Together with colleagues from the University of Tehran, we just published a paper on the diversity of amphipods in the highly endangered Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots. So far, only five morphospecies had been known from the streams and rivers of these regions. By using molecular techniques, we could identify 42 mostly unknown species, showing that also the scarcely studied freshwater ecosystems of the region harbour a great biodiversity and deserve protection.

Scientific Reports: Drastic underestimation of amphipod biodiversity in the endangered Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots