Mecistocephalus pauroporus Takakuwa, 1936

Published, First, 2007, The Mecistocephalidae of the Japanese and Taiwanese islands (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha), Zootaxa 1396, pp. 1-84 : 48-49

Mecistocephalus pauroporus Takakuwa, 1936

Figs. 56, 59

[1] Mecistocephalus pauroporus: Takakuwa 1936b — Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 26: 434 (original description, key)

Mecistocephalus okinawaensis: Takakuwa 1939 — Trans. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 3: 124 (original description); fig. 1– 3 new synonymy

Mecistocephalus (Mecistocephalus) okinawaensis: Takakuwa 1940 — Fauna Nippon. 9: 66 (redescription, key); fig. 59–60

Mecistocephalus okinawaensis: Takakuwa 1943 — Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 13: 170

Mecistocephalus okinawaensis: Murakami 1993 — List Species Anim. Japan 5: 105

Mecistocephalus okinawaensis: Shinohara 1999 — Pictorial Keys Soil Anim. Japan: 709

Diagnosis. A Mecistocephalus species with 49 leg­bearing segments. Body length reaching at least 2.5 cm. Head about 1.4 times as long as wide. Areolate part of the clypeus without smooth insulae, each side with 4 setae; clypeal ratio about 1. Anterior ala of the labrum subtrapezoidal, with medial margin not reduced to a vertex. Buccae with setae on the posterior half only. Mandible: basal tooth about as long as the first lamella, first lamella with about 5 teeth. Forcipular article I with 2 teeth, one distal to the other; distal tooth larger than the basal one. Sternal sulcus apparently not furcate. About 5–6 large pores on each coxopleuron.

Type material. Number of specimens, sex and age not stated ( Takakuwa, 1936b); possibly only one specimen (holotype).

Type locality. ‘ Idumi’ [= Izumi], Okinawa, Ryukyu Ids ( Takakuwa, 1936b) .

Depository of type material. The type material is probably lost (see Discussion).

Material examined. None.

Description. Body size reaching at least 2.5 cm. Body colour yellow, without dark patches; head and forcipular segment darker. Head 1.4 times as long as wide. Clypeus: clypeal ratio about 1.0; areolate part without smooth insulae, 4 setae on each side (3 setae aligned transversally and 1 posterior to them); plagulae without evident sensilla or setae. Labrum: anterior ala with medial margin not reduced to a vertex; posterior margin of each side­piece smooth, medial angle projecting in a small tooth. Spiculum present; buccae with about 5 setae on the posterior half only. Mandible: 4 well­developed lamellae; first lamella with 5 teeth; average intermediate lamella with about 10 teeth; basal tooth with entire margin, about as long as the first lamella. Second maxillae: telopodite with a short apical claw. Forcipules: article I with two teeth, the basal one much smaller than the distal tooth; article II without a distinct tooth, article III with a tooth, tarsungulum with indistinct basal tooth. A total of 49 leg­bearing segments. Sternal sulcus apparently not furcate. Last leg­ bearing segment: about 5–6 large pores on each coxopleuron.

Distribution in the considered area.

Ryukyu Islands: ‘Idumi’ [= Izumi] [1].

General distribution. Only known from the type locality (see Remarks).

Remarks. M. okinawaensis Takakuwa, 1939 is here recognised as a junior synonym of M. pauroporus Takakuwa, 1936 based on the following evidence: Takakuwa (1936b) introduced two new species in a key to the Japanese species of Mecistocephalus with 49 leg pairs, namely M. pauroporus (type locality ‘Idumi’, Okinawa Id.) and M. yamashinai (type locality ‘Yogi’, Okinawa Id.). Takakuwa (1939) published list of the species occurring in the Ryukyu Islands, including two species described as new (‘n. sp.’), namely M. okinawaensis (type locality ‘Izumi’, Okinawa) and M. yamasinai (sic) (type locality ‘Yogi’); but he did not mention M. pauroporus , a name that disappeared completely from the more recent literature. As the few characters given in the original description of M. pauroporus are fully consistent with those included in the more detailed description of M. okinawaensis it is clear that, in spite of the spelling mistake, Takakuwa (1939) described again the two species already published as new in 1936, and that the taxon which he named pauroporus in 1936 was renamed okinawaensis in 1939.

Mecistocephalus pauroporus seems to be very similar to M. yamashinai Takakuwa, 1936 and M. karasawai n. sp. (see Remarks under those species).