Calabozoidae Van Lieshaut 1983

Prevorčnik, Simona, Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes & Sket, Boris, 2012, Brasileirinidae, a new isopod family (Crustacea: Isopoda) from the cave in Bahia (Brazil) with a discussion on its taxonomic position, Zootaxa 3452, pp. 47-65 : 64

Calabozoidae Van Lieshaut 1983

Emended diagnosis. Body dorsoventrally depressed. Antenna II flagellum of more than 10 articles. Pleonites I–II small or reduced to sternal parts. Pleotelson of pleonite VI and telson, reaching about 1/3 of body length. Pleopods I–II in females present, endopodite narrow, elongate, exopodite lamellar. Pleopods I–II in mature males biramous, but no ramus large lamellar. Biramous, sexually monomorphic pleopods III–V mutually similar, each with large lamellar exopodite and small tumescent endopodite.

Nature conservation aspect. The cave is the only known habitat of the Brasileirinho so far. Furthermore, of 20 known caves in the municipal district, that is the only one with perennial water. The Baixa Funda cave, as well as its surroundings, was severely altered in the last ten years. The autochthonous surface vegetation was substituted by monocultures; at present with a corn monoculture ( Fig. 5 C). Local residents reported that the previous land owner started to fill the cave up by dumping huge amounts of different materials (especially stones) in order to drive away curious visitors. Fortunately, he did not succeed but even today local residents use the cave to discard their household waste ( Fig. 5 D). Due to the difficult access through the partially obstructed entrance, the end section of the cave remains relatively well protected from visitors. Nevertheless, there is still a major human threat to the type locality and its inhabitants; a lot of agricultural products were seen at the entrance, representing a potential source of chemical groundwater contamination. At the moment, there are no administrative acts available to protect this type locality.

Until 2008, all Brazilian caves were protected by law. With the legislation changes the caves lost their intangibility and are now exposed to different human activities, especially mining. In an attempt to define which caves can be destroyed and which should be preserved some categories defining the status of each cave were created, based on biological and geological parameters. So, to achieve an indubitable preservation of cave according to biological parameters, the presence of an endemic troglobiotic or rare species within the cave is required. The description of Brasileirinho cavaticus therefore represents not only a contribution to the knowledge of isopod diversity, but is also a permanent assurance of the preservation of a cave and its surroundings.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Brasileirinho cavaticus paratype male, 1.8 mm: SEM photo of A, pleon (ventral view) with pleopods I – V; B, pleopods I – II.