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

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.