Abstract
The troglobiont millipede, Cantabrodesmus lorioli Mauriès, 1971, inhabits a few caves in a small region of Northern Spain. It is considered a relict species because of its geographical isolation compared to others in its family, and its to some extent uncertain systematic position. Cantabrodesmus lorioli has been placed in three different families, and now is considered a member of the Chelodesmidae, a family with only one other known native European representative. There are few records of this species, and almost nothing is known about its biology. The only available information on this species is the description of the male and a list of caves where it has been captured. In the present work, we provide the first description of the female morphology, illustrated by scanning electron microscopy, and a series of new records from caves in a region where it had never been captured before, including the deepest known pit in Spain, Torca del Porrón. The female morphology does not show many differences from that of the male, but several characters are discussed. All of the known information on the morphology of the species is used to discuss the implications for its biology and systematic position.
References
Adis, J., Golovatch, S.I., Hoffman, R.L., Hales, D.F. & Burrows, F.J. (1998) Morphological adaptations of the semiaquatic millipede Aporodesminus wallacei Silvestri 1904 with notes on the taxonomy, distribution, habitats and ecology of this and a related species (Pyrgodesmidae Polydesmida Diplopoda). Tropical Zoology, 11, 371–387.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.1998.10539372
Antić, D., Dudić, B.D., Gajić, M.R. & Lucić, L.R. (2016) The first hydrophilous cave-dwelling millipede from Serbia—Typhloiulus balcanicus sp. nov. (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae). Zootaxa, 4226 (1), 137–143.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4226.1.8
Bellés, X. (1987) Fauna cavernícola i intersticial de la península ibérica i les illes Balears. CSIC y Moll, Mallorca, 208 pp.
Biodiversidad Virtual (2017) Chelodesmidae—539377. Available from: http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Chelodesmidae-img539377.html (accessed 29 May 2017)
Christiansen, K.A. (1962) Proposition pour la classification des animaux cavernicoles. Spelunca, 2, 76–78.
Culver, D. & Pipan, T. (2015) Shifting paradigms of the evolution of cave life. Acta Carsologica, 44 (3), 415–425.
https://doi.org/10.3986/ac.v44i3.1688
Dethier, M. & Hubart, J.-M. (2005) La ”troglobitude”: adaptations à la vie souterraine. Notes fauniques de Glembloux, 57, 29–48.
Djursvoll, P. & Melic, A. (2015) Orden Polydesmida. Revista IDE@-SEA, 28, 1–11.
Enghoff, H. (1985) Modified mouthparts in hydrophilous cave millipedes (Diplopoda). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 55 (1), 67–77.
Enghoff, H., Caoduro, G., Adis, J. & Messner, B. (1997) A new cavernicolous, semiaquatic species of Serradium (Diplopoda, Polydesmidae) and its terrestrial, sympatric congener. With notes on the genus Serradium. Zoologica Scripta, 26, 279– 290.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1997.tb00417.x
Enghoff, H. (2008) A large neotropical millipede in European flower pots. Bulletin of the British Myriapod & Isopod Group, 23, 38–39.
Europa Press (2018) Así es el espectacular pozo más profundo de España y uno de los mayores del mundo. Available from: https://www.europapress.es/sociedad/noticia-asi-descubrio-espectacular-pozo-mas-profundo-espana-mayores-mundo-20170123133744.html (accessed 26 April 2020)
Fernández-Acebo, V. (1994) El karst de Miera: estudios, patrimonio e inventario de las cavidades del municipio de Miera. Monografía 10. Federación Cántabra de Espeleología, Santander, 144 pp.
Golovatch, S.I. (2009) Millipedes (Diplopoda) in extreme environments. In: Golovatch, S.I., Makarova, O.L., Babenko, A.B. & Penev, L.D. (Eds.), Species and Communities in Extreme Environments. Festschrift towards the 75th Anniversary and a Laudatio in Honour of Academician Yuri Ivanovich Chernov. Pensoft Publishers & KMK Scientific Press, Sofia-Moscow, pp. 87–112.
Golovatch, S.I. & Kime, R.D. (2009) Millipede (Diplopoda) distributions: A review. Soil Organisms, 81 (3), 565–597.
Hoffman, R.L. (1978) On the classification and phylogeny of chelodesmoid Diplopoda. Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, Neue Folge, 21/22, 21–31.
Hoffman, R.L. (1980, for 1979) Classification of the Diplopoda. Musèum d’Histoire naturelle, Genève, 237 pp.
Hoffman, R.L. (1982) Diplopoda. In: Parker, S.B. (Ed.), Synopsis and classification of living organisms. Vol. 2. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, pp. 689–724.
Hoffman, R.L. (1998) Reassessment of the Platyrhacidae, a family of polydesmidan millipeds. Virginia Museum of Natural History, 5 (13), 125–141.
Hoffman, R.L. (2006) Diplopoda from Rondônia, Brazil: II. Three new genera in the family Chelodesmidae (Polydesmida). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, São Paulo, 46 (5), 43–55.
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0031-10492006000500001
Hoffman, R.L. (2009) Chelodesmid studies. XXVI. A new genus and tribe of chelodesmid millipeds from Ecuador (Polydesmida: Chelodesmidae). International Journal of Myriapodology, 2, 149–154.
https://doi.org/10.1163/187525409X12577705044584
Hoffman, R.L., Golovatch, S.I., Adis, J. & De Morais, J.W. (1996) Practical keys to the orders and families of millipedes of the Neotropical region (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Amazoniana, 14 (1/2), 1–35.
Howarth, F.G. (1983) Ecology of cave arthropods. Annual Review of Entomology, 28, 365–389.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.28.010183.002053
Labrada, L., Salgado, J.M. & Luque, C.G. (2010) Fauna invertebrada de las cavidades de Cantabria. Locustella, Anuario de la Naturaleza de Cantabria, 7, 29–43.
Liu, W., Golovatch, S., Wesener, T. & Tian, M. (2017) Convergent Evolution of Unique Morphological Adaptations to a Subterranean Environment in Cave Millipedes (Diplopoda). PloS one, 12 (2), e0170717.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170717
Luque, C.G. & Labrada, L. (2017) Nuevas localizaciones de la especie Cantabrodesmus lorioli Mauriès,1971 en Cantabria, España (Polydesmida, Diplopoda, Chelodesmidae). Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, Sección Biología, 111, 51–60.
Marek, P., Tanabe, T. & Sierwald, P. (2014) A species catalog of the millipede family Xystodesmidae (Diplopoda: Polydesmida). Virginia Museum of Natural History Publications, 17, 1–117.
Mauriès, J.-P. (1971) Diplopodes épigés et cavernicoles des Pyrénées espagnoles et des Monts Cantabriques. VI. Polydesmides. Bulletin de la Sociétè d’histoire naturelle de Toulouse, 107, 117–124.
Mauriès, J.-P. (1974) Intérêt phylogénique et biogéographique de quelques diplopodes récemment décrits du Nord de l’Espagne. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London, 32, 53–63.
Mauriès, J.-J. & Geoffroy, J.-J. (2000) Nouvelle description, classification, répartition et variations morphologiques interpopulations d’un diplopode troglobie du sud-est du Brésil (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Chelodesmidae). Zoosystema, 22, 153–168.
Mauriès, J.P., Golovatch, S.I. & Hoffman, R.L. (2006) Review of the millipede genus Macellolophus Attems, 1940 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae). Arthropoda Selecta, 15, 19–21.
Ortuño, V.M. & Martínez-Pérez, F.D. (2011) Diversidad de artrópodos en España. Memorias de la Real Sociedad Española Historia Natural, 2 (9), 235–284.
Roy, H.E., Roy, D.B., Roques, A. (2011) Inventory of terrestrial alien arthropod predators and parasites established in Europe. Biocontrol, 56 (4), 477–504.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-011-9355-9
Shelley, R.M. & Smith, J.M. (2015) The enigmatic milliped genus Pandirodesmus Silvestri 1932 and description of a new species from Tobago represented by males (Polydesmida: Leptodesmidea: Chelodesmidae: Chelodesminae: Pandirodesmini). Insecta Mundi, 0444, 1–15.
Shelley, R.M. & Smith, J.M. (2018) Expanded concept and revised taxonomy of the milliped family Xystodesmidae Cook, 1895 (Polydesmida: Leptodesmidea: Xystodesmoidea): incorporations of Euryuridae Pocock, 1909 and Eurymerodesmidae Causey, 1951, taxon revivals/proposals/transferrals, and a distributional update. Insecta Mundi, 0660, 1–41. [https://journals.flvc.org/mundi/article/view/0660]
VandenSpiegel, D., Golovatch, S.I. & Mauriès, J.-P. (2016) Review of the western African millipede genus Diaphorodesmus Silvestri, 1896 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Chelodesmidae), with the description of a similar, but new monotypic genus from Cameroon. ZooKeys, 600, 7–24.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.600.9345
Vicente, C. (1988) Sinonimia entre las dos especiesibéricas del género Macellolophus Attems, 1940 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae). Orsis: organismes i sistemes, 3, 173–181.