The long-fingered bat (''Myotis capaccinii'') is a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

. It is native to coastal areas around the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, as well as a few patches of land in western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Due to the fact that its population is in decline, it has been listed as Vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

since 1988.

Physical characteristics

The long-fingered bat is a medium-sized vesper bat with characteristically large feet (hence its name), and more prominent nostrils than other European ''Myotis'' species. Its length ranges from , and it weighs up to . The hind feet of the long-fingered bat range in length from . on which they also have long bristles. Hair is dark grey at the base, with light smoky grey dorsal-side hair and light grey ventral-side hair.

Distribution and habitat

The long-fingered bat is native to the coastal regions of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

), parts of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, Southern and South-East France, Bulgaria, Italy, and part of the

Balkan peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. It can also be found on some islands in the Mediterranean Sea, such as

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

. In Asia, it is distributed from Turkey through Syria and Lebanon to Israel, Iran, Iraq and Uzbekistan. It inhabits wetlands and caves up to elevations of . The current long-fingered bat population is thought to be decreasing. In Spain, it decreased between 30-50% since 2006, probably comprising less than 10,000 individuals in 30 colonies with more than 20 bats. In France, the known population is less than 3,800 individuals. The Bulgarian population is estimated at around 20,000 individuals. It is more abundant in the eastern region than the western region.

Behaviour and ecology

The long-fingered bat lives in limestone areas, preferably wooded or shrubby terrain near flowing water. Summer and winter roosts are always in caves, where it has been known to form groups of up to 500 individuals. It is a water-oriented

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

, hunting

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, aquatic

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

and other small

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

, such as

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typic ...

s and

water fleas The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

. As a cave-dwelling bat it needs underground shelters to roost. It forages over water bodies and dwells in areas which include clutter-free waterways. Due to its "trawling" behaviour, it apparently prefers rivers wider than with high amounts of riparian vegetation that prevent the water from becoming too disturbed by wind. The calm water provided through these conditions allows it to use echolocation more effectively while foraging, rather than the harsh conditions typically noted around other water bodies. It also forages while traveling to its foraging area of choice, accomplishing more on a single trip. Its roosting sites in summer are on average apart from those in winter, ranging up to .

Reproduction

Little is known about this species reproductive cycle. Mating begins in August and could continue until late winter and early spring. Gestation takes six to eight weeks. Maternity roosts are in caves, formed in the summer, with up to 500 females in clusters on the cave roof, where very few males are present. Birth occurs in mid to late June, with only one pup born, which is weaned after approximately four to six weeks.

Threats

The three main threats to all species of bats are roost disappearance and disturbance, altering of foraging areas, and pesticides. The long-fingered bat is largely affected by the first two threats, with tourism being one of the leading causes of the descending population trend. Many other proposals have been made to explain the decrease in the population size. The long-fingered bat strictly depends on underground shelters and most localized extinctions have been caused by disturbance of breeding roosts. Populations in Western Europe have been susceptible to the disturbance of habitat and roosts,Guillen A, Ibanez C, Perez JL, Hernandez LM, Gonzalez MJ, Fernandez MA, Fernandez R (1994) Organochlorine residues in Spanish common pipistrelle bats (''Pipistrellus pipistrellus''). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 52: 231–237. while in France the alteration of rivers is one cause of the decreasing population. The main prey of ''M. capaccinii'',

chironomids The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many species s ...

, accumulate toxic compounds which can lead to death in these bats. In Northern Africa, some long-fingered bats have been killed and used for medicinal purposes.

Conservation

The long-fingered bat is protected by national legislation in most of its range countries. International legal obligations for protection such as the Bonn Convention and Bern Convention. Long-fingered bats are included in Annex II and IV of the EU Habitats and Species Directive, meaning they need special measures for conservation. Fences have been placed in Spain to protect several known colonies. To protect this species from becoming endangered or going extinct, future measures that need to be taken include protection of colonies and water quality improvement. Some have proposed that the depletion of aquifers and alteration of water bodies near roosts should be avoided, and because the species is dependent on clutter-free water and prey availability, the priority should be protecting large waterways near roosts.