Ctenorillo ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira 2024, n. sp.
Creators: name: Cardoso, Giovanna Monticelli
name: M, Diego de
name: Bento, edeiros
name: Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Isopoda
Armadillidae
Ctenorillo
Ctenorillo ubajarensis

description: Ctenorillo ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp.
(Figs 11-13; 27E; 28H)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 4C100618-9E25-499A-8078-F462716289C2
TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Brazil • 1♂ (4 mm); Ceará state; Ubajara municipality; Urso Fóssil cave; 3°49’59”S, 40°53’32”W; 22.I.2019; R. L. Ferreira leg.; ISLA 96794.
Paratypes. Brazil • 4 ♂, 5 ♀; same data as holotype; ISLA 96795.
OTHER MATERIAL. — Brazil • 1♀; Ceará state; Ubajara municipality; Macaco Fóssil cave; 3°49’45”S, 40°54’6”W; 24.I.2019; R. L. Ferreira leg.; ISLA96796 • 1 ♀; Ubajara municipality; Pendurado cave; 3°50’4”S, 40°53’35”W; 25.I.2019; R. L. Ferreira leg.; ISLA96797.
ETYMOLOGY. — The new species name is a noun that refers to the type locality (the Ubajara National Park).
DIAGNOSIS. — Dorsum covered by bosses, more developed posteriorly with three rows on cephalon (4, 2, 4); three rows on pereonite 1 (5, 2, 8); two rows on pereonites 2-6 (6 +6) and on pereonite 7 (6 + 5);
one row of four tubercles on pleonites 3-5; and two paramedian tubercles on telson. Pleopod 1 exopod with protruding distal portion, triangular, outer margin concave and crenulate; endopod with distal portion straight, slightly swollen, five times longer than exopod.
DISTRIBUTION. — Ubajara National Park, Ubajara municipality, Ceará state.
DESCRIPTION
Maximum size: ♂, 5 mm, ♀, 6.5 mm. Color brown in nature (Figs 13C; 27E). Dorsum covered by bosses, more developed posteriorly (Figs 11A, B; 28H): cephalon with three rows (4, 2, and 4 from front to back of vertex); pereonite 1 with 15 in three rows (5, 2 and 8); pereonites 2-6 with 14 (6+6); pereonite 7 with 11 (6+ 5); pleonites 3-5 with one row of four tubercles; telson with two paramedian tubercles. Dorsal cuticle with short triangular scale setae; pereonites 1-7 bearing one line of noduli lateralis per side on the outer surface of posterior boss of second line (Fig. 28H). Cephalon with frontal shield protruding above vertex; eye consisting of eight ommatidia (Figs 11C; 28H). Pereonite 1 inner lobe of schisma rounded, extending beyond posterior margin of outer lobe; pereonite 2 with triangular ventral tooth reaching epimeron posterior margin (Fig. 11E); pereonites 2-7 with wide quadrangular epimera (Fig. 11A). Telson (Fig. 11F) hourglass-shaped, proximal portion broader than distal portion. Antennula (Fig. 11G) of three articles, second article shorter than first and third, third article with five apical and two subapical aesthetascs. Antenna (Fig. 11H) short and stout, flagellum shorter than fifth article of peduncle; second article of flagellum about twice as long as first. Buccal pieces as C. pelado Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp. (Fig. 11 I-M). All pleopod exopods with monospiracular covered lungs. Uropod (Fig. 12A) protopod flattened, enlarged on basal portion; exopod outward, short, inserted dorsally close to medial margin of protopod.
Male
Pereopods without particular modifications (Fig. 12B, C). Pleopod 1 exopod (Fig. 12D) wider than long, protruding distal portion, triangular, outer margin concave and crenulate; endopod with distal portion straight, slightly swollen, five times longer than exopod. Pleopod 2 endopod longer than exopod (Fig. 12E). Pleopods 3-5 exopods as in Figure 12 F-H.
HABITAT
Specimens of C. ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp. were found in three caves located at the Ubajara National Park (Fig. 13A). These caves are associated with limestones from the Frecheirinha Formation, Ubajara karst Group (Neoproterozoic).This region experiences two distinct climatic seasons: the rainy period when 94% of rainfall occurs (from January to June), and the dry period that is practically without rain (from July to December). The average annual temperature ranges from 20°C to 22°C in Serra da Ibiapaba and around 24°C to 26°C in the peripheral depression. June and July are typically the warmest months, while October and November are the hottest (Alvares et al. 2013).
The Urso Fóssil cave, in which most of the specimens were found, extends up to 195 meters in length and has four entrances located along the cave main conduit (Fig. 13B). Most parts of the cave receive some light from the external environment, and aphotic areas are relatively few. Although this cave is located within the limits of the National Park, in which caves are important touristic attractions, tourists do not regularly visit this cave. However, it has been the target of several paleontological excavations in recent decades, which, on the one hand, revealed the great fossiliferous importance of this cave but, on the other hand, ended up altering several of its microhabitats.
Most specimens of C. ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp. (Fig. 13C) were found in Urso Fóssil cave, beneath fallen rocks or blocks on the cave floor. Additional specimens were observed in two other nearby caves (Pendurado and Macaco caves), with only one specimen found in each of these caves. Since external inventories were not conducted during our visit to the area, it is not possible to determine the actual distribution of this species, but it certainly occurs in external habitats in the caves’ surroundings. Since the area is legally protected, the species is apparently not under any threat.
REMARK
Ctenorillo ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp., like C. kenyensis Schmölzer, 1974, differ from the congeneric species by the less developed tubercles, however in C. ubajarensis Cardoso & Ferreira, n. sp. the tubercles are more like bosses and are slightly more developed on pereonite 7, while on C. kenyensis they are granulated and densely distributed dorsally.
description: Published as part of Cardoso, Giovanna Monticelli, M, Diego de, Bento, edeiros & Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, 2024, Unveiling a hidden diversity: descriptions of nine new species of Ctenorillo Verhoeff, 1942 (Isopoda, Armadillidae) discovered in Brazilian caves and their importance for conservation, pp. 95-132 in Zoosystema 46 (5) on pages 111-114, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2024v46a5, http://zenodo.org/record/10803267