The first species of Calabozoidae from iron-ore caves and their importance for the Amazon biome (Crustacea: Isopoda), Brazil

  • Giovanna Monticelli Cardoso Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Departamento de Biologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia Aplicada, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2682-1643
  • Diego de Medeiros Bento Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cavernas (CECAV), Base Avançada no Rio Grande do Norte, Avenida Alexandrino de Alencar 1399, Tirol, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3773-8290
  • Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Departamento de Biologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia Aplicada, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3288-4405
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1039.3187
Keywords: stygofauna, troglobitic, Carajás National Forest, Pará State

Abstract

Three new calabozoid species are described from iron-ore caves in the Carajás Mineral Province, Pará State, north of Brazil. The species are allocated in a new genus, Kaaetecarcinia gen. nov., and found in two different mountain ranges: Serra Leste and Serra Norte. Kaaetecarcinia apina gen. et sp. nov. is found in four caves in the Serra Leste Mountain Range. In Serra Norte Mountain Range, K. amazonica gen. et sp. nov. is found in two caves of the N1 plateau, while K. karaja gen. et sp. nov. is found in two caves of the N5 plateau and one cave in the N4 plateau. These records represent the first species associated with iron-ore caves in the Amazon forest. A taxonomic key to the Calabozoidae genera is provided.

References

ANM. 2022. Agência Nacional de Mineração – Brazilian Mineral Yearbook. Available from https://www.gov.br/anm/pt-br/assuntos/economia-mineral/publicacoes/anuario-mineral/anuario-mineral-brasileiro/PreviaAMB2022.pdf [accessed 22 Mar. 2025].

Cardoso G.M., Bento D.M. & Ferreira R.L. 2025a. Brasileirinho sergipanus sp. nov. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Calabozoidea), new cave-restricted species from the karst of Sergipe State, Brazil. Zootaxa 5627 (3): 551–560. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5627.3.8

Cardoso G.M., Bento D.M. & Ferreira R.L. 2025b. Remnants of an ancient world: three new genera and three new species of Calabozoidea isopods from Brazilian semi-arid caves (Crustacea: Isopoda). Tropical Zoology 38 (1–2): 1–25.

Ferreira R.L., de Oliveira M.P.A & Silva M.S. 2018. Subterranean Biodiversity in Ferruginous Landscapes. In: Moldovan O., Kováč Ľ. & Halse S. (eds) Cave Ecology. Ecological Studies 235: 435–447. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98852-8_21

Ferreira R.L., Bernard E., da Cruz Júnior F.W., Piló L.B., Calux A., Souza-Silva M., Barlow J., Pompeu P.S., Cardoso P., Mammola S., Martínez García A., Jeffery W.R., Shear W., Medellín R.A., Wynne J.J., Borges P.A.V., Kamimura Y., Pipan T., Hajna N.Z., … & Frick W.F. 2022. Brazilian cave heritage under siege. Science 375 (6586): 1238–1239. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1973

IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee. 2022. Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 15.1. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee. Available from https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/redlistguidelines [accessed 22 Mar. 2025].

Messana G., Baratti M. & Benvenuti D. 2002. Pongycarcinia xiphidiourus n. gen. sp. nov., a new Brazilian Calabozoidae (Crustacea, Isopoda). Tropical Zoology 15: 243–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.2002.10531178

Montesanto G. 2015. A fast GNU method to draw accurate scientific illustrations for taxonomy. Zookeys 515: 191–206. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.515.9459

Montesanto G. 2016. Drawing setae: a GNU way for digital scientific illustrations. Nauplius 24: 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1590/2358-2936e2016017

Piló L.B., Auler A.S. & Martins F. 2015. Carajás National Forest: Iron ore plateaus and caves in southeastern Amazon. In: Vieira B.C., Salgado A.A.R. & Santos L.J.C. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Brazil: 273–283. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8023-0

Prevorčnik S., Ferreira R.L. & Sket B. 2012. Brasileirinidae, a new isopod family (Crustacea: Isopoda) from the cave in Bahia (Brazil) with a discussion on its taxonomic position. Zootaxa 3452: 47–65. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3452.1.2

Sahoo P.K., Guimaraes J.T., Souza-Filho P.W., Silva M.S., Silva Jr R.O., Pessim G., Morae B.C., Pessoa P.F.P., Rodrigues T.M., Costa M. & Dall’agnol R. 2016. Influence of seasonal variation on the hydro-biogeochemical characteristics of two upland lakes in the Southeastern Amazon, Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 88 (4): 2211–2227. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201620160354

SIGMINE (2024) Sistema de Informações Geográficas da Mineração. Available from https://geo.anm.gov.br/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6a8f5ccc4b6a4c2bba79759aa952d908 [accessed 22 Mar. 2025].

Tabacaru I. & Danielopol D.L. 1999. Contribution à la connaissance de la phylogénie des Isopoda (Crustacea). Vie et Millieu 49 (2/3): 163–176.

Tabacaru I. & Giurginca A. 2019. Contributions to the study of the Trichoniscidae (Isopoda, Oniscidea). I. Definition and taxonomic position. Travaux de l’Institut de Spéologie Émile Racovitza 58: 47–63.

Tabacaru I. & Giurginca A. 2021. The monophyly and the classification of the terrestrial isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea). Travaux de l’Institut de Spéologie Émile Racovitza 59: 3–23.

Trevelin L.C., Gastauer M., Prous X., Nicácio G., Zampaulo R., Brandi I. & Jaffé R. 2019. Biodiversity surrogates in Amazonian iron cave ecosystems. Ecological Indicators101: 813–820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.01.086

Van Lieshout S.E.N. 1983. Calabozoidea, a new suborder of stygobiont Isopoda, discovered in Venezuela. Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde 53 (1): 165–177. Available from https://isopods.nhm.org/pdfs/23753/23753.pdf [accessed 13 Jan. 2025].

Published
2026-02-10
How to Cite
Cardoso, G. M., Bento, D. de M., & Ferreira, R. L. (2026). The first species of Calabozoidae from iron-ore caves and their importance for the Amazon biome (Crustacea: Isopoda), Brazil. European Journal of Taxonomy, 1039(1), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1039.3187
Issue
Vol. 1039 (2026)
Section
Research article

Copyright (c) 2026 Giovanna Monticelli Cardoso, Diego de Medeiros Bento, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Copyright Notices

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.