Venezillo moreirai Campos-Filho, Carpio-Díaz & Bichuette, n. sp.

(Figs 35-37; 49B)

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TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Brazil • ♂; Lapa do Bode cave, Ituaçu, state of Bahia; 13°50’10.14”S, 41°17’5.14”W; II.2019; M. E. Bichuette, D. F. Torres & J. E. Gallão leg.; LES 28006 .

Paratypes. Brazil • 1 ♂ (parts in micropreparations), 2 ♀ (one with parts in micropreparations); same data as holotype; LES 28007 .

ETYMOLOGY. — The new species is named in memoriam of the Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Moraes Pires, also known as Moraes Moreira. The musician was born in the municipality of Ituaçu, and he was famous for his engagement with the Brazilian cultural movement “Novos Baianos”, with compositions allusive to the culture of the country.

DESCRIPTION

Maximum body length: ♂ 6.5 mm, ♀ 6 mm. Color faintly brown with typical muscle spots insertions; pereonite 1-7 epimera, pleon and proximal portions of telson and uropods more pigmented. Body in lateral view as in Figure 35A. Dorsal surface smooth with fan-shaped semicircular scale-setae (Fig. 35B). One line of small noduli laterales per side, inserted near posterior margins. Cephalon (Fig. 35 C-F) with rectangular frontal shield, slightly bent backwards and not protruding above vertex, suprantennal line absent; eyes absent, only dots of pigments present. Pereonite 1 epimera rounded, anterior corner directed frontwards, schisma on posterior corners, inner and outer lobes of schisma rounded, ventral lobe shorter than dorsal lobe, lateral margin grooved throughout entire length; pereonite 2 epimera with ventral lobe obliquely directed outwards, not surpassing outer margin of epimeron; pereonite 3 epimera rounded, pereonite 4-7 epimera subquadrangular (Fig. 35A, G-J). Pleonite 3-5 epimera subrectangular, well developed; telson hourglass-shaped, proximal part slightly wider than distal one, distal margin straight (Fig. 35K, L). Antennula (Fig. 35M) of three articles, proximal and distal articles subequal in length, distal article with about nine aesthetascs. Antenna (Fig. 35N) short and stout, distal article of peduncle longer than flagellum; flagellum of two articles, distal article three times as long as proximal one, bearing two lateral aesthetascs; apical organ short bearing two sensilla. Mandibles with molar penicil semidichotomized, left mandible (Fig. 36A) with 2+1 penicils, and right mandible (Fig. 36B) with 1+1 penicils. Maxillula (Fig. 36C) inner endite with two penicils, distal margin rounded; outer endite of 4+4 teeth, all simple. Maxilla (Fig. 36D) inner lobe rounded covered with thick setae; outer lobe twice as wide as inner lobe, rounded and covered with thin setae. Maxilliped (Fig. 36E) basis subrectangular; proximal article of palp with two long setae; endite subquadrangular, medial seta surpassing distal margin, outer margin rounded, distal margin bearing two short triangular setae. Pereopod 1 carpus with transverse antennal grooming brush; dactylus with inner claw reaching median portion of outer claw, dactylar and ungual setae simple, not surpassing outer claw. Uropod (Fig. 37A, B) protopod subrectangular, flattened, inner margin concave, endopod inserted proximally, exopod short, inserted dorsally on slight protuberance. Pleopod exopods with monospiracular covered lungs.

Male

Pereopods (Fig. 37C, D) without particular modifications; pereopod 7 ischium with sternal margin straight. Genital papilla (Fig. 37E) with slender and triangular ventral shield, two subapical orifices. Pleopod 1 (Fig. 37F) exopod triangular, wider than long, medial margin rounded, outer margin straight with one short seta; endopod three times as long as exopod, distal portion slightly directed outwards and bearing short setae. Pleopod 2 (Fig. 37G) exopod triangular, outer margin distinctly concave bearing many short setae; endopod flagelliform, longer than exopod. Pleopod 3-5 exopods as in Figure 37 H-J.

REMARKS

The genus Venezillo comprises 136 species widely distributed in the tropics (Boyko et al. 2008; Schmalfuss 2003). The genus is mainly characterized by the conglobation ability, one line of noduli laterales per side, large frontal shield of the cephalon, pereonite 1 with a schisma, pereonite 2 with a triangular ventral lobe, telson hourglass-shaped, and pleopod exopods with monospiracular covered lungs (see Arcangeli 1957; Carpio-Díaz et al. 2018). As mentioned previously, Venezillo has many species dubiously assigned to it (see Schmalfuss 2003), and many descriptions were based on generic characteristics, not allowing comparisons. The genus needs a full revision to clarify its taxonomy.

To date, only one species of the genus, V. congener, is known from Brazil (see Campos-Filho et al. 2018 a, 2019).

Venezillo moreirai Campos-Filho, Carpio-Díaz & Bichuette, n. sp. is distinguished from V. congener in the absence of ommatidia (vs eyes composed of 18 ommatidia in V. congener), pereonite 1 epimera with ventral lobe of schisma shorter than outer lobe (vs subequal in V. congener), pereonite 2 epimera with ventral lobe concave on posterior margin and distally rounded (vs straight posterior margin and triangular in V. congener), pereonite 3 epimera without ventral lobe or notch (vs present in V. congener), and male pleopod 1 exopod with outer margin straight (vs sinuous in V. congener) (see Campos-Filho et al. 2019).

Based on the faint pigmentation and the absence of eyes, the species is considered to be a troglobite. As for Gabunillo enfurnado Campos-Filho, Sfenthourakis & Bichuette, n. sp. too, the locality where the specimens of V. moreirai Campos-Filho, Carpio-Díaz & Bichuette, n. sp. were collected lies within the Brazilian xeric region of Caatinga, Chacoan subregion (Morrone et al. 2022).