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

2025/05/15 by Julio Cifuentes, Enrique Peña Pérez, Álvaro Luna · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History #Maritime and Coastal Archaeology #Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy

paper · pdf · doi:10.3897/subtbiol.51.139380

openalex publication_date 2025/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

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.

Citations

• Scientists' Warning on the Conservation of Subterranean Ecosystems
• A review on the global spread of the non-native spider Howaia mogera (Yaginuma, 1972) (Araneae: Nesticidae), with first records for the Iberian Peninsula

Discussions

• Found in an underground gallery created some 2,000 years ago, this is Baeticoniscus carmonaensis, a new isopod species. Find out all about it here: doi.org/10.3897/subt... #crustaceans #isopods #taxo [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]