A checklist of subterranean arthropods of Iran

Abstract

Understanding subterranean biodiversity is important, yet vast regions of the world remain poorly explored. Here, we provide the first step towards cataloguing the subterranean arthropods of Iran. After review and analysis of the available literature and the examination of samples collected by us from Iranian caves, we listed 89 cavernicolous species (from 42 caves and 5 karstic springs) belonging to four arthropod subphyla: Chelicerata (1 class, 4 orders, 36 species), Crustacea (2 classes, 3 orders, 15 species), Hexapoda (2 classes, 5 orders, 34 species) and Myriapoda (2 classes, 3 orders, 4 species).

A striking new genus and species of troglobitic Campodeidae (Diplura) from Central Asia

“…Likewise, in adjacent Iran, the cave fauna comprise only 89 species, of which 16 are strict cave-dwellers. Of these, only three are terrestrial troglobites -the spider Trilacuna qarzi Malek Hosseini & Grismado, 2015, the millipede Chiraziulus troglopersicus Reboleira, Malek Hosseini, Sadeghi & Enghoff, 2015 and the isopod Protracheoniscus gakalicus Kashani, Malek Hosseini &Sadeghi, 2013 (Malek-Hosseini andZamani 2017).…”

Description of a new genus and species as the first gastropod species from caves in Iran

“…The subterranean fauna of Iran is poorly known. Some cave-adapted groups of animals such as fishes (4 species), Crustacea (amphipods and isopods, more than 20 species), diplopods, and insects have been reported from Iran (Malek-Hosseini and Zamani, 2017). We suggest the putative presence of several groups of animals in hypogean environments of Iran, but a lot of field work is needed.…”

“…The karstifiable carbonate formations cover around 11% of Iran's surface area with more than half (55.2%) being located at the Zagros Mountains in western Iran (Raeisi and Laumanns, 2012). Thus, it is not surprising that more than 90% of known Iranian troglobiont taxa are found in the Zagros karst formations (Malek-Hosseini and Zamani, 2017).…”

The spider genera Azerithonica and Tegenaria (Aranei: Agelenidae: Tegenariini) in Iran

“…RECORDS IN IRAN. Alborz, Golestan, Mazandaran, Tehran, Zanjan [Zamani et al, 2014[Zamani et al, , 2018bZamani, 2016;Malek-Hosseini, Zamani, 2017], Gilan, North Khorasan (current data).…”