ABSTRACT
The whip spider genus Sarax Simon, 1892 is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia and part of the Indo-Malayan region. The genus is recorded from several Indonesian islands, but no species are known from inside the area that comprises the biogeographical region of Wallacea, despite being recorded from both sides of the area. An expedition to survey the biology of caves in Timor-Leste (formerly East-Timor) discovered populations of amblypygids living underground and including a remarkable new species of Sarax, S. timorensis sp. n., the first Amblypygi known from the island of Timor. The new species is here described bears the unique character state of two pairs of lateral eyes, instead of three or none as in all other living species of Amblypygi, and expands the biogeographic range of the genus. New records of amblypygids are given for two caves in Timor-Leste. A detailed description and a discussion of its distribution and the species characters are also provided.

Reference:
Miranda G. & Reboleira A.S.P.S. (2019). Amblypygids of Timor-Leste: first record of the order from the country with description of a remarkable new species of Sarax (Arachnida, Amblypygi, Charinidae). ZooKeys, 820: 1-12. https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/30139

ABSTRACT
Iberoporus pluto sp. n., the first stygobiont beetle from Portugal (Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae), is described from a single female from the cave Soprador do Carvalho (Coimbra). The species is highly troglomorphic, depigmented, blind, and with elongated appendages not adapted for swimming. A molecular phylogeny based on a combination of three mitochondrial and two nuclear genes showed the new species to be sister to I. cermenius Castro & Delgado, 2001 from Córdoba (south of Spain), within the subtribe Siettitiina of the tribe Hydroporini. Both species are included in a clade with Siettitia avenionensis Guignot, 1925 (south of France) and Rhithrodytes agnus Foster, 1992 and R. argaensis Fery & Bilton, 1996 (north of Portugal), in turn sister to the rest of species of genus Rhithrodytes Bameul, 1989, in what is here considered the Siettitia group of genera. We resolve the paraphyly of Rhithrodytes by transferring the two Portuguese species to Iberoporus Castro & Delgado, 2001, I. agnus (Foster, 1992), comb. n. and I. argaensis (Fery & Bilton, 1996), comb. n.

Reference: Ribera I, Reboleira ASPS (2019) The first stygobiont species of Coleoptera from Portugal, with a molecular phylogeny of the Siettitiagroup of genera (Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae, Hydroporini, Siettitiina). ZooKeys 813: 21-38. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.813.29765

While attending to the "Preservation of natural history wet collections: feedbacks and future prospects Meeting" at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, I've had the possibility of visiting colleagues, finishing papers, sampling and studying some specimens of the collections.

With Jean-Paul Mauriès and Jean-Jaques Geoffroy in the MNHN Myriapods' collection.

With Louis Deharveng and Anne Bedos at the Entomology Department.

ABSTRACT
Laboulbeniales are highly specific ectoparasitic fungi of arthropods (insects, millipedes, and arachnids). The first Laboulbeniales parasitizing the millipede order Chordeumatida (Diplopoda) were discovered and described as a new dioecious genus of Laboulbeniales, Thaxterimyces, to accommodate the new species T. baliensis. Also the millipede host is a new species and is described as Metopidiothrix sheari. This is the first time Laboulbeniales fungus and its millipede host are described as new together. Males of Metopidiothrix have the most extensive secondary sexual modifications in the entire class Diplopoda. Although nothing is known about the function of these modifications, the unique pattern of Laboulbeniales infection in the new millipede species is obviously related to host sexual behavior. Rotational Scanning Electron Micrographs (rSEM) are used to create a 3D comprehensive model to examine the fungal-host interaction, a more advanced visualization of the ectoparasitic fungus on its host. Laboulbeniales diversity on millipedes is still understudied, and a consistent effort is needed to unveil and understand the extent and diversity of this biological interaction. 
Due to their minute size and apparently non-detrimental effect on their hosts, Laboulbeniales in general have been largely ignored by mycologists and neglected by generations of entomologists. As a result a significant component of global biodiversity has been strongly underestimated, and a wealth of new discoveries is still to be made both in the field and in existing museum collections.

Reference: Reboleira A.S.P.S., Enghoff H. & Santamaria S. (2018). Novelty upon novelty visualized by rotational scanning electron micrographs (rSEM): Laboulbeniales on the millipede order Chordeumatida. Plos One, 13(11): e0206900. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206900

Grateful to the Geological Institute of Denmark (GEUS) for the kind invitation to share my knowledge on groundwater ecology in the "PI RURAL Joint Meeting WP3 and WP4", at the Water Resources Research Institute of Shandong Province" in Jinan, China, from 12-15 November 2018.

Reboleira, A.S.P.S (2018). Groundwater life and pollution: how to integrate ecology in the sustainable management and protection of water resources?

ABSTRACT
​The new species of millipede Cylindroiulus villumi is described from a cave in the Estremenho karst massif in central Portugal. It is the first cave-adapted species of its genus with a strict subterranean life-style in continental Europe, and is the fifth blind species of the genus. The new species is illustrated with photographs and diagrammatic drawings. It is tentatively placed in the purely Iberian Cylindroiulus perforatus-group. The differences between the new species and its relatives are discussed, as well as its adaptations to a subterranean life-style.

Reference
Reboleira A.S.P.S. & Enghoff H. (2018). First continental troglobiont Cylindroiulus millipede (Diplopoda, Julidae). Zookeys, 795: 93-103. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.795.27619

"The 24th biennial Conference on Subterranean Biology was held on the campus of the University of Aveiro in Portugal from 20th to 24th August, following the previous conference held in USA (Culver 2016). The conferences are organized under the auspices of the International Society for Subterranean Biology, founded in 1979. It was the first meeting held in Portugal and in the Iberian Peninsula.
The conference had 110 registered participants, representing 25 countries, from all continents of the planet. The most represented nation was the United States of America with 18 participants, followed by Portugal with 17, and by Australia (13), Spain (8), Germany (8), Slovenia (7), Italy (7), Brazil (6), France (5), Denmark (3), Switzerland (2), Slovakia (2), Greece (2), United Kingdom (2), Netherlands (1), Poland (1), South Africa (1), Philippines (1), Romania (1), China (1), Cambodia (1), Croatia (1), Pakistan (1), Algeria (1), and Bulgaria (1). The age difference among participants ranged more than 68 years. During the registration period, more than 60 participants joined the International Society for Subterranean Biology as new members, which demonstrates the scientific impact of the conference and the pivotal role of the society."
(...)

Reference
Reboleira A.S.P.S. & Gonçalves F. (2018). 24th International Conference on Subterranean Biology. Subterranean Biology, 27: 75-77. doi: https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.27.30244

I am honoured to have been appointed Visiting Associate Professor at the Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, where I am going to stay over the the next months. Here in the company of my PhD student Andrea Castaño Sánchez, currently a Visiting Scholar at the same institution. We are working in the HiddenRisk project funded by the VILLUM FONDEN.

Because this is "The Conference" and "my favourite Conference", I was pleased and very honoured to Chair the 24th edition of the biennial Conference on Subterranean Biology. The event is organised under the auspices of the International Society for Subterranean Biology, for which I served as member of the Council and Vice-President over the last 6 years to a maximum allowed of 3 mandates.

More than 110 registered participants from all continents got together for more than 5 days of interesting and intense discussions about Subterranean Biology, with 5 pre-conference workshops, and a visit to a cave Lab. What else can be more interesting, right?

Here you can see all details about the conference and sponsors at: http://24icsb.ua.pt

Presentations and posters can be seen here: 
Reboleira A.S.P.S. & Gonçalves F. (2018). Subterranean Biology in the Anthropocene. Pensoft publishers. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.coll.109

Here you can see us in national television:
SIC Notícias: Portugal no topo da lista de biodiversidade subterrânea https://sicnoticias.sapo.pt/pais/2018-08-23-Portugal-no-topo-da-lista-de-biodiversidade-subterranea
RTP: Biólogos internacionais visitam Algar do Pena https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/biologos-internacionais-visitam-algar-do-pena_v1094647


I express my deep gratitude to my conference co-chair, as well as to all the staff on the organisation and secretariat for facilitating everything, and permitting a smooth and pleasant conference until the very end.

It worth pointing out that there was a age difference between the youngest and oldest conference participant of 68 years!

​To all colleagues and students: thank you so much for the great conference!

Jensen K., Rodrigues L., Pape T., Garm A., Santamaria S., Reboleira A. (2018) Hyperparasitism in caves: bats, bat flies and ectoparasitic fungus. ARPHA Conference Abstracts, 1: e29967. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.1.e29967

Soares J,. Marques, A., Gonçalves F.J.M., Reboleira A.S.P.S., Marques S.M. (2018). Evaluation of the suitability of sinkhole ponds and springs from two Portuguese karst massifs for amphibian early life stages development. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 1: e30451. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.1.e30451

Veloso T., Reboleira A.S.P.S., Gonçalves F.J.M., Oliveira H., Marques S. M. (2018). Accessing bioactive potential of cave bacterial extracts. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 1: e30109. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.1.e30109

Gouveia A.A.G., Reboleira A.S.P.S., Gonçalves F.J.M., Marques S.M. (2018). Caves as a source of new antimicrobial agents: The case study of antibacterial activity from microorganisms inhabiting Cerâmica cave, Portugal. ARPHA Conference Abstracts1: e30142. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.1.e30142

Castaño Sánchez A., Pereira J., Gonçalves F., Reboleira A. (2018) Comparative acute toxicity of the pharmaceutical compound Diclofenac on groundwater and surface water crustaceans. ARPHA Conference Abstracts, 1: e29822. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.1.e29822