New cave species of Pectenoniscus Andersson, 1960 (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Styloniscidae) and an identification key for the genus

Abstract

The genus Pectenoniscus Andersson, 1960 currently presents two described species, one epigean, Pectenoniscus angulatus Andersson, 1960, from Nova Teutônia municipality, Santa Catarina state (Southern Brazil) and the hypogean Pectenoniscus liliae Campo-Filho, Bichuette and Taiti, 2019, found in two caves in the Serra do Ramalho karst area (Carinhanha municipality), Bahia state (northeastern Brazil). Recent surveys in karstic areas of Minas Gerais and Bahia revealed six new cave species from this genus, which are herein described. Two species occur in Minas Gerais state in the transition between the biomes Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) and Caatinga (mesophytic and xeromorphic forests): Pectenoniscus montalvaniensis n. sp. from Abrigo da Ema cave (Montalvânia municipality) and Pectenoniscus juveniliensis n. sp. from Gruta do Tabuleirinho cave ( Juvenilia municipality). The other four species were found in Bahia state, in Caatinga biome: Pectenoniscus iuiuensis n. sp. from Baixa da Fortuna cave (Iuiu municipality); Pectenoniscus carinhanhensis n. sp. from three caves in Serra do Ramalho (Carinhanha municipality); Pectenoniscus santanensis n. sp. from Gruta do Padre cave (Santana municipality); and Pectenoniscus morrensis n. sp. from Gruta dos Brejões cave (Morro do Chapéu municipality). Aside from the taxonomic descriptions, we provide ecological notes for each described species, as well as an identification key for Pectenoniscus.

Chaimowiczia: a new Iuiuniscinae genus from Brazil (Oniscidea, Synocheta, Styloniscidae) with the description of two new troglobitic species

“…5C-E). Two other troglobitic styloniscid species occur in this cave: one terrestrial (Pectenoniscus santanensis Cardoso, Bastos-Pereira, Souza & Ferreira, 2020a) and one new amphibious species. A peculiar condition is observed regarding the distribution of the two styloniscid species.…”

Unique and fragile diversity emerges from Brazilian caves – two new amphibious species of Xangoniscus Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014 (Oniscidea, Styloniscidae) from Serra do Ramalho karst area, state of Bahia, Brazil

“…To date, about 210 species are known from Brazil, 70 of which, belonging to the families Styloniscidae, Philosciidae, Scleropactidae, Dubioniscidae, Platyarthridae, Porcellionidae, Armadillidae, Pudeoniscidae, and Armadillidiidae, are recorded from Brazilian caves. Thirty-two taxa are considered to be troglobites (obligatory and restricted to caves), several are troglophiles (facultative cave species), and some species are possibly trogloxenes (Souza et al 2011;Campos-Filho et al 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2016, 2017a, 2017b, 2018Bastos-Pereira et al 2017;Fernandes et al 2018Fernandes et al , 2019Cardoso et al 2020aCardoso et al , 2020bCardoso et al , 2021. The species placed into the last two categories are difficult to assign into a correct subterranean category due to the scarcity of distribution data outside caves.…”

Expanding the knowledge on the diversity of the cavernicolous Styloniscidae Vandel, 1952 (Oniscidea, Synocheta) from Brazil, with descriptions of two new species from the semiarid karst regions

“…To date, more than 210 species are known from Brazil, of which 70 have been recorded from caves. Among them, 31 species are considered troglobites (obligatory and restricted cave-dwellers) and several are troglophiles (facultative cave-dwellers) or trogloxenes (epigean species with individuals using subterranean resources) ( Trajano 2012 ; Trajano and Carvalho 2017 ; Campos-Filho et al 2018 , 2019 , 2020 ; Cardoso et al 2020a , b , 2021 ). However, both troglobitic and troglophile species are not assigned with certainty to these categories due the lack of sampling outside caves.…”

“…), and Xangoniscus Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014 (8 spp.) (for all recorded species see Dalens 1987 ; Mulaik 1960 ; Schultz 1970 , 1995 ; Green 1971 ; Vandel 1973 , 1977 , 1981 ; Ferrara and Taiti 1979 ; Taiti et al 1992 ; Taiti and Howarth 1997 ; Schmalfuss and Erhard 1998 ; Andreev and Bozarova 2000 ; Andreev 2002 ; Green et al 2002 ; Taiti and Xue 2012 ; Campos-Filho et al 2014 ; Souza et al 2015 ; Bastos-Pereira et al, 2017 ; Fernandes et al 2018 ; Cardoso et al 2020a , b , 2021 ; Taiti and Montesanto 2020 ).…”

“…( Campos-Filho et al 2018 , 2019 ; Cardoso et al 2020a , b , 2021 ). It is worth mentioning that the Styloniscidae in Brazil hold the highest diversity of troglobitic isopods comprising 20 out of 31 species ( Campos-Filho et al 2018 , 2019 , 2020 ; Cardoso et al 2020a , b , 2021 ).…”