A checklist of subterranean arthropods of Iran

By

Malek Hosseini, Mohammad Javad
Zamani, Alireza

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

Subterranean Biology

Volume

21

Pages

19-46

Subjects

cave , Fauna , Middle East , troglofauna , Zagros

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.21.10573

 

Abstract

Understanding subterranean biodiversity is important, yet vast regions of the world remain poorly explored. Here, we provide the first step towards cataloguing the subterranean arthropods of Iran. After review and analysis of the available literature and the examination of samples collected by us from Iranian caves, we listed 89 cavernicolous species (from 42 caves and 5 karstic springs) belonging to four arthropod subphyla: Chelicerata (1 class, 4 orders, 36 species), Crustacea (2 classes, 3 orders, 15 species), Hexapoda (2 classes, 5 orders, 34 species) and Myriapoda (2 classes, 3 orders, 4 species).