Hemilepistus elongatus Budde-Lund, 1885

Kashani, Ghasem M. & Sari, Alireza, 2012, Discovery of Hemilepistus elongatus Budde-Lund, 1885 (Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Iran: redescription and intraspecific character variability, ZooKeys 176, pp. 13-22 : 15-16

Hemilepistus elongatus Budde-Lund, 1885

Hemilepistus elongatus Budde-Lund, 1885: 160.- Walter 1889: 1110.- Röder et al. 1996: 818.- Ziegler and Miller 1997:181.- Röder and Linsenmayr 1998: 57.- 1999: 349.- Jeppesen 2000:238.

Hemilepistus (Desertellio) elongatus Borutzky 1945:198.

Hemilepistus (Desertellio) elongatus transcaspius Borutzky 1955: 217.- 1961: 26

Desertellio elongatus Röder et al., 1993: 339.

Material examined.

Iran: Marand to Ghare-Ziaoddin, 38˚35.5'N, 45˚15.7'E, 8 November 2004, leg. A. Kazemi, one male and one female (ZUTC Iso.1080); Bilesavar to Parsabad, 39°33.8'N, 47°56.7'E, 16 June 2008, one male and one female (ZUTC Iso.1081); Tabriz to Khaje, 38°08.7'N, 46°35.7'E, 17 June 2008, one male and one female (ZUTC Iso.1082); Tabriz to Marand, 38°14.9'N, 47°06.6'E, 18 June 2008, one female (ZUTC Iso.1083); Poldasht to Makoo, 39°17.0'N, 44°42.7'E, 18 June 2008, one female (ZUTC Iso.1084); Urmia, Golmankhaneh port, 37°35.7'N, 45°15.3'E, 2 October 2008, one male and two females (ZUTC Iso.1085); Shahin-Dezh to Miandoab, 36°52.5'N, 46°17.3'E, 3 October 2008, two males and two females (ZUTC Iso.1086); Tabriz, Agh-Gonbad port, 17 June 2008, one female (ZUTC Iso.1087); Shirvan, 37°25.1'N, 57°52.7'E, 6 May 2008, one male (ZUTC Iso.1088); Abadeh to Semirom, 31°05.8'N, 51°56.3'E, 9 April 2008, one male and one female (ZUTC Iso.1089); Varamin, Pishva, 35°12.2'N, 51°48.2'E, 23 June 2008, one female (ZUTC Iso.1090); Zahedan to Khash, 28°32.8'N, 60°49.4'E, 28 February 2009, one female (ZUTC Iso.1091).

Additional material.

Turkey: Holotype, female, Caucasus, Taschburun, in A. Brandt collection, leg.?, det. Budde-Lund (BMNH 1921.10.18-4103); Turkmenistan: Tschikischljar, 27 April 1986, leg.?, one female (BMNH 1921.10.18-4102); Azerbaidjan: S. Baku, 20 km N Salyani, 30 May 1996, leg. W. Schawaller, det. H. Schmalfuss, one male and one female (SMNS 11530); Georgia: Caucasus, Vashlovan Reserve, 7-9 May 1983, leg. Golovatch, det. H. Schmalfuss, one male and one female (SMNS 13082); Iran: 150 km N Isfahan, 4 June 1975, leg. Bauer, det. H. Schmalfuss, one female (SMNS 11020).

Diagnosis.

Cephalothorax with rounded lateral lobes and short to developed median lobe, frons with or without incision in the middle; dorsal part with several rounded tubercles of the same or different size. Pereion-tergites I to III with tubercles decreasing in number posteriorly. Male pereiopod VII ischium with straight to sinuate ventral margin. Male pleopod-endopdite I straight; apex with a leaf-like lobe.

Redescription.

Maximum length of both male and female: 18 mm. Body elongated. Color brown with epimera, posterior margin of tergites and pleotelson pale (Fig. 2).

Cephalothorax with rounded lateral lobes, median lobe with variable size and shape; several rounded tubercles of the same or different size in dorsal part (Fig. 3 A–D); frontal line sinuous in frontal view, with or without incision in the middle; no suprantennal line (Fig. 3 E–F); eyes with 20-25 ommatidia. Antenna long, reaching posterior margin of second pereion-tergite; flagellum slightly shorter than fifth article of peduncle, with two articles, first article of equal length or up to 2.5 times as long as second article (Fig. 4A). Antennule of three articles with a tuft of long aesthetascs at apex (Fig. 4B).

Pereion-tergite I with rounded tubercles, two markedly larger tubercles on the median part; and with rounded hind margin (Fig. 5I). Pereion-tergites II–III with fewer tubercles. Pereion-tergites IV-VII smooth.

Pleon short, smooth, slightly narrower than pereion (Fig. 4C). Pleotelson short, triangular, with slightly concave sides and acute, rounded or truncate apex slightly surpassing uropod-protopodites (Fig. 5J). Uropod-exopodites conical, about twice as long as protopodites

Pleopod-exopodites I–V with monospiracular covered lungs.

Male: Pereiopod I merus and carpus with or without brushes of setae (Fig. 4D). Pereiopod II to VII with no brushes of setae on merus and carpus.Pereiopod VII ischium with straight or sinuate ventral margin; merus and carpus equipped with strong setae (Fig. 4E).

Pleopod-endopodite I straight, apex with a leaf-like lobe, equipped with setae, variable in shape (Fig. 5A). Pleopod-exopodite I as in Fig. 5 B–F, inner lobe variable in shape. Pleopod-exopodites II-III as in Fig. 5 G–H.

Remarks.

This species is distinguished from other species of the genus by the unique shape of male pleopod-endopodite I, with apex bearing a leaf-like lobe.

Distribution.

Georgia; Azerbaijan; easternmost Turkey; Turkmenistan; Iran.