Zootaxa 4564 (2): 422–448 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.2.6 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3B988AC3-1380-4E29-8E71-402BA89ACDAD. Two new species and new records of terrestrial isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) from Brazilian caves IVANKLIN SOARES CAMPOS-FILHO1,6, CAMILE SORBO FERNANDES2, GIOVANNA MONTICELLI CARDOSO3, MARIA ELINA BICHUETTE2, JOSÉ OTÁVIO AGUIAR1 & STEFANO TAITI4,5 1Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais, Campina Grande, Av. Aprígio Veloso 882, Bairro Universitário, 58429-140, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]. 2Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, Caixa Postal 676, 13565-905, São Carlos, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]. 3Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Departamento de Zoologia, Laboratório de Carcinologia, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Agronomia, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]. 4Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy. E-mail: [email protected]. 5Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione di Zoologia “La Specola”, Via Romana 17, 50125 Florence, Italy. 6Corresponding author. Abstract To date, approximately 190 species of terrestrial isopods are known from Brazil and only 14 are considered troglobiotic. After the examination of a large collection from caves in Bambuí and Una geomorphological areas, along the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Goiás, two new troglobiotic species were recognized. Pectenoniscus liliae Campos-Filho, Bi- chuette & Taiti sp. n. (Styloniscidae) is described from Serra do Ramalho karst area, and Benthana xiquinhoi Campos- Filho, Bichuette & Taiti sp. n. (Philosciidae) from sandstone caves of Chapada Diamantina region. The latter constitutes the second troglomorphic species of the genus. Xangoniscus aganju (Styloniscidae) is also recorded from two caves in the Serra do Ramalho karst area. The systematic position of Iuiuniscus iuiuensis is briefly discussed and Venezillo congener (Armadillidae) is redescribed from São Domingos karst area. Key words: terrestrial isopods, new species, Pectenoniscus, Benthana, subterranean environment, Neotropical Introduction Terrestrial isopods (Oniscidea) comprise ca. 3,800 described species distributed in the most diverse types of habitats (Schmalfuss 2003; Sfenthourakis & Taiti 2015; WoRMS 2018). To date, more than 300 troglobiotic species of Oniscidea are known, mostly from caves in northern regions of the globe (e.g., Taiti 2004, 2014; Taiti & Gruber 2008; Taiti & Xue 2012; Tabacaru & Giurginca 2013; Taiti & Wynne 2015; Taiti & Montesanto 2018; Taiti et al. 2018). South America comprises a territory of about 17.8 million km2, but less than 2% of the territory shows suitable lithology to the development of caves (Auler 2004, 2017). In whole South America, Brazil holds the highest number of caves, with approximately 15,000 caves which represent 15% of the estimated total number (ca. 100,000) (Auler 2002; CECAV 2015). The current Brazilian laws (BRAZIL 1990, 2008) assure protection and conservation of the cave environments, since caves are home for many obligatory cave-dwelling species. To date, approximately 190 species of terrestrial isopods are known from Brazil, including caves (Campos- Filho et al. 2018a, 2018b). Among these species, only 14 are considered troglobiotic, i.e. Cylindroniscus platoi Fernandes, Campos-Filho & Bichuette, 2018, Iuiuniscus iuiuensis Souza, Ferreira & Senna, 2015, Spelunconiscus 422 Accepted by J. Svavarsson: 10 Jan. 2019; published: 6 Mar. 2019 castroi Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014, Xangoniscus aganju Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014, X. itacarambiensis Bastos-Pereira, Souza & Ferreira, 2017, X. odara Campos-Filho, Bichuette & Taiti, 2016 (Styloniscidae), Benthana iporangensis Lima & Serejo, 1993, Leonardoscia hassalli Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014 (Philosciidae), Amazoniscus eleonorae Souza, Bezerra & Araujo, 2006, A. leistikowi Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2014, Circoniscus buckupi Campos-Filho & Araujo, 2011, C. carajasensis Campos-Filho & Araujo, 2011 (Scleropactidae), Iansaoniscus georginae Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2017, and I. iraquara Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti, 2017 (Pudeoniscidae) (Lima & Serejo 1993; Campos-Filho & Araujo 2011; Campos-Filho et al. 2014, 2016, 2017a; Souza et al. 2006, 2015; Bastos-Pereira et al. 2017). In this work two new species of terrestrial isopods from Brazilian caves are described in the families Styloniscidae and Philosciidae. Moreover, Xangoniscus aganju is recorded from two caves in the Serra do Ramalho karst area, state of Bahia, the taxonomic status of Iuiuniscus iuiuensis (Styloniscidae) is commented, and Venezillo congener (Armadillidae) is re-described. The conservation and protection of the Brazilian subterranean habitats are discussed. FIGURE 1. Map of the study areas in the present study. ● Chapada Diamantina; ■ Serra do Ramalho; ▲ São Domingos. Dark gray area = Bambuí Group; light gray area = Una Group. BA = Bahia; DF = Distrito Federal; GO = Goiás, MG = Minas Gerais; TO = Tocantins. Material and methods Specimens were collected by active search and stored in 75% ethanol. Identifications are based on morphological characters with the aid of micropreparations. For each new species, the type material, description, etymology, and remarks are presented. The terminology used in species descriptions is based on Campos-Filho et al. (2014, 2015, 2016). The classification of the respiratory structures follows Leistikow & Araujo (2001) and Paoli et al. (2002). The classification of the male pleopod 1 exopod of Benthana follows Araujo & Lopes (2003) and Costa et al. (2014). The illustrations of the habitus were obtained with the aid of a camera Sony DSC-W800 mounted on TERRESTRIAL ISOPODS (ONISCIDEA) FROM BRAZILIAN CAVES Zootaxa 4564 (2) © 2019 Magnolia Press · 423 Biofocus SQF-L-BI microscope, and those of the appendages with the aid of camera lucida mounted on CH2 Olympus microscope. The final illustrations were prepared using the software GIMP (v. 2.8) with the method proposed by Montesanto (2015, 2016). The material examined herein, including the type material, is deposited in the collection of the Laboratório de Estudos Subterrâneos (LES), Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, state of São Paulo. Study Area Serra do Ramalho karst area, southern state of Bahia (Coribe), northeastern Brazil. The Serra do Ramalho karst area is located at the middle of São Francisco River Basin and it comprises several municipalities from the southern state of Bahia to the northern state of Minas Gerais (Fig. 1). Along its extension the limestone plateaus of the Bambuí Group arise, bearing several large cave systems, some of which are several kilometers long (Auler et al. 2001; Trajano et al. 2009, 2016). The karst area includes two sections, the Lower Plateau in the south, and the Upper Plateau in the north, where caves of the Coribe town are inserted (Mattox et al. 2008). The climate is tropical with dry winters (“Aw”) and semiarid spots (“Bsh”), according to the Köppen’s criteria (Alvares et al. 2013). The native vegetation is Caatinga, typical dry forest with shrubby components, intercalated with spots of Cerrado (Ab’Saber 1977). The Serra do Ramalho is a spot of high subterranean diversity but, despite its relevance, the region is not yet protected by law. Several threats are hanging over its subterranean fauna, including the accelerated loss of original vegetation to agribusiness and mining (Fig. 2A, B) (Campos-Filho et al. 2014; Trajano et al. 2016). Chapada Diamantina region, state of Bahia (Andaraí), north-eastern Brazil. The Chapada Diamantina region comprises several municipalities at the centre of the state of Bahia (Fig. 1). The region comprises extensive plateaus with steep slopes formed by exposed limestones of Neoproterozoic age from Una and Irecê Groups (1000–540 Mya), trespassed by older Mesoproterozoic exposed rocks of the Chapada Diamantina Group, including metamorphic sandstone layers, where the studied caves occur (Karmann & Sánchez 1979; Kuchenbecker et al. 2011). The native vegetation is Caatinga (Ab’Saber 1977), interspersed with remains of Atlantic Forest in the higher altitudes, and the climate is Semiarid (“Bsh”) according to the Köppen’s criteria (Alvares et al. 2013). The caves where the new species of Benthana occurs are included in the Chapada Diamantina National Park, thus legally protected (Fig. 2C, D) (Gallão & Bichuette 2015). São Domingos karst area, state of Goiás (São Domingos), central Brazil. The São Domingos karst area comprises around 500 km2, inserted in the Bambuí geomorphological group (Auler & Farrant 1996), and it is situated in the Cerrado domain (Savannah-like vegetation), characterized by a tropical semi-humid climate, with 5– 6 dry months from April/May to October (Nimer 1989). São Domingos is a carbonate karst area characterized by the presence of continuous limestone outcrops and cave-systems with hundreds to thousands meters of development (Auler & Farrant 1996). The area is situated within the limits of the Parque Estadual Terra Ronca (46°10’–46°30’S;