Alpioniscus sideralis

Alpioniscus sideralis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea
Family: Trichoniscidae
Genus: Alpioniscus
Species:
A. sideralis
Binomial name
Alpioniscus sideralis
Taiti & Argano, 2018

Alpioniscus sideralis is a species of freshwater, cave-dwelling woodlice. It was first collected in a karstic Su Bantu cave in Supramonte, Sardinia by a group of astronauts during a subterranean training course CAVES organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2012.[1][2][3][4] The species was formally described in a ZooKeys publication in 2018.[5]

Morphology

See also

References

  1. ^ Mike Wall (2019-03-29). "Astronauts Help Discover Newfound Crustacean During Cave Expedition". Space. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  2. ^ Brandon Specktor (2019-03-28). "Astronauts Spent 6 Nights in a Pitch-Black Cave, and Emerged with a Brand-New Species of Crustacean". Live Science. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  3. ^ "Back to the water". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  4. ^ "Astronauts bring back new life". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  5. ^ a b c d Taiti, Stefano; Argano, Roberto; Marcia, Paolo; Scarpa, Fabio; Sanna, Daria; Casu, Marco (2018). "The genus Alpioniscus Racovitza, 1908 in Sardinia: taxonomy and natural history (Isopoda, Oniscidea, Trichoniscidae)". ZooKeys (801): 229–263. Bibcode:2018ZooK..801..229T. doi:10.3897/zookeys.801.24102. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 6288260. PMID 30564038.