A comprehensive DNA barcode inventory of Austria's fish species.

Austria is inhabited by more than 80 species of native and non-native freshwater fishes. Despite considerable knowledge about Austrian fish species, the latest Red List of threatened species dates back 15 years and a systematic genetic inventory of Austria's fish species does not exist. To fulfill this deficit, we employed DNA barcoding to generate an up-to-date and comprehensive genetic reference database for Austrian fish species.

Inter- and Intrasexual Variation in Cuticular Hydrocarbons in (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae).

Cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae, Hymenoptera) are known for their parasitoid or cleptoparasitic life histories. Indeed, the biology of only a few species has been studied in detail and often only little more is known than the host species. By mimicking their hosts' cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles, species that parasitize single (or a few closely related) host species manage to deceive their hosts.

DNA barcoding of Austrian snow scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Boreidae) reveals potential cryptic diversity in .

Background: Snow scorpionflies (genus ) belong to a family of Mecoptera, Boreidae, that has been vastly neglected by entomological researchers due to their shift in seasonality to the winter months. Their activity during this time is regarded as a strategy for predator avoidance and regular sightings on snow fields suggest that this also facilitates dispersal. However, many aspects about snow scorpionflies, especially systematics, taxonomy, distribution of species, phylogenetics and phylogeography have remained fairly unexplored until today.

Coverage and quality of DNA barcode references for Central and Northern European Odonata.

Background: Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are important components in biomonitoring due to their amphibiotic lifecycle and specific habitat requirements. They are charismatic and popular insects, but can be challenging to identify despite large size and often distinct coloration, especially the immature stages. DNA-based assessment tools rely on validated DNA barcode reference libraries evaluated in a supraregional context to minimize taxonomic incongruence and identification mismatches.

African lates perches (Teleostei, Latidae, Lates): Paraphyly of Nile perch and recent colonization of Lake Tanganyika.

Lates perches of the genus Lates (Latidae) are large piscivorous fishes, with a strikingly disjunct distribution range in coastal areas and estuaries of the Indo-Pacific region and in some large African freshwater systems. Previous phylogenetic hypotheses based on osteological and ontogenetic data suggested paraphyly of the African representatives, or even the small Lake Tanganyika species assemblage, with respect to the remaining Lates species. Based on a multilocus phylogeny, however, we show that extant African lates perches are monophyletic.

Relicts from Glacial Times: The Ground Beetle Eschscholtz, 1823 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the Austrian Alps.

The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for many cold-adapted species with a limited dispersal ability and can be found in many invertebrate taxa, including ground beetles. The ground beetle Eschscholtz, 1823 of the subgenus was previously known to have a holarctic-circumpolar distribution, in Europe reaching its southern borders in Wales and southern Scandinavia.

Discriminating larvae of two syntopic Cychramus species (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) by means of bar-HRM analysis.

Molecular genetic methods are increasingly used to supplement or substitute classical morphology-based species identification. Here, we employ a COI mini-barcode coupled high-resolution melting analysis to quickly, cost-efficiently and reliably determine larvae of two closely related Cychramus (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) species. Euclidean distance comparison (p < 0.

A reference DNA barcode library for Austrian amphibians and reptiles.

In the last few years, DNA barcoding became an established method for species identification in biodiversity inventories and monitoring studies. Such studies depend on the access to a comprehensive reference data base, covering all relevant taxa. Here we present a comprehensive DNA barcode inventory of all amphibian and reptile species native to Austria, except for the putatively extinct Vipera ursinii rakosiensis and Lissotriton helveticus, which has been only recently reported for the very western edge of Austria.

Only true pelagics mix: comparative phylogeography of deepwater bathybatine cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.

In the absence of dispersal barriers, species with great dispersal ability are expected to show little, if at all, phylogeographic structure. The East African Great Lakes and their diverse fish faunas provide opportunities to test this hypothesis in pelagic fishes, which are presumed to be highly mobile and unrestricted in their movement by physical barriers. Here, we address the link between panmixis and pelagic habitat use by comparing the phylogeographic structure among four deepwater cichlid species of the tribe Bathybatini from Lake Tanganyika.

Romanogobio skywalkeri, a new gudgeon (Teleostei: Gobionidae) from the upper Mur River, Austria.

Romanogobio skywalkeri, new species, is described from the upper Mur River in the Austrian Danube drainage. It is related to R. banarescui from the Mediterranean basin.