Colombophiloscia, Leistikow, 2001

Leistikow, Andreas, 2001, A new species of Caraiboscia Vandel, 1968 from South America, and a type species for Colombophiloscia gen. n. (Crustacea: Oniscidea: Crinocheta), Journal of Natural History 35 (4), pp. 497-514 : 510

Genus Colombophiloscia gen. n.

Diagnosis. Slightly pigmented or pigmentless, cephalothorax with linea supraantennalis, linea frontalis only laterally developed, compound eyes small or reduced to four ommatidia. Tegument of dorsum covered with modi®ed tricorn-like setae, i.e. plaque broadened with semi-circular, fringed distal end, rather long on pleotelson.

Antennula three-articulate, mandible with long simple molar penicil, lateral endite of maxillula with 41 4 teeth, inner set cleft, maxilliped with knob-like penicil, setation lacking (all after Vandel, 1968).

Pereopods slender, pereopod 1 carpus with antenna-groomin g brush and doublefringed ornamental sensory spine, inner claw of dactylus medium-sized, dactylar seta with plumose apex. Coxal plates without gland pores, small noduli laterales and sulcus marginalis present.

Pleopods with sensory spines laterally, no respiratory areas discernible. Male pleopod 1 exopodites rounded, endopodites acute, almost straight, pleopod 2 endopodite pyrifrom with some sensory spines latero±distally, endopodite slender, pointed.

Uropod protopodite slightly grooved laterally, endopodite inserting proximally of exopodite.

Type species. Colombophiloscia alticola Vandel, 1968 (designated herein).

Number of nominal species. Four species, all from the Neotropics.

Distribution. Northern tropical Andes.

Remarks. Leistikow and WaÈgele (1999) pointed out the possible case of homonymy of Colombophiloscia Vandel, 1968 and Colombophiloscia Vandel, 1981 . For the Cuban species, C. romanorum Vandel, 1981 , a new genus will probably have to be established after examination of the type material. Moreover, Vandel (1968) did not chose a type species, and therefore, the genus name is unavailable according to § 13a ICZN. The designation of C. alticola as the type species of the genus should make the name available to science.

The genus as de®ned herein is characterized by these autapomorphies:

E linea frontalis substituted by row of tricorn-like setae [linea fontalis present]; E molar penicil a simple seta [molar penicil composed of about ®ve branches]; E gland pores reduced [gland pores on all coxal plates].

The ®rst character is found in all species ascribed to this genus, whereas in

Caraiboscia , the cephalothorax is even more modi®ed. It is possible that the reduction of the linea frontalis is a synapomorphy of both genera, the presence of tricorn-like setae arranged in a row is typical only for Colombophiloscia . For the second character, a reduction of the molar penicil in Colombophiloscia , a convergency to character states found in other taxa like Burmoniscus or Pentoniscus is postulated, since there are no characters supporting a sister group relationship with one of these taxa. The sister group of Colombophiloscia excluding C. romanorum Vandel, 1981 is the genus Caraiboscia as will be shown below. It bears a compound molar penicil as postulated for the ground pattern of the Crinocheta, thus the reduction of the number of branches in the molar penicil has occurred solely in Colombophiloscia .