A new stygobiotic Stenasellus Dollfus, 1897 (Asellota: Stenasellidae) from Socotra Island, Yemen.

We describe a new species of Stenasellus Dollfus, 1897 (Isopoda: Asellota: Stenasellidae) from stagnant freshwater habitats in a cave on Socotra Island, Yemen. S. taitii n. sp. is the first endemic stenasellid found in Socotra, showing relatively closer morphological affinities to species from the Middle East (Oman, Iran) than from the African mainland, corresponding to the known paleogeographical connection of the archipelago to Southern Arabia. With notes on the protection of Socotran groundwaters.

The genus Alpioniscus Racovitza, 1908 in Sardinia: taxonomy and natural history (Isopoda, Oniscidea, Trichoniscidae).

The genus Alpioniscus Racovitza, 1908 (Trichoniscidae) from Sardinia is revised. Three new cave-dwelling species are described: A.onnisi Taiti & Argano, sp. n., A.stochi Taiti & Argano, sp. n., and A.sideralis Taiti & Argano, sp. n.. The genus Utopioniscus Schmalfuss, 2005 is considered to be a junior synonym of Alpioniscus, after morphological and molecular analyses. Alpioniscusfragilis (Budde-Lund, 1909) and A.kuehni from Grotta del Bue Marino are illustrated. With the new species, the genus Alpioniscus in Sardinia comprises six species: two troglobionts (A.fragilis and A.onnisi), one endogean and troglobiont (A.thanit Taiti & Argano, 2009), and three stygobionts (A.kuehni, A.stochi, and A.sideralis). All the species occur in karstic areas in the central-eastern and south-eastern part of the island. A key to all the Sardinian species of Alpioniscus is provided.

Phylogeography of Helleria brevicornis (Crustacea, Oniscidea): old and recent differentiations of an ancient lineage.

Helleria brevicornis has a disjunct, peri-Tyrrhenian distribution that mirrors that of several organisms, for which geographic vicariance is invoked, due to the geological events started with the Oligocene split of the Sardo-Corsican microplate from the Pyrenees, and successive separation between Sardinia and Corsica. Molecular phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that such a biogeographic model does not apply to Helleria. The original split of the Sardinian and Corsican lineages originated in the Early Pliocene. Further diversification occurred later. The colonization of the Tuscan archipelago, French, and Italian mainland occurred most recently, but a possible time dependency bias suggests that such colonization was driven by human-transport.