Cylisticus masalicus: A new species of Woodlouse from the rainforests of northern Iran.

Woodlice, Oniscidea, are terrestrial Isopod Crustacians with rigin exoskeletons and fourteen limbs. They are found in moist terrestrial environments (and in the case of a few species, dry terrestrial environments) across the globe, being largly active at night, and consuming dead plant matter. Like all Crustaceans (and unlike other terrestrail Arthropods) Woodlice must regularly shed their exoskeletons as they grow. Female Woodlice carry fertilized eggs in a pouch, the marsupium, until they hatch, giving birth to live young; they can also reproduce asexaully if no males are available. Woodlice are known for the ability to enrole into an almost perfect sphere as a defence mechanism (conglobating), though only members of one family, the Armadillidae, can do this, with other Woodlice enroling to a lesser degree, or not at all.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 21 April 2016, Ghasem Kashani of the Department of Biology at the University of Zanjan describes a new species of Woodlouse from the subtropical rainforests of northern Iran, as part of a wider study of the Isopod family Cylisticidae in Iran.

The new species is placed in the genus Cylisticus, and given the specific name masalicus, in reference to the city of Masal in Gilan Province, the species having first been identified in forests close to this city. Cylisticus masalicus is a slate grey Woodlouse, with pale muscle spots, reaching a maximum length of about 15 mm. It has long, slender antenae, which remain folded along the back when conglobating.

 Active specimen of Cylisticus masalicus. Kashani (2016).

See also...

Parasitic Isopod Crustaceans from the Philippines, Australia and Taiwan.              Bopyrid Isopods are parasites infesting the bodies of other marine (and occasionally freshwater) Crustaceans. About 800 species have been described, with maximum diversity thought be found in the...

Myopiarolis tona: A new species of Isopod Crustacian from the west coast of New Zealand.                                                       The Serolidae are a group of Marine Isopod Crustaceans found predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere. Most species are found between...

A parasitic Cymothoid Isopod from the Virgin Islands.                                                         Cymothoids are Isopod Crustaceans, related...

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