Domenico Caruso’s research while affiliated with University of Catania and other places

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Publications (26)


Figure 1. (a) Spelaeoniscus akfadouensis sp. nov., lateral view of whole animal; (b) Uncuniscus gen. nov. hamatus (Caruso & Lombardo) comb. nov. lateral view of whole animal; (c) Hybleoniscus gen. nov. vittoriensis sp. nov., lateral view of whole animal; (d) Spelaeoniscus akfadouensis sp. nov., cephalon in frontal view. 
Figure 2. Uncuniscus gen. nov. hamatus (Caruso & Lombardo) comb. nov. (a) Pleon, ventral view; the pleopods have been removed; the arrow indicates the hook; (b) hind portion of body, ventral view; (1) hook; (2) exopodites of the fifth pair of pleopods (from Caruso & Lombardo 1978; permission to publish granted by Caruso and Lombardo). 
Figure 4. (a) Spelaeoniscus debrugei Racovitza, 1907. Apex of the first male pleopod endopodite (redrawn from Racovitza 1908); (b) Spelaeoniscus sahariensis Paulian De Felice, 1942. First male pleopod (redrawn from Vandel 1959); (c) Spelaeoniscus orientalis Vandel, 1959. Apex of the first male pleopod endopodite (redrawn from Vandel 1959); (d) Spelaeoniscus kabylicola Vandel, 1948. First male pleopods (redrawn from Vandel 1948); (e) Spelaeoniscus coiffaiti Vandel, 1961. First male pleopod (redrawn from Montesanto et al. 2011). 
Figure 5. (a) Spelaeoniscus lagrecai Caruso, 1973, exopodites and endopodites of the first male pleopods (from Caruso 1973); (b) Spelaeoniscus costai Caruso & Lombardo, 1976, exopodites and endopodites of the first male pleopods (from Caruso & Lombardo 1976); (c) Spelaeoniscus vandeli Caruso, 1976, exopodites and endopodites of the first male pleopods (from Caruso 1976); (d) Spelaeoniscus ragonesei Caruso & Lombardo, 1977, exopodite and endopodite of the first male pleopods (from Caruso & Lombardo 1977b; permission to publish granted by Caruso and Lombardo). 
Figure 6. Spelaeoniscus ragonesei Caruso & Lombardo, 1977. Scalespines of pereion (2200×) (from Caruso & Lombardo 1977b; permission to publish granted by Caruso and Lombardo). 

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Revision of the genus Spelaeoniscus Racovitza, 1907 with description of two new genera and four new species (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea)
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2017

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287 Reads

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3 Citations

D. Caruso

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E. Pezzino

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On the basis of the study of a rich collection of Spelaeoniscidae from Sicily, the surrounding islands, the Maltese Archipelago and North Africa, collected during several faunistic expeditions, two new genera, Uncuniscus and Hybleoniscus, and four new species, Spelaeoniscus akfadouensis, Uncuniscus singularis, Uncuniscus elegans and Hybleoniscus vittoriensis, are described. The genus Spelaeoniscus Racovitza, 1907 is redefined and revised, and all species of the genus are briefly described and illustrated. Moreover, hypotheses on the differentiation process of the above genera and species are proposed based on their geographic distribution. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9DF065E3-B8E7-488E-85F2-7E267BDC87AD

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Figure 1. Map of the study area. Sampling sites are indicated. Salt pans are represented by polygons. 
Figure 2. Total frequency (%) of catches for the observed families. 
Figure 3. Frequency of catches (%) for each sampling month. a Halophiloscia couchii (N= 853) b Halophiloscia hirsuta (N= 21) c Chaetophiloscia elongata (N= 3488) d Acaeroplastes melanurus (N= 62) e Agabiformius lentus (N= 73) f Leptotrichus panzerii (N= 1440) g Porcellio albicornis (N= 33) h Porcellio laevis (N= 804) i Porcellio siculoccidentalis (N= 45) j Armadillidium badium (N= 1596) k Armadillidium decorum (N= 426) l Armadillidium granulatum (N= 13929) m Armadillo officinalis (N= 1291). 
The diversity of terrestrial isopods in the natural reserve “Saline di Trapani e Paceco” (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) in northwestern Sicily

March 2012

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353 Reads

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33 Citations

Ecosystems comprising coastal lakes and ponds are important areas for preserving biodiversity. The natural reserve "Saline di Trapani e Paceco" is an interesting natural area in Sicily, formed by the remaining strips of land among salt pans near the coastline. From January 2008 to January 2010, pitfall trapping was conducted in five sampling sites inside the study area. The community of terrestrial isopods was assessed using the main diversity indices. Twenty-four species were collected, only one of them endemic to western Sicily: Porcellio siculoccidentalis Viglianisi, Lombardo & Caruso, 1992. Two species are new to Sicily: Armadilloniscus candidus Budde-Lund, 1885 and Armadilloniscus ellipticus (Harger, 1878). This is high species richness for a single reserve in Sicily. The extended sampling period also allowed us to study species phenology. Most of the species exhibited higher activity in spring than in autumn while some species also exhibited lower activity in the summer. The species richness revealed that the study area is in an acceptable conservation status; Shannon and Pielou indices also confirmed a more or less even distribution of individuals belonging to different species.


The postmarsupial development of Porcellio siculoccidentalis, with some data on reproductive biology (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)

March 2012

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178 Reads

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22 Citations

In the broader context of research on the Sicilian Porcellio imbutus-complex, the postmarsupial development of Porcellio siculoccidentalis Viglianisi, Lombardo & Caruso, 1992 was studied in detail. This research was conducted in the laboratory under controlled conditions, allowing us to follow the stages of development, from the formation of the marsupium in ovigerous females until the larval stages and development of the seventh pair of legs. The timing of developmental stages and the morphological modifications of appendages in the postmarsupial manca stages (M I-M III) are described. The manca stage M I had a duration of about one hour. Ovigerous females were collected and reared separately, and the number of parturial molts in the absence of males was counted. The results showed a maximum of four successive parturial molts. Fecundity and fertility were evaluated as the number of eggs and embryos, respectively, inside the marsupium of the ovigerous females. Both parameters were positively correlated with the size of the females. The maximum numbers of eggs and embryos in the marsupium were 113 and 141, respectively. Data describing the total number of postmarsupial mancas released per month indicated that the highest release occurred in April.


Diversity of terrestrial isopods in a protected area characterized by salty coastal ponds (Vendicari, Sicily)

September 2011

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265 Reads

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34 Citations

The diversity of Oniscidean isopods was studied in Vendicari, a protected area in southeastern Sicily characterized by salty ponds separated from the sea by narrow bands of land. Samples were collected in pitfall traps placed in transects from the coastline to the ponds and from the ponds inland. Twenty-three species were identified, only seven of which were present at all sampling sites. Shannon's diversity and Pielou's evenness indices revealed higher values in the spring and autumn; activity indices were also calculated for each species for all months of the year. Similarity among sampling sites was evaluated qualitatively with Jaccard's index and quantitatively with Sørensen's index. The ponds seem to play the same role as the seacoasts regarding species zonation.


A new species and new records of terrestrial isopods from Sicily (Isopoda: Oniscidea)

August 2011

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553 Reads

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19 Citations

In this paper three species of terrestrial isopods from Sicily are discussed. Spelaeoniscus coiffaiti and Cylisticus convexus are new to the Sicilian fauna. Sicilian specimens of Spelaeoniscus coiffaiti are examined and illustrated, and the biogeographical significance of this species in Sicily is discussed. Trichoniscus panormidensis is described as a new species, and the affinities are treated.



Armadillidium virgo n. sp. from caves in southeastern Sicily:Is it a parthenogenetic species? (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)

March 2011

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83 Reads

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3 Citations

Italian Journal of Zoology

We describe and illustrate a new species of Armadillidium from Sicily, A. virgo n. sp., collected in two small caves in the Climiti Mountains on the Iblean Plateau (southeastern Sicily, Italy). Of the 200 specimens collected thus far, all are females. We compared this putative new species to A. aelleni Caruso Ferrara found in some Maltese caves, and they seem to be closely related.



Citations (15)


... The family Spelaeoniscidae includes some of the smallest known terrestrial isopods, many of them endogean. Spelaeoniscidae currently includes nine genera, five of them monotypic, and a total of 24 species, most of them known only from North West Africa (Boyko et al. 2008 onwards;Caruso et al. 2017). On the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, only the genus Spelaeoniscus Racovitza, 1907, which is the most diverse of the family, has been reported, although only two species have been recorded occasionally: S. coiffaiti Vandel, 1961and S. lagrecai Caruso, 1973(Vandel, 1961Garcia 2006;Caruso et al. 2017). ...

Reference:

Description of Maghreboniscus rojasi sp. nov. from Southern Spain and validation of the genus by the designation of a type species (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Spelaeoniscidae)
Revision of the genus Spelaeoniscus Racovitza, 1907 with description of two new genera and four new species (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea)

... Isopods associated with RWAs had on average a much stronger female-biased sex ratio than isopods living with L. flavus, but the sex ratio of some RWA-associated populations deviated from this pattern. Interestingly, populations of the ant-associated congeneric species P. aiasensis ranged from 63% females to complete parthenogenesis (Montesanto, Caruso, & Lombardo, 2008). The female-inducing bacteria Wolbachia is widespread in isopods (Bouchon, Rigaud, & Juchault, 1998) and might cause the observed variation in sex ratio. ...

Genetic variability in parthenogenetic and amphigonic populations of Platyarthrus aiasensis Legrand from Sicily (Isopoda, Oniscidea)

... In many species of oniscideans, the need to have an effective long-term sperm storage inside the female genital apparatus is closely related to the more or less marked reduction in the number of males, which means, in some cases, a real phenomenon of spanandry: in fact, while in some species, such as Trichoniscus pygmaeus and Armadillidium nasatum, the sex ratio is generally 1 : 1 (Vandel 1925), in others, such as Philoscia muscorum, the male/female ratio is 1 : 11 and in Trichoniscus pusillus it is 1 : 200 (Frankel et al. 1981). Moreover, in some species such as Platyarthrus aiasensis, the sex ratio varies in relation to the geographical area of the species studied, from 1 : 1 to a marked spanandry or even a total absence of males thus making parthenogenesis necessary (Caruso 1968). Another reason that could influence the sperm storage inside the oniscideans' female genital apparatus is certainly the diversity of the physiology of the reproductive process and, more precisely, of the variable relationships between mating, vitellogenesis and ovideposition found at the specific level (Bessé 1976). ...

Partenogenesi e spanandria in Platyarthrus aiasensis Legrand (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) studiate tramite marcatori RAPD

... The present study adds Tetramorium and Lasius lasioides (Emery, 1869) to this list of local ant hosts. P. aiasensis may form parthenogenetic populations, though this does not appear to be the case locally [113]. Previous records. ...

Genetic variability in parthenogenetic and anphigonic sicilian populations of Platyarthrus aiasensis Legrand, 1954 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)

... Terrestrial isopods breathe through pseudo-tracheae, a highly efficient system of tiny tubes that transport gases through the body and are molted along with the rest of the exoskeleton (Schmidt and Wägele, 2001). To our knowledge, our pilot study (Agodi et al., 2011), which used isopods as bioindicators, is the sole investigation describing an association between air benzene concentrations and exposure effects on mtDNA copy number. We showed that Armadillo officinalis (Fig. 2), an oniscidean isopod, is an attractive candidate for the biochemical study of benzene toxicity and for metabolomics studies of its effects in soil organisms. ...

Evidence of mtDNA amplification in response to benzene exposure: Armadillo officinalis Dumèril, 1816 as a bioindicator of air quality (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea).

... Besides that, at least another morphotype has been described with no taxonomic recognition (Schultz, 1982). Without further evidence, evaluating the relevance of such variability within what is traditionally considered a widespread, variable species can be challenging (e.g., Montesanto et al., 2007;Rodriguez-Flores et al., 2021;Sánchez-Vialas et al., 2020;Vasquez-Valverde & Marek, 2022). This is particularly true when such variability is not geographically or ecologically structured, and we find some of the different morphological variants even in the same locality. ...

Taxonomic status of the Mediterranean terrestrial isopod, Porcellio lameliatus Budde-Lund, 1885 as inferred from genetic and morphological differentiation (Isopoda, Oniscidea)

Crustaceana

... The species is much more common in moist habitats, rarely collected in sub-humid biotopes. Usually found under stones in open areas, however, it is recorded in different vegetal litters from sea level to over 1000 m (Medini-Bouaziz et al. 2006). (Budde-Lund, 1885) has an elongated and very slender body. ...

Genetic and morphological analysis of Tunisian populations of Porcellio variabilis Lucas (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)

Italian Journal of Zoology

... Terrestrial isopods are widely used as bioindicators of environmental pollution due to their sensitivity to the effects of anthropogenic activities Mazzei et al., 2013;Agodi et al., 2015). They also represent an abundant and widespread component of the soil fauna (Caruso et al., 1987;Messina et al., 2011;Messina et al., 2012). The species Armadillo officinalis has been reported as a good test-organism to assess soil contamination or other environmental changes in its habitat (Agodi et al., 2015;Montesanto and Cividini, 2017). ...

Diversity of terrestrial isopods in a protected area characterized by salty coastal ponds (Vendicari, Sicily)

... The systematics of terrestrial isopods is complex and ambiguous. The taxonomic status of species was raised in many oniscidean species such as Porcellio imbutus (Viglianisi et al. 1992), Porcellio lamellatus (Montesanto et al. 2007), Armadillidium badium (Lombardo et al. 2001), Armadillidium aelleni (Lombardo et al. 2002), Porcellio variabilis (Medini-Bouaziz et al. 2006) and particularly Porcellionides pruinosus (Garthwaite and Sassaman 1985;Charfi-Cheikhrouha 2005, 2008). The last of these is the most widely distributed species of terrestrial isopods (Vandel 1962;Garthwaite and Sassaman 1985) and is highly synanthropic. ...

Genetic and morphological differentiation in some populations of Armadillidium aelleni (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea), a cavernicolous species of the Maltese archipelago

Italian Journal of Zoology

... Distribution. Slovenia: Istria (Arcangeli 1923); Italy: Veneto (Arcangeli 1938;Paoletti 1988), Marche (Verhoeff 1928), Latium (Verhoeff 1931;Baini et al. 2011Baini et al. , 2014, Emilia Romagna (Arcangeli 1926;Zangheri 1966), Tuscany (Zangheri 1966); San Marino (Verhoeff 1933); Croatia: Cres (Verhoeff 1938;Karaman 1966); Bulgaria: (Verhoeff 1928(Verhoeff , 1929Vandel 1965b;Andreev 1972Andreev , 2002; Romania (Radu 1960;Giurginca and Vănoaica 2002;Giurginca and Curcic 2003;Giurginca et al. 2009;Giurginca 2022); Cyprus (Vandel 1965a;Strouhal 1968); Libya: Cyrenaica (Arcangeli 1938); Egypt (Shereef 1970); Greece (Dalens 1973(Dalens , 1974Schmalfuss 1990); Turkey (Verhoeff 1941;Schmalfuss 1990); Azerbaijan (Schmalfuss 1990); Russia: Caucasus and Black Sea coast (Verhoeff 1933b;Gongalsky and Kutznetsova 2011); Iraq (Frankenberger 1939); Iran (Kashani 2014). The species was cited also for Palestine by Vandel (1965a) and Strouhal (1968) but the record is doubtful according to Schmalfuss (1990). ...

A new species and new records of terrestrial isopods from Sicily (Isopoda: Oniscidea)