Asellidae) from the Abin River Basin, with the preliminary data on the Diversity of the Genus in the southwestern foothills of the Russian Caucasus

ABSTRACT

A new stygobiotic species of the genus Proasellus Dudich, 1925 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae), Proasellus abini sp. n., is described from the hyporheic habitats and groundwater of the Abin River basin, located in the southwestern foothills of the Caucasian Ridge. The new species is morphologically and genetically close to Proasellus linearis Birštein, 1967, known from the Evstafiev Sсhel (=Ashamba River) near Gelendzhik. Data on phylogeny, ecology and feeding of the species and other SW Caucasian species of the genus are also presented in the paper.

KEY WORDS: Crustacea, diversity, Proasellus, new species, hyporhea, stygobiotic, southwestern Caucasus, Russia.

General view and natural habitat of Proasellus abini sp. n.:
A — a forest well, Shids, general view; B, C — individuals of the new species on the bottom and walls of the well; D, F — general dorsal view of alive individual of the new Proasellus abini sp.n. and its lateral view (E).

Proasellus abini sp. n.

Marin I.N. and Sinelnikov S.Yu. 2024. A New Species of the Genus Proasellus (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae) from the Abin River Basin, with the preliminary data on the Diversity of the Genus in the southwestern foothills of the Russian Caucasus. Invertebrate Zoology. 21(1); 81–93.

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