Redescription of the cave-dwelling brachydesmus troglobius daday, 1889 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida)

Abstract

The cavernicolous polydesmid Brachydesmus troglobius Daday, 1889 was described from the Hungarian Abaligeti Cave (Mecsek Mountains). Although previously known from only its type locality, the species was later found in caves of other European countries. Redescription of the species from museum samples and newly collected material using optical and scanning electron microscopy is here complemented with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences as barcodes. New distributional data, remarks on the species' ecology and suggestions for its conservation are also given. Using COI sequences of 17 polydesmid taxa from GenBank and our own collections, we delimit interspecific and intergeneric boundaries within the family Polydesmidae.