Maghreboniscus, Garcia, 2022

Garcia, Lluc, 2022, Description of Maghreboniscus rojasi sp. nov. from Southern Spain and validation of the genus by the designation of a type species (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Spelaeoniscidae), Zootaxa 5190 (2), pp. 267-274 : 268

Genus Maghreboniscus gen. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E78C1905-EB5F-4B60-B27B-F09E6482C29B

Maghreboniscus Vandel 1959 , unavailable name.

Type species: Maghreboniscus palmetensis Vandel, 1959 by the present designation.

Diagnosis. See Vandel, 1959, pp. 125−127.

Remarks. The genus Maghreboniscus was erected by Vandel (1959) to include M. palmetensis and M. trapezoidalis , but without designation of a type species. Later, Caruso & Lombardo (1983) described a third species of the genus, M. minimus , without designating a type species either. Therefore, according to article 13.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Maghreboniscus is an unavailable name ( Schmidt & Leistikow, 2004). To validate the genus, M. palmetensis Vandel, 1959 is designated herein as the type species.

According to Vandel (1959) Maghreboniscus only differs from Spelaeoniscus by the absence of schisma on the first pereonite and other minor details (i.e., antennal furrows with clear edges but less marked). More detailed comparative studies are necessary to elucidate if this morphological difference is enough to maintain the separation of the two genera (see Discussion). The main differences between Maghreboniscus and the other genera of Spelaeoniscidae were summarized by Caruso et al. (2017) in their Table 1 .