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(1826-1833)
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ISSN 0971–765X
1
Department of Zoology, University of Jammu, Jammu 180 006, J & K, India
2
Zoological survey of India, F.P.S. Building, 27, J.L. Nehru Road, Kolkata 700 016, India
ABSTRACT
The present study is an attempt to compile the list of terrestrial isopods found in India to this date, which
are mentioned in various published literature. A total of 78 species belonging to 30 genera and 14 families
are here in listed from Indian states. The highest number of species, genera and family are found from
Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar and the least are found from Gujarat and Jharkhand. The highest
number of species reported belongs to the genus Cubaris (17 species) followed by genus Adinda (8 species)
and then genus Philoscia with 5 species. Compared to their importance, very little number of studies have
been conducted on the terrestrial isopods in India.
genera (Ramakrishna, 1995). fauna of Siju cave described two species of terres-
In the present communication, a check-list of 78 trial isopods belonging to the family Oniscidae. In
species of isopods has been prepared providing re- the same year (1924b) he also described two myrme-
cent generic and species names of the group as far cophilous isopods from Barkuda Islands, Chilka
as possible. State-wise distribution of terrestrial iso- Lake, Odisha. Of these two species, Cubaris
pods in India has been presented here. The present granulatus was not known to be associated with ants
communication serves a base line data for this earlier. Verhoeff (1936a) dealt with several species
group and may help the future worker on taxo- of terrestrial Isopods collected from Madras and
nomical or ecological studies. other parts of south India. He further described a
new species of the genus Protracheoniscus from
Review of literature
Ladakh (1936b). Chopra (1947) reported about the
Earlier Budde-Lund (1879) described two species occurrence of the ancient suborder Phreatoicoidea
viz., Tylosalbidus (Tylidae) and Spherillo nicobaricus (Crustacea: Isopoda) for the first time from India
(Armadillidae) from Nicobar Islands. based on collection from a Pucca well at Lohagara
After a short gap, Stebbing (1907) initiated the Railway station, 18 miles from Allahabad. Later,
study of Indian Isopods with the description of a several specimens of this species were collected
new species of the genus Tachaea from Calcutta. In from the wells at Banaras (Uttar Pradesh). In 1950,
1911, he gave a detailed account of Indian isopods Chopra and Tiwari described the genus Nichollsia
and dealt with two genera of the tribe Flabellifera kashiense from the material collected from the well in
and five genera of the tribe Oniscoidea (terrestrial). the outer lawn of the Kaiser Castle, Banaras Cantt.
Two genera viz., Parapericyphis and Exalloniscus Later, Tiwari (1955) described another new species
were erected by him as new to science. of Nichollsia, viz., Nichollsia menoni collected from an
Collinge entered the field and made several con- abandoned well at Monghyr (Bihar). In 1955, he
tributions which received adequate attention. erected a new family Nichollsidae to accommodate
Collinge (1914b, c) published an account of three the genus Nichollsia.
species pertaining to three genera viz., Philoscia, Ramakrishna (1965) recorded several species of
Parapericyphis and Cubaris collected from Port Blair, terrestrial isopods from Kameng Division of the
Andamans and from the Annamalai Hills about North Eastern Frontier Agency (present day
4000 ft. above the sea level. He again (1912-22) con- Arunachal Pradesh). In 1969, he described a new
tributed two papers on the terrestrial isopods which species of Philoscia based on materials collected from
were obtained from the Abor expedition. While a pit and the surrounding galleries of Lodna
working out the material, he came across two gen- Colliery, 13 km from Dhanbad, Bihar (now in the
era new to science viz., Rotungus and Burmoniscus, state of Jharkhand). Some terrestrial isopods of In-
the former was obtained from Kobo, Abor country dia have been investigated by Ram and Kumar
(present day Arunachal Pradesh) at an altitude of (1979).
400 ft. and the later from the caves near Moulmein In recent times, several workers, Ferrara and Taiti
(Myanmar). Apart from these two genera, he has (1982) and Ferrara et al. (1995) also studied terres-
also described six other species of which, three are trial isopods of India, including Andaman and
discovered for the first time. His next contribution Nicobar Islands, and described several new species.
to our knowledge of terrestrial isopods of India
dates back to 1914, when he worked out the collec- Results and Discussion
tion received from Madras Province. Of the ten spe-
cies dealt with nine species were new to science. The recent review implies that, there are only 78
Ennurensis hispidus and Hemiporcellio carinatus stand species of terrestrial isopods belonging to 2 subor-
significant among this collection. In 1916, Collinge der, 14 families and 30 genera are reported from this
described 13 new species of the genera country (Table 1). Results suggest that Tamil Nadu
Parapericyphis, Cubaris, and Burmoniscus. Among reaches highest number of species diversity; fol-
these, Burmoniscus kempi was collected from lowed by Kerala, Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
Maosmai cave near Cherrapunji at an altitude of Odisha and West Bengal (Table 2). There are many
4,000 ft. states like Gujarat, Jharkhand, Lakshadweep,
Chopra (1924a) while working on the isopod Manipur and Punjab from where very few terres-
1828 Eco. Env. & Cons. 26 (4) : 2020
trial isopods have been reported till date. Report Table 2. State wise list of all family, genus and species of
also shows that in many states, still no work has all terrestrial isopods in India
been initiated for this particular group. Chandigarh, Species Genus Family Name of States
Chattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,
5 5 4 Andhra Pradesh
Delhi, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim,
17 13 9 Andaman & Nicobar
Telengana, Tripura and Uttarakhand have no report
Island
of occurrence of any species of terrestrial isopod. So, 8 7 5 Arunachal Pradesh
an elaborative studyis very much in demand for 6 5 4 Assam
these animals. 8 6 5 Bihar
4 4 3 Goa
Habit and habitat
1 1 1 Gujarat
Terrestrial isopods generally live on the decaying 6 4 3 Haryana
matters on soils, under leaf litters, stone or barks of 6 4 3 Himachal Pradesh
woods. They mostly prefer to stay in moist places 5 2 2 Jammu & Kashmir
1 1 1 Jharkhand
but some group are specialized to stay in almost
7 6 5 Karnataka
dried up parts of soils (Armadillidae); some genus 18 11 7 Kerala
Porcellio and Philoscia are commonly live under the 2 2 2 Lakshadweep
flowering pots, some are adapted in cavernicolous 8 5 3 Madhya Pradesh
habitat. A very few species found in subterranean 7 4 4 Maharashtra
habitat. 2 2 2 Manipur
They usually feed in night, on vegetable matters 8 6 4 Meghalaya
with algae, fungi, moss, bark, and any type of de- 16 11 7 Odisha
caying vegetables, occasionally they feed on animal 4 3 2 Punjab
7 4 3 Rajasthan
matters also. There are some species lives that
20 12 7 Tamil Nadu
shows commensalism with ants, which feeds on fae- 7 7 5 Uttar Pradesh
cal matter of the ants. A few isopods are carnivorous 10 7 4 West Bengal
in their feeding habit.
Significance of this group groups that may help in decomposition of leaf litters
and by this way they may be considered as the im-
Terrestrial Isopods are one of the major invertebrate portant component of food chain. The leaf litter de-
1832 Eco. Env. & Cons. 26 (4) : 2020
composition is carried out by the combined action of Collinge, W. E. 1916.Contributions to a knowledge of the
microorganisms and decomposer invertebrates such terrestrial isopoda of India. Part 2. Some new species
as earthworms, diplopods and terrestrial isopods. of Paraperiscyphis, Cubaris, etc. Rec. Indian Mus. 12(3):
The role of this animals in nutrient cycle are well 115-128.
David, H. 1967. Philoscia sacchari- a new soil isopod dam-
studied in abroad (Khalaeid and Walkail, 2015).
aging sugarcane buds in Tanjore district (Crustacea:
Some isopods are considered as pests in vegetable Isopoda). Journal Zoological Society of India. 17 : 120-
gardens and in horticulture. Cotton and lime trees 122.
are affected by isopod pests in damaging their barks Dev Roy, M. K. 2013. Marine and estuarine isopod fauna
(Collinge, 1914). (Crustacea: Isopoda) of India. Journal of Environment
and Sociobiology. 10(2): 147-178.
Acknowledgement Ferrara, F. and Taiti, S. 1982. Isopoditerrestridelle Isole
Andamane. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Natu-
rale Verona. 8 : 459-492.
One of the authors (S.M) wish to express his deep-
Ferrara, F., Meli, C. and Taiti, S. 1995. Taxonomic revision
felt gratitude and thanks to Dr. Kailash Chandra,
of the subfamilyToradjiinae (Crustacea: Oniscidea:
Director, Zoological survey of India, for providing Scleropactidae). Zoological journal of Linnean Society.
facilities to complete this work. 113 : 351-459.
Jackson, H. G. 1935. Isopoda terrestria. In: P. C. Visser,
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