''Armadillidium maniatum'' is a European

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

woodlouse A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. ...

endemic to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Taxonomy

''Armadilliidum maniatum'' was described in 2006, based on only 3 specimens (2 males and 1 female) that were collected in a beach of southern

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

during May 1980.

Description

''Armadillidium maniatum'' is a medium to large sized species, reaching maximum dimensions of about 17 x 8.7 mm. Its

tergites A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'mar ...

are completely smooth and the body lacks pigmentation, except for the

eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...

, which are black, and the hind margins of the pereion-tergites, which bear dark stripes. The frontal shield doesn't surpass the anterior edge of the head, distinctly bends backwards and tightly fits to the frontal part of the head. The secondary antennae have a conspicuously enlarged third segment, trapezoidal lobes and

flagellum A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates. A microorganism may have f ...

articles of equal length. The hind margins of the first pair of epimera are deeply and sharply angled. The

telson The telson () is the posterior-most division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segment on accou ...

is wider than long, has straight sides and a rounded tip. Concerning the sexual characters of the male, the first

pereiopod The decapod (crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various g ...

has a ventral brush of spines on the carpus and, to a lesser degree, on the merus. The ischium of the seventh pereiopod is ventrally straight, bare at the apical part and with a proximal band of hairy

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

e at its basal part. The coxopodite of the same leg has a stripe of hairs at its middle part. The posterior lobe of the exopodite of the first

pleopod The decapod ( crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various ...

is triangular and the apex of the endopodite is straight .

Distribution

''Armadillidium maniatum'' is only known from the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

, collected in southern Peloponnese. Particularly, the species was found in the beach of

Vatheia Vatheia ( el, Βάθεια ; also ''Vathia'') is a village on the Mani Peninsula, in south-eastern Laconia. The local community of Vatheia is named after this village. The aforementioned local community is a subdivision of the municipal unit of O ...

, which comprises one of the southernmost regions of the

Mani Peninsula The Mani Peninsula ( el, Μάνη, Mánē), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (Μαΐνη), is a geographical and cultural region in Southern Greece that is home to the Maniots (Mανιάτες, ''Maniátes'' in Greek), who cla ...

Ecology

Almost nothing is known about the ecology of ''Armadillidium maniatum''. Based on the

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

where the type series was collected (beach) and the almost complete lack of pigmentation, it is speculated that the species lives an endogean type of life. ''

Armadillidium album ''Armadillidium'' () is a genus of the small terrestrial crustacean known as the woodlouse. ''Armadillidium'' are also commonly known as pill woodlice, leg pebbles, pill bugs, roly-poly, or potato bugs, and are often confused with pill millipedes ...

'', another rarely encountered

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

species of the genus, shows the same combination of characters (decreased pigmentation and endogean type of life), supporting this hypothesis.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3343459 Woodlice Woodlice of Europe Crustaceans described in 2006