A New Species of Flavalona Sinev & Dumont, 2016 (crustacea: Branchiopoda) from Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Here we describe a new species of Flavalona Sinev & Dumont, 2016 (Cladocera: Chydoridae) based on material from Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. F. darkovi sp. nov. clearly differs from other species of Flavalona known to date by fine ornamentation of valves, proportions of head pores, proximal exopod spine and seta on the middle exopod segment of antenna II. This species may be considered as endemic taxon of high mountain water bodies of Bale Mountains at an altitude of about 4000 m.a.s.l. Investigated species of the genus Flavalona in Africa demonstrate strong local mountain endemism accompanied by morphological differences between closest taxa, but the real diversity of this group in Africa is underestimated yet, and further studies are urgently need. Since the high mountain water ecosystems in Africa are especially vulnerable to increasing anthropogenic impact and global climate warming, it is necessary to speed up the studies of high mountain invertebrates and develop special measures for protection of such ecosystems.