Kauaʻi record · KCA-CR-000153
Trichorhina heterophthalma
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About Trichorhina heterophthalma
Trichorhina heterophthalma is a terrestrial isopod in Platyarthridae, reported as an adventive species in the Hawaiian Islands. Taiti and Howarth (1996, p. 63) identified three Kauaʻi specimens from Casuarina humus at Hāʻena along Highway 56 on 13 May 1969, and one specimen from beach leaf litter near the start of the Kalalau–Nā Pali Trail at Hāʻena on 19 January 1973. They characterize the species as pantropical and common in low-elevation disturbed habitats. These are dated specimen records, not evidence of a surveyed present-day population or island-wide abundance. A subsequent taxonomic key characterizes its eye as having two ommatidia, one reduced; visual reconstruction should not imply this subtle character was verified in the Kauaʻi specimens. The Atlas retains its historically documented localities and substrates, and does not infer contemporary persistence, local reproduction, diet, or trends from the older collections.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Trichorhina heterophthalma
- Other names
- Trichorhina heterophthalma · crustacean · crustaceans
- Family
- Platyarthridae
- Order
- Isopoda
- Record type
- species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- confirmed by published Kauaʻi occurrence evidence
- Origin
- adventive
- Conservation status
- Not assessed
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal description
- A small adventive terrestrial isopod documented from Hāʻena humus in 1969 and beach leaf litter near the Kalalau Trail in 1973; its current Kauaʻi status has not been reassessed.