Baeticoniscus carmonaensis sp. nov. a new Isopod found in an underground aqueduct from the Roman period located in Southwest Spain (Crustacea, Isopoda, Trichoniscidae)

By

Cifuentes, Julio
Peña Pérez, Enrique
Luna, Alvaro

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-05-15

Original Publication

Subterranean Biology

Volume

51

Pages

135--146

Subjects

Crustacea , Iberian Peninsula , Isopoda , taxonomy , Trichoniscidae , Urban ecology

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.51.139380

 

Abstract

We use a morphological approach to describe a new species of isopod in the genus Baeticoniscus, found so far only in an underground gallery system created during the Roman period, approximately two thousand years ago, located beneath the modern town of Carmona (Seville, Spain). Specimens have been observed inhabiting rotten wood in the aphotic zone. The new species, Baeticoniscus carmonaensis sp. nov. differs from related species in the presence of the eyes as well as the number and arrangement of the tubercles and ribs on the cephalon and pereion. The description of this new species of Baeticoniscus represents one of the few cases worldwide in which the description of a new taxon has been described in a subterranean archaeological site.