Geotypodon papei, Enghoff, 2018

Enghoff, Henrik, 2018, A mountain of millipedes VI. New records, new species, a new genus and a general discussion of Odontopygidae from the Udzungwa Mts, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 394, pp. 1-29 : 7-10

Geotypodon papei sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3D36FD3A-B534-422E-8354-D0EDCAB2A748

Fig. 3

Diagnosis

Differs from all other species of Geotypodon , except. G. carli ( Kraus, 1960) , by the combination of a very long, slender metaplical spine and a relatively simple telomere mainly consisting of a longitudinally folded sheet. Differs from G. carli by the shape of the basad, metaplical, spine-like process (spine strongly expanded in basal part in G. papei sp. nov., not so in G. carli ). See also Table 1 .

Etymology

The name honours Thomas Pape, collector of the holotype and a leading figure in the Eastern Arc program of the Natural History Museum of Demark.

Material studied (total: 3 ♂♂)

Holotype

TANZANIA: ♂, MorogoroRegion, UdzungwaMountainsNationalPark,SanjeChiniCamp , 07°46′24.6′′S, 36°53′47.7′′ E, 598 m a.s.l., 17–19 Jan. 2014, T. Pape leg. ( ZMUC).

Paratypes

TANZANIA: 1♂, Morogoro Region, Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre, Mang’ula , 07°50′44.9′′ S, 36°53′28.2′′ E, 339 m a.s.l., 18–20 Jan. 2014, T. Pape and N. Scharff leg. ( ZMUC) ; 1 ♂, Morogoro Region, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Kidatu , Plot 1 , 07°41′13.8′′ S, 36°56′28.6′′ E, 650 m a.s.l., 24 Oct. 2014, pitfall trap. J. Malumbres-Olarte leg. ( ZMUC).

Description

Male

SIZE. Length 5–6 cm, diameter 4.5–4.6 mm, 53–55 podous rings, no apodous rings in front of telson.

COLOUR. After 3 years in alcohol, head reddish brown to dark brown, antennae dark brown, collum, body rings and telson dark grey without contrasting markings, posterior ¼ of metazona amber, legs reddish brown.

HEAD. Without peculiarities. Seven or eight supralabral setae.

COLLUM. With a marginal and two submarginal furrows.

BODY RINGS. Almost perfect cylinders, not vaulted; suture straight; ozopores starting from ring 6, placed midway between suture and limbus. 13–15 metazonital striae, reaching up to ca one metazonite length below ozopore.

ANAL VALVES. Each with a stout dorsal spine; ventrally slightly angular; margins raised; each valve with three marginal setae not borne on tubercles.

LIMBUS ( Fig. 3C ). Consisting of isolated hand-like lobes with a length of ca 10 μm, each with 5–9 ‘fingers’ and each with two ridges running along its length.

MALE LEGS. With tiny postfemoral ventral pads from leg-pair 3–5, from leg-pair 6 postfemoral pads large, covering entire podomere, but gradually smaller posteriorly before disappearing completely shortly before posterior end. Tibiae with tiny ventral pads from leg-pair 3 until somewhere between gonopods and mid-body.

GONOPOD COXA ( Fig. 3B ). Slender, almost parallel-sided. Proplica (pp) simple, ending in small proplical lobe hidden from view by metaplical spinelike process (msp). Metaplica (mp) with small, basal, anteriad flange (mf); subdistally with angular process (ap); distally terminating in very long, slender, sigmoid spine (tsp); on anterior side with long, pointed, basally expanded, basad spine-like process (msp).

GONOPOD TELOPODITE ( Fig. 3A, D–G ). Arculus 90°. Torsotope (tt) simple, without processes ( Fig. 2D ). Post-torsal narrowing (pn) not very pronounced, yet distinct ( Fig. 2D ). Telopodite just distal to posttorsal narrowing dividing into simple, slender solenomere and equally long, narrow, almost parallelsided telomere. Solenomere (slm) resting in curvature of telomere ( Fig. 3A, D ), terminally taeniate, with thumb-like process (thp) at very tip ( Fig. 3F ). Telomere (tm) with stout, curved proximal spine (pst) ( Fig. 2D ); main body of telomere a long, parallel-sided sheet, folded longitudinally and then curved in almost complete circle, abruptly narrower at ca ⅔ of its length ( Fig. 3D–E, G ).

Female

Unknown.

Remarks

In the genus key of Kraus (1966), Geotypodon papei sp. nov. easily keys out in the last couplet (33), where the choice is between Patinatius Attems, 1928 and Odontopyge Brandt, 1841. In the couplet, the two genera are distinguished by Patinatius having the “Lateralblatt” prolonged into a cone or extended into a long spine vs Odontopyge not having such modifications. Couplet 33 in Kraus (1966) is copied from couplet 33 in Kraus (1960) with the difference that in the 1960 version, this couplet separates Odontopygista Kraus, 1960 from Odontopyge. Kraus (1966) synonymised Odontopygista with Patinatius . In both versions of couplet 33, Kraus made an error because the part of the gonopod coxa that has a cone- or spine-like outgrowth is the metaplica, which in Kraus’ terminology is the “Medialblatt” (as also used in his genus and species descriptions). This aside, one might argue that the long, sigmoid terminal spine (tsp) could be the homologue of such a ”long spine”, but Geotypodon papei sp. nov. disagrees with the definition of Patinatius in several respects, including the limbus (spatulate and multicusped in Geotypodon papei sp. nov., rounded lobes in Patinatius ), the internal surface of the telomere (smooth in Geotypodon papei sp. nov., with a row of denticles in Patinatius ) and the tip of the solenomere (“thumb and lamella” in Geotypodon papei sp. nov., simply pointed in Patinatius ). Geotypodon papei sp. nov. therefore keys out to Odontopyge in Kraus’ keys, and as explained by Enghoff (2016a) this generic name is not available for other than a small group of species very different from Geotypodon papei sp. nov. In the key to species of “ Odontopyge ” in Kraus (1960), Geotypodon papei . sp. nov. smoothly keys out to carli Kraus, 1960 , one of the species that was transferred to Geotypodon by Enghoff (2016a), and the two species are indeed very similar. There are, however, enough differences to regard them as separate species, cf. Table 1 .

Distribution

Known from three sites in the northeastern part of the Udzungwa Mts, at moderate altitudes (339–650 m a.s.l.).

Figures

Fig. 3 (page 8). Geotypodon papei sp. nov., holotype. A–B, D–G. Right gonopod. A. Telopodite, mesal view. B. Coxa, anterior view. D. Telopodite, posterior view. E. Telopodite, anterior view. F. Tip of solenomere. G. Tip of telomere. C. Limbus. Abbreviations: ap = angular process of metaplica; mf = metaplical flange; mp = metaplica; msp = metapical spine-like process; pn = post-torsal narrowing; pp = proplica; pst = proximal telomeral spine; slm = solenomere; thp = thumb-like solenomeral process; tm = telomere; tsp = terminal spine of metaplica; tt = torsotope. Scale bars: A–B, D–E = 0.2 mm; C = 0.01 mm; F–G = 0.02 mm

Fig.2.Damacornutransversumgen.etsp.nov.,holotype.A.Limbus.B–I.Rightgonopod.B.Telopodite, posterior view. C. Telopodite, anterior view. D. Terminal process of telomeral lamella, posterior view. E. Coxa, posterior view. F. Coxa, mesal view. G. Coxa, anterior, slightly mesal view. H. Basal part of telomere, ventral view. I. Tip of solenomere. J. Sternum of rudimentary ninth leg-pair.Abbreviations: ld = lateral denticle of coxa; mf = metaplical flange; mp = metaplica; mr1, mr2 = metaplical ridges; ms = metaplical shelf; pn = post-torsal narrowing; pp = proplica; ppl = proplical lobe; ps = proximal solenomeral spine;pts =post-torsalspine;rhp=rhomboidal plate; slm=solenomere;tlh =hook-shaped telomeral process; tll = telomeral lobe; tlt = telomeral teeth; tt = torsotope. Scale bars: A = 0.01 mm; B–C, E–H =0.2 mm; D = 0.1 mm; I = 0.02 mm; J =0.5 mm.

Tables

Table 1. Comparison of Geotypodon papei sp. nov. with G. carli (Kraus,1960).

	G. papei	G. carli (data from Kraus 1960)
Podous body rings	53–55	61 (“62 Segmente”)
Diameter	4.5–4.6 mm	4.6 mm
Supralabral setae	7–8	4
Metazonital striae	13–16	≈ 6
Metaplical spine-like process	with a large mesad lobe at base	without a basal lobe
Telomere	abruptly narrower at ca ⅔ of length	gradually a little narrower towards end
Solenomere	tip apparently with “finger”, as in Fig. 3F, but difficult to see	simple, according to drawing
Provenance	Tanzania: Udzungwa Mountains National Park, 339–650 m a.s.l.	Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivi, Kabare, Fizi M’Boko, 800 m a.s.l.