Abstract
After general considerations on subterranean cirolanids, Typhlocirolana haouzensis n. sp. is described from the Marrakesh region. Morphological polymorphism of the type population is considered in the description. The new species is characterized by a large body size, a stocky body shape, by elongated antennae, and important chaetotaxic equipment including numerous setae on most cephalic, thoracic and especially pleonal appendages. Systematic comparisons with other species of the same genus are presented. Typhlocirolana haouzensis n. sp. is more closely related to T. fontis from Algeria than to other known species. The number of plesiomorphic traits exhibited by the new species, its wide geographic range in Morocco as well as the geological history of the area where it occurs, suggest a very ancient origin of the species in North African continental groundwaters. The colonization of these groundwaters by ancestral coastal cirolanids probably occurred during the late Turonian marine regression, some 90 million years ago. Some ecological characteristics and life history traits of the new species are also presented.
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