Rhodopean balkanopetalum
Balkanopetalum rhodopinum Verhoeff, 1937
Order Callipodida
Family Schizopetalidae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Critically endangered CR [B2 a,b(ii)].
General distribution. Bulgaria.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. A local endemic from the region of the town of Peshtera. Known to occur in two caves situated near one to the other: Novata and Yubileyna [1, 2, 3]. Young individuals, very probably of the same species, are also known from the Snezhanka cave, situated in the same region but at a higher altitude. Since 1990 the species has been registered in the two caves Novata and Yubileyna, where its populations are currently stable. The individuals reported from the Garvanyovitsa cave near the village of Turyan (Smolyan region) [2] were probably representatives of another closely related species [3].
Habitats. A probable troglobiont and a guanophile. It inhabits caves, mainly their darkest parts, where it finds the appropriate wetness. It lives in bat guano, around and under stones, cracks in the rocks.
Biology. Insufficiently known. It has been registered in January, March, May and June; in March and June young individuals have also been caught. It feeds on organic matter entering the cave, on different organisms living in the bat guano and on corpses of dead animals.
Similar species. None.
Negative factors. A potential threat is the electrification of the Yubileyna cave and the development of cave tourism in Snezhanka.
Conservation measures taken. The caves Yubileyna, Novata and Snezhanka are included in the Kupena Reserve, declared in 1961.
Conservation measures needed. Studies on the biology of the species; ban on the electrification of Yubileyna cave; restriction of the access for visitors in some of the galleries of Snezhanka cave.
References. 1. Verhoeff, 1937; 2. Strasser, 1969; 3. Stoev & Enghoff, 2003.
Author: Pavel Stoev
