Cirolana Leach, 1818

Eknarin Rodcharoen, Niel L. Bruce & Pornsilp Pholpunthin, 2016, Description of four new species of the Cirolana ‘ parva group’ (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cirolanidae) from Thailand, with supporting molecular (COI) data, Journal of Natural History 50 (31 - 32), pp. 1935-1981 : 5-6

Genus Cirolana Leach, 1818

Restricted synonymy

Bruce 1986, 139; Kensley & Schotte 1989, 132; Brusca et al. 1995, 17.

Type species

Cirolana cranchi Leach, 1818 , by monotypy (see Bruce and Ellis 1983).

Remarks

Species of Cirolana are found principally in marine environments, occupying various substrates such as rocky shore, coral reef, dead wood and sediments from the continental slope, to intertidal and shallow subtidal marine zones. They are also occasionally found in low-salinity or variable-salinity habitats such as mangroves and the estuarine reaches of rivers and creeks ( Bruce 1986).

Despite recent revisions (e.g. Bruce 1981, 1986; Brusca et al. 1995), there is still some lack of resolution between genera close to Cirolana . For example, Botosaneanu and Iliffe (1997) placed Anopsilana Paulian & Deboutteville, 1956 into synonymy with Cirolana (subgenus Anopsilana ), as the principal and only differentiating character, the lack of plumose setae endopod of pleopods 3 and 4, was regarded as manifestly homoplasious.

The Cirolana ‘ parva group ’ species complex was first defined by Bruce (1986). Subsequently, Bruce (1994) listed 23 morphologically similar species in the group. By 2011 the number of species in this group had grown to 28 (see Appendix 1) ( Brusca et al. 1995; Bruce 2004; Schotte and Kensley 2005; Khalaji-Pirbalouty and Wägele 2011). Bruce (2004, p. 49) defined the Cirolana ‘ parva group ’ as being characterised by smooth body dorsal surfaces with brown or black chromatophores; rostral point present, folded ventrally and posteriorly, in contact with frontal lamina; frontal lamina always pentagonal in shape; pleonites 3 and 4 with posterolateral margins produced, acute or round, pleotelson linguiform, with small distinct median point; the uropodal exopod with a continuous row of robust setae and plumose marginal setae along the lateral margin; uropodal rami apically acute, with bifid or sub bifid apices; penial process are absent or present as small papillae (occasionally mesially in contact or fused).