Abstract
This study revises centipede fauna found in Brazilian caves, focusing on troglomorphic taxa and emphasizing conservation status. We present 563 centipede specimens from 274 caves across eleven Brazilian states. Of these, 22 records were derived from existing literature and 252 are newly collected. Specimens represent four orders, ten families, 18 genera, and 47 morphospecies. Together, the cave records represent 21 % of Brazil’s centipede fauna. Scolopendromorpha was the most representative order (41 %), followed by Geophilomorpha (26 %), Scutigeromorpha (23 %), and Lithobiomorpha (10 %). Six species were found only in caves, with four considered troglobitic. The distribution of Cryptops iporangensis, the first Brazilian troglobitic centipede species to be discovered, was expanded to other three caves. Cryptops spelaeoraptor and Cryptops iporangensis are two troglobitic species considered Vulnerable and Endangered, respectively, according to the IUCN Red List. Main threats to Brazilian caves are mining, hydroelectric projects, water pollution, and unregulated tourism.
Highlights
Centipedes are predatory terrestrial arthropods found in numerous habitats on all continents except Antarctica
Within the troglobitic Geophilomorpha order, the Geophilidae family is represented by two species: Geophilus persephones Foddai & Minelli, 1999 from France (Foddai and Minelli 1999) and Geophilus hadesi Stoev, Akkari, Komericki, Edgecombe & Bonato, 2015 from Croatia (Stoev et al 2015), while the Ballophilidae family is represented by one species: Ityphilus cavernicolus Matic, Negrea & FundoraMartinez, 1977 from Cuba (Matic et al 1977, Lewis 1981)
One Cryptops species was recorded in Spain (C. longicornis Ribaut, 1915), one in the Canary Islands (C. vulcanicus Zapparoli, 1990), one in Italy (C. umbricus Verhoeff, 1931), two in Australia (C. roeplainsensis Edgecombe, 2005 and C. camoowealensis Edgecombe, 2006), and four in the neotropics (C. cavernicolus Matic, Negrea & Fundora-Martinez, 1977 and C. troglobius Matic, Negrea & Fundora-Martinez, 1977 from Cuba; C. iporangensis Ázara & Ferreira, 2013 and C. spelaeoraptor Ázara & Ferreira, 2014 from Brazil)
Summary
Centipedes are predatory terrestrial arthropods found in numerous habitats on all continents except Antarctica. Cave centipedes (unidentified scutigeromorph and scolopendromorph species) were first recorded in Brazil at the start of the 1980s These records were mainly from limestone caves in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and São. Unidentified lithobiomorph species have been observed in limestone caves from southeastern Brazil (Gnaspini-Netto 1989) These records have all been compiled by Pinto-da-Rocha (1995) in one publication on Brazilian cave fauna. Subsequent records include Geophilidae species from the Alto Ribeira karst area, São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, as well as the first sightings of Cryptops and lithobiomorphs from iron caves in Pará and Minas Gerais, respectively (Trajano and Bichuette 2010).
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