Field Surveys

Sterkfontein cave is a home for underground amphipods that are endemic only to South African such as Sternophysinx filaris. This species have been recorded in other underground caves in Limpopo, yet underground amphipods have narrow distribution. Amphipods are important freshwater invertebrates that are used to test water quality and are food for other living organisms (important in trophic level). We hypothesis that these underground species are cryptic species as most widely distributed underground amphipods in other European countries have been intensively studied and they have been found to be cryptic. Studying these amphipods will not only benefit taxonomy but also conservation of these endemic and possible endanger species .The aim of my project is to identify these species using both morphological and molecular methods.