Leonardoscia, Campos-Filho & Araujo & Bichuette & Trajano & Taiti, 2014

Campos-Filho, Ivanklin Soares, Araujo, Paula Beatriz, Bichuette, Maria Elina, Trajano, Eleonora & Taiti, Stefano, 2014, Terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) from Brazilian caves, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 172 (2), pp. 360-425 : 379

GENUS LEONARDOSCIA CAMPOS- FILHO, ARAUJO & TAITI GEN. NOV.

Type species: Leonardoscia hassalli Campos-Filho, Araujo & Taiti sp. nov.

Diagnosis

Body ovoidal, with pleon slightly narrower than pereon. Pereonites with fan-shaped scale setae; one series of noduli laterales per side inserted more or less on the same line, at a certain distance from the lateral margin of the pereonites; no visible gland pores. Cephalon with suprantennal line and without frontal line. Epimera of pleonites 3–5 reduced, but with small posterior points visible in dorsal view. Antennule with short and thickset third segment bearing two apical aesthetascs and a tuft of aesthetascs on medial margin. Antennal flagellum with apical seta as long as third segment. Molar penicil of mandible dichotomized. Maxillule outer ramus with 4 + 5 (four apically cleft) teeth, plus an accessory tooth; inner branch with a small posterior point. Maxilliped endite without penicil. Pereopods with flagellar dactylar and ungual seta. Pleopodal exopods without respiratory structures. Uropodal protopod with outer margin grooved in the distal part, insertion of endopod slightly proximal to that of exopod. Male pleopod 2 endopod long and thin, bearing some triangular teeth in the distal part. Male pleopod 5 exopod with a groove near medial margin.

Etymology

The new genus is named after Leonardo da Vinci , who also gives the name to the cave where the type species was collected .

Remarks

In the shape of the antennula with a medial tuft and two apical aesthetascs, the new genus shows affin- ities with Prosekia Leistikow, 2001 and related genera (tribe Prosekiini , according to Leistikow, 2001a,c), from which it is readily distinguishable in having fanshaped instead of pointed dorsal scale setae. For this last character Leonardoscia gen. nov. also resembles Caraiboscia Vandel, 1968 and Colombophiloscia Leistikow, 2001 (see Leistikow, 2001e), which do not belong to the Prosekiini , however. It differs from both in lacking the penicil on the maxilliped endite, from Caraiboscia in having the outer teeth of the maxillule apically cleft, and from Colombophiloscia in having a dichothomized instead of simple molar penicil of the mandible. Within the Prosekiini the noduli laterales more or less at the same distance from the lateral margins of the pereonites are present only in the new genus and in Metaprosekia Leistikow, 2000 (see below), whereas in all the other genera ( Prosekia , Xiphoniscus Vandel, 1968 , Andenoniscus Verhoeff, 1941 , Androdeloscia Leistikow, 1999 , and Erophiloscia Vandel, 1972 ) the nudulus lateralis on pereonite 4 is inserted more medially.