Biodiversity of freshwater macroinvertebrates on Gökçeada Island (North Aegean Sea, Turkey)

Island ecosystems have attracted the attention of scientists since the early days of science because of their formation and biodiversity. Despite their abundant freshwater resources, data on freshwater diversity of Gökçeada are incomplete, especially for macroinvertebrates. This study was conducted in a wide range of freshwater ecosystems on Gökçeada between May 2016 and September 2018. Sampling of macroinvertebrates was performed using a hand net from 34 pre-selected sampling sites on the island. A total of 78 aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa were found, 46 of which are new records for the island. The most common species during the study were Gammarus komareki and Bythinella gokceadaensis with a frequency of 25.93%, followed by Tubifex tubifex, Gammarus sp. and Caenis sp. with a frequency of 22.22%. Endemic and invasive species on the island were assessed according to their presence and frequency values. Based on the results of the current study and previous data, it can be concluded that Gökçeada is characterized by a remarkable species diversity compared to aquatic macroinvertebrates on other Aegean islands.

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Scientific Research Projects Unit (BAP-808) of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey. I would like to thank Dr. Deniz Anıl ODABAŞI and Dr. Seçil ACAR who helped me during the fieldwork. I also would like to thank Dr. Emre ÖZELKAN for producing the map. I am also grateful to Dr. Belgin ELİPEK, Dr. Nurhayat DALKIRAN, and Elçin KEŞİR for their help with taxonomic identification. My special thanks go to the language editors Dr. Sercan Hamza BAĞLAMA and Dr. Ewa KAŹMIERCZAK, for their valuable corrections on the manuscript.

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