65.81 - Anchihaline biocoenoses

Classification des habitats du Paléarctique (2001)

Description

Communities occupying anchialine (or anchihaline) habitats, underground bodies of more or less saline water, usually with a restricted exposure to open air, always with more or less extensive subterranean connections to the sea. They show noticeable marine as well as terrestrial influences. They are varied, located within either volcanic or limestone bedrock. Distinctive communities of anchialine stygobionts, mostly crustaceans, have been discovered, in particular, in Italy, the western Balkan peninsula, the Sinai peninsula, the Canary Islands, the Azores.

Bibliography

Devillers P., Devillers-Terschuren J. & Vander Linden C., 2001. PHYSIS Palaearctic Habitat Classification Database. Updated to 10 December 2001. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles, Bruxelles. (Source)

Holthuis, 1973; Cei & al., 1982: 24; Iliffe, 1992.