped lamella. The new species differs from S. destillans for its larger size, the presence of: three spinules, instead of two, on the P3 exp-1; the half-moon shaped lamella on the P4 basis; a row of spinules along the inner margin of P4 exp-1. We also provide data on the ecology and distribution of the new species, a list of the other copepod species collected, and a dichotomic key for the males of all species presently assigned to the genus.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Physiological and Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated in Southern Italian Bats.

The spread of antimicrobial resistance is one of the major health emergencies of recent decades. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria threaten not only humans but also populations of domestic and wild animals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of antibiotic resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) in bacterial strains isolated from six Southern-Italian bat populations. Using the disk diffusion method, we evaluated the antimicrobial susceptibility of 413 strains of Gram-negative bacteria and 183 strains of Gram-positive bacteria isolated from rectal (R), oral (O) and conjunctival (C) swabs of 189 bats belonging to 4 insectivorous species (Myotis capaccinii, Myotis myotis, Miniopterus schreibersii and Rhinolophus hipposideros). In all bat species and locations, numerous bacterial strains showed high AMR levels for some of the molecules tested. In both Gram-negative and Gram-positive strains, the resistance patterns ranged from one to thirteen. MDR patterns varied significantly across sites, with Grotta dei Pipistrelli in Pantalica displaying the highest levels of MDR (77.2% of isolates). No significant differences were found across different bat species. Monitoring antibiotic resistance in wildlife is a useful method of evaluating the impact of anthropic pressure and environmental pollution. Our analysis reveals that anthropic contamination may have contributed to the spread of the antibiotic resistance phenomenon among the subjects we examined.

Cultivable Bacteria Associated with the Microbiota of Troglophile Bats.

BACKGROUND: The study of bats is of significant interest from a systematic, zoogeographic, ecological, and physiological point of view. The aim of this study is to investigate the culturable aerobic enteric, conjunctival, and oral bacterial flora of bats to determine their physiological microbiome and to investigate the possible occurrence of pathogenic bacteria. METHODS: Five hundred and sixty-seven samples were collected from 189 individuals of four species of troglophile bats (Myotis myotis, Myotis capaccinii, Miniopterus schreibersii, and Rhinolophus hipposideros) living in Sicilian and Calabrian territory (Italy). All samples were tested for Gram-negative bacteria; conjunctival and oral swabs were also submitted to bacteriological examination for Gram-positive bacteria. RESULTS: Four hundred thirteen Gram-negative strains were isolated. Of these, 377 belonged to 17 different genera of the family Enterobacteriaceae and 30 to five other families. One hundred eighty-three Gram-positive strains were isolated. Of these, 73 belonged to the Staphylococcaceae family, 72 to the Bacillaceae family and 36 to four other families. Besides some potentially pathogenic strains, several bacterial species have been found that are common to all the bat species studied. These could perhaps play a physiological or nutritional role. CONCLUSION: A great variety of bacterial species were identified in the cultivable microbiota of southern-Italian troglophile bats, including several potentially pathogenic strains and numerous putatively symbiotic species.

Analysis of Eurasian Stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) microbial flora reveals the presence of multi-drug resistant pathogens in agro-pastoral areas of Sicily (Italy).

Spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria in natural environments pose a risk to human and animal health. Wild birds are considered to be reservoirs of human pathogens and vectors of antimicrobial resistance distribution in the environment. The aim of this study is to assess the occurrence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in isolates from bird specimens living in three agro-pastoral areas of the southeastern Sicily. We analyzed the microbiomes of the Eurasian Stone curlew Burhinus oedicnemus (Charadriiformes, Aves) and identified 91 Gram positive and 212 Gram negative strains, whose antimicrobial susceptibility to 11 and 9 antibiotic classes (respectively) was evaluated using agar disk diffusion test. Isolates showed significant levels of antimicrobial resistance, and a high percentage of MDR strains was found both between the Gram positive (49.4%) and the Gram negative (34.9%). Multi-drug resistance levels are higher among strains isolated in the beak and the eye than among enteric (faeces and cloaca) strains. Our results indicate high levels of MDR strains among wild bird populations, with a potential threat to wildlife and human populations.

Trace Element Bioaccumulation in Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus, Linnaeus, 1758): A Case Study from Sicily (Italy).

: The study aimed to highlight the degree of trace element contamination along three sites of Sicily: the Magnisi peninsula (MP), located in proximity to the Augusta-Priolo-Melilli petrochemical plant; the Ragusa agro-ecosystem (RA), characterized by a rural landscape; and the Gela plain (GP), characterized by intensive agriculture and a disused petrochemical plant. We collected biological samples (abraded back feathers and blood) of the Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus Linnaeus, 1758) as well as soil samples to determine the trace elements concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Se and V using ICP-MS analysis. The results found for the three sites show different trends of accumulation, which depend on the different management and geological characteristics of the areas. The Gela plain and Magnisi peninsula showed a higher degree of contamination (As, Co, Cu, Mn and Se for the Gela plain; Pb and Hg for the Magnisi peninsula). Nevertheless, no critical values were found for either the environment-if the results are compared with the legal limits fixed by the Legislative Decree No. 152/2006, approving the Code on the Environment-or for living organisms-if the results are compared with the toxicological thresholds for birds, especially if the short-term exposure results from the blood values are considered. Only the Se levels in animal blood from the RA and GP were found slightly higher than the minimum level required in bird diets. The positive scenario can be attributed on the one hand to the interruptions of emissions of the Gela refinery around 5 years ago, and on the other hand to the more intense and strict controls that are implemented in the area surrounding the petrochemical pole of Augusta-Priolo-Melilli.

Trace elements bioaccumulation in liver and fur of Myotis myotis from two caves of the eastern side of Sicily (Italy): A comparison between a control and a polluted area.

Environmental pollution is a topic of great interest because it directly affects the quality of ecosystems and of all living organisms at different trophic and systematic levels. Together with the global climate change, the long-term surviving of many species of plants and animals is threaten, distributional patterns at global and regional levels are altered and it results in local assemblages of species that are quite different from those that currently constitute coevolved communities. .For this study, the species Myotis myotis was used as bioindicator and it was sampled from two caves in the south-east of Sicily, Pipistrelli chosen as control area and Palombara chosen as polluted area, to measure the concentrations of trace elements in fur and liver tissues. Results showed higher content of essential elements in fur in bats sampled from Pipistrelli. Conversely, higher concentrations of toxic metals in liver such as As, Cd, Pb and Hg were measured in bat samples in Palombara cave, where specimens have a hunting area extended within the boundaries of the petrochemical plant. Nevertheless, we cannot consider Palombara population as polluted by metal contamination since their tissue concentrations are overall lower than toxic thresholds values suggested for small mammals. Likewise, we cannot exclude other kind of pollutants as potential stressors of the examined population, contributing with the decreasing of bat colonies in Sicily.

Morphological and molecular analyses of epikarstic Parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from two Sicilian caves, with description of a new Stammericaris.

We describe Stammericaris destillans sp. nov., and re-describe Stammericaris trinacriae (Pesce, Galassi and Cottarelli 1988) based on new material. The two species were collected from epikarstic drips and pools on the floor of two different caves: a karstic (Molara Cave) and a gypsum (Entella Cave) cave, respectively, both located in Sicily, Italy. We also report the presence of previously undescribed structures for Stammericaris amyclaea (Cottarelli 1969) and Stammericaris orcina (Chappuis 1938). Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial COI and ribosomal 18S genes attributed the new species to Stammericaris Jakobi 1972, therefore the structure of the male P4 endopod of S. destillans is interpreted as an autapomorphy; other morphological features (structure of male antennule and P3, of female P3; inner ornamentation of P1 basis, armature of caudal rami and shape and armature of P5 of both sexes) correspond to those typical of the genus. Hence, we slithgly amended the generic diagnosis. [zoobank.org:pub:4CC84A0C-C511-4388-9728-41647E58097A].