Description of Maghreboniscus rojasi sp. nov. from Southern Spain and validation of the genus by the designation of a type species (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Spelaeoniscidae)

Abstract

A new species of terrestrial isopod genus Maghreboniscus Vandel, 1959, from the southernmost Iberian Peninsula, is described and illustrated: Maghreboniscus rojasi sp. nov. The finding represents the first record on the European continent of a representative of this genus, of which only three species had been described so far, all of them known from Africa. This paper also validates the genus Maghreboniscus and designates M. palmetensis Vandel, 1959 as its type species. A key to distinguishing the species of this genus is also provided.