Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 38, 2014 Botanica Zoologia: 127-131 Recent distribution of Triops cancriformis in northern Italy (Crustacea: Notostraca) BRUNO GOLFIERI*, LUCIO BONATO** *Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova; **Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova Abstract he recent distribution of Triops cancriformis in the Po-Venetian-Friulian plain is scarcely known. In this work we present an updated outline of the distribution of the species by supplementing the few published data with an original dataset of unpublished indings col- lected by many occasional observers. After 1990, Triops cancriformis has been observed in at least 15 sites, out of a total of 22 recorded since 1970. he sites are throughout most part of the Po Plain, above all in Novara and Pavia provinces, but also in Brescia, Verona and Ferrara provinces, mainly in rice ields. Key words: Triops cancriformis, distribution, Po-Venetian-Friulian plain, Notostraca, rice ield. Riassunto La distribuzione attuale di Triops cancriformis nella Pianura Padano-Veneto-Friulana è scarsamente conosciuta. In questo lavoro viene presentato un aggiornamento delle conoscenze relative alla distribuzione della specie integrando i pochi dati bibliograici disponibili con una serie di segnalazioni inedite raccolte da diversi osservatori occasionali. Dopo il 1990, Triops cancriformis è stato osservato in almeno 15 siti, tra i 22 registrati a partire dal 1970. Questi siti sono soprattutto risaie, distribuiti nella maggior parte della Pianura Padana, in particolare nelle province di Novara e Pavia, ma anche in quelle di Brescia, Verona e Ferrara. Parole chiave: Triops cancriformis, distribuzione, Pianura Padano-Veneto-Friulana, Notostraca, risaia. Introduction Triops cancriformis is widely distributed over Eu- rope (Zafagnini & Trentini, 1980; Brtek & hiéry, 1995) and the post-1990 records from Italy have been resumed and updated by Mura (2005), including dif- ferent localities in central Italy and Sardinia, but none in northern Italy. Previously, however, the species had been reported from the rice ields of northern Italy both near Pavia and near Ferrara (Tab. 1). he aim of this paper is to contribute to evaluate the recent and current distribution of Triops cancriformis in the plains of northern Italy by integrating published data with new unpublished records. Material and methods A total of 28 scientiic periodicals (listed in the ap- pendix) published by natural history museums or natu- ralistic societies in northern Italy have been searched for records of Triops cancriformis. All issues since 1980 to the present date have been checked. Year 1980 has been chosen as to consider the period after the review by Zafagnini & Trentini (1980). A request for unpub- lished occasional sightings of Triops cancriformis has been sent to 124 naturalists who had been or are still active in the northern Italian plains (Po, Venetian and Friulian plains), especially persons surveying water bod- ies for amphibians, dragonlies and other crustaceans. Results and discussion After the published records of Triops cancriformis from near Pavia and near Ferrara resumed by Zafagnini & Trentini (1980), the species has been reported in the literature more recently only from these two areas or very close to them (Tab. 1). In addition unpublished records from a total of 21 sites have been provided by diferent people answering our call for information (Tab. 2; Fig. 1). Most sites (16, of which 14 unpublished) are from the central-western part of the Po plain, mainly from rice ields, between the Vercelli, Novara, Pavia and Milano provinces (Fig. 1). he presence of Triops cancriformis in the province of Pavia is documented since the late 1960’s