Mesoniscus

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Mesoniscus
File:Szemercses vakaszka.jpg
M. graniger
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Subphylum:
Class:
Order:
Suborder:
Section:
Microcheta

Schmalfuss, 1989
Family:
Mesoniscidae

Verhoeff, 1908
Genus:
Mesoniscus

Carl, 1906
Species
  • M. alpicolus (Heller, 1858)
  • M. graniger (Frivaldsky, 1865)

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Mesoniscus is a genus of woodlice, placed in its own family, Mesoniscidae, and section, Microcheta. It contains two species – Mesoniscus alpicolus and Mesoniscus graniger – that live in Central and Eastern Europe, mostly in and around caves.

Distribution

File:Cave 2 by andy205.jpg
The Baradla cave in north-eastern Hungary is home to a population of Mesoniscus graniger.

Mesoniscus is restricted to Central Europe and the Balkan Peninsula; the ranges of its two species do not overlap.[1]

M. alpicolus is found in Lombardy and the Northern Calcareous Alps.[1] In Austria, its range extends from the Karwendel near Innsbruck to the eastern edge of the Wienerwald, although it is also found in isolated pockets of Triassic and Silurian–Devonian limestone in Styria.[2]

M. graniger has a wider distribution than its congener; it is found in much of the Carpathians, including the Bihor and Banat mountains, and in the Dinaric Alps and Julian Alps.[1] It is also found in the Caves of Aggtelek Karst in Hungary.[3]

Taxonomy

The first description of a woodlouse now in the genus Mesoniscus was in 1858, when Joseph Heller described "Titanethes alpicolus" in 1858.[4] This was followed in 1865 by the description by János Frivaldszky (Ján Frivaldský) of the subspecies "Titanethes alpicolus graniger".[4]

Mesoniscus is the only genus in the family Mesoniscidae,[5] and is considered so distinct from other woodlice that the family is placed in a separate section, named Microcheta.[5][6]

Ecology

Mesoniscus species lack the pleopodal lungs found in many other woodlice, and are restricted to damp environments.[7]

References

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External links