From the depths: Heterocaucaseuma deprofundum sp. nov., the world's deepest-occurring millipede (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Anthroleucosomatidae) from caves in the western Caucasus

Abstract

We describe a new anthroleucosomatid millipede, Heterocaucaseuma deprofundum sp. nov., found in the second and third deepest caves of our planet, Krubera-Voronja and Sarma, in Abkhazia, western Caucasus. A brief discussion on its taxonomy and relationships within the Caucaseuma complex and genus Heterocaucaseuma is provided, together with new faunistic records on other three species of Heterocaucaseuma. Notes on the distribution and troglomorphy of the genus Heterocaucaseuma are added. Ecological information and data on the subterranean community of the Krubera-Voronja Cave are updated. We also discuss the vertical distribution of the new species in caves and the presence of an ectoparasitic fungi of the order Laboulbeniales. This new species is currently the world's deepest-occurring millipede, also representing one of the largest known chordeumatidans.

New species of Troglomyces and Diplopodomyces (Laboulbeniales, Ascomycota) from millipedes (Diplopoda)

“…This is the first record of Diplopodomyces lusitanipodos from a species of the order Chordeumatida; previously known hosts belong to the genera Lusitanipus and Cyphocallipus (Callipodida), reported from Portugal and Spain (Santamaría et al 2014;Reboleira & Enghoff 2015Antić et al 2018).…”

“…This species was found living in a cave at the remarkable depth of 1980 meters below the surface in the Krubera-Voronja Cave (Sendra & Reboleira 2012;Antić et al 2018). This makes it the "deepest" Laboulbeniales species on Earth.…”

Testing the uniqueness of deep terrestrial life

“…Discoveries of specialized invertebrates at depths of several hundred meters or more are exciting enough to be published under dazzling titles such as “the world’s deepest subterranean community 7 ”, “the world’s deepest cave-dwelling centipede 8 ”, or “the world’s deepest-occurring millipede 9 ”. Some globally unique creatures, for example a leech with tentacles 10 or a blind but flying insect 11 , are known exclusively from very deep caves of the Dinaric Karst in Croatia.…”

Subterranean biota of the European part of Russia: A review

“…Since 1975, several groups have become particularly well studied in the Russian Caucasus, such as cave diplopods (Golovatch, 1975(Golovatch, , 1978(Golovatch, , 1983(Golovatch, , 1984(Golovatch, -1985(Golovatch, , 1990(Golovatch, , 2011Golovatch, Enghoff, 1990;Golovatch, Chumachenko, 2013;Golovatch et al, 2016;Antić, Makarov, 2016;Antić et al, 2018); cave carabids (Belousov, 1989(Belousov, , 1999(Belousov, , 1998Belousov, Zamotajlov, 1999, 1997Belousov, Koval, 2009 and a few other higher taxa, mostly with descriptions of numerous new species.…”

“…6C). Likely troglobiont, from the Krasnoyarskaya and Pechalnaya caves, both in the Dzykhra karst massif, and the Osennyaya, Medvezhya and Gigantov caves in the Alek Massif, Greater Sochi, Krasnodar Province; body yellowish white, 10-18 ocelli in 3-4 rows (Antić, Makarov, 2016;Antić et al, 2018).…”