On the occurrence of Tylos maindroni Giordani Soika, 1954 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Faroor Koochak Island

Isopods of the genus Tylos occur in the supralittoral sandy beaches from tropical and subtropical coasts around the world. Tylos maindroni Giordani Soika, 1954, is an oniscoid isopod, which commonly found in sandy beaches throughout the Oman Sea and the Persian Gulf.In this study, we document the first record of T. maindroni from Faroor Koochak Island. Morphological study reveals that there were no clear morphological differences between Faroor Koochak, Kuwait and Oman populations.In addition, new 16S-rDNA sequences, combined with already available GenBank sequences of some Tylos species were used to hypothesize their relationships.The analyses of 16S rDNA clearly support the existence of only T. maindroni species along the coastal zone of the Persian Gulf area, and a sister taxon relationship between this species and T. exiguus Stebbing, 1910, from the Red Sea coasts and Socotra Island.Keywords: Persian Gulf, Genetic diversity, Molecular phylogeny, Isopoda, Tylos maindroni