The genus Alpioniscus Racovitza, 1908 in Sardinia: taxonomy and natural history (Isopoda, Oniscidea, Trichoniscidae)

By

Taiti, Stefano
Argano, Roberto
Marcia, Paolo
Scarpa, Fabio
Sanna, Daria
Casu, Marco

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

801

Pages

229-263

Subjects

Alpioniscus , Caves , Crustacea , new species , Phylogeny , Sardinia

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.801.24102

 

Abstract

The genusAlpioniscusRacovitza, 1908 (Trichoniscidae) from Sardinia is revised. Three new cave-dwelling species are described:A.onnisiTaiti & Argano,sp. n.,A.stochiTaiti & Argano,sp. n., andA.sideralisTaiti & Argano,sp. n.. The genusUtopioniscusSchmalfuss, 2005 is considered to be a junior synonym ofAlpioniscus, after morphological and molecular analyses.Alpioniscusfragilis(Budde-Lund, 1909) andA.kuehnifrom Grotta del Bue Marino are illustrated. With the new species, the genusAlpioniscusin Sardinia comprises six species: two troglobionts (A.fragilisandA.onnisi), one endogean and troglobiont (A.thanitTaiti & Argano, 2009), and three stygobionts (A.kuehni,A.stochi, andA.sideralis). All the species occur in karstic areas in the central-eastern and south-eastern part of the island. A key to all the Sardinian species ofAlpioniscusis provided.