Cryptops (T.) martinicensis Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis 2018

Schileyko, Arkady, Iorio, Etienne & Coulis, Mathieu, 2024, A synthesis on the scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) of Martinique, with description of Cryptops (Trigonocryptops) amicitia n. sp. and new data on some Neotropical scolopendromorphs, Zootaxa 5486 (4), pp. 563-599 : 582-583

Cryptops (T.) martinicensis Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis 2018

Figs 28–31

Locus typicus: Rivière Sylvestre, Le Lorrain, Martinique Island, Lesser Antilles.

Recent material from Martinique. 1 spm, HC, Le Diamant, Rocher du Diamant, 10 m a.s.l., lat.14,44387, long. - 61,037 97, leg. MC, 22.10.2019 ( CBGP, FAUN 17336 ) ; 1 spm, HC, Sainte-Anne, Val d’Or , Service d’expérimentation en Agro-écologie, PT, 15 m a.s.l., lat.14,4402, long. -60,8717, leg. QG,.2024.11.2020 ( CAEC, 9182) ; 1 spm, Les Saintes, la Coche, SF, 5 m a.s.l., lat.15,83749, long. -61,60994, leg. TD, 22.05.2022 ( CBGP, FAUN 17335 ) ; 1 spm, TE, Les Trois-Ilets, Gros Ilet, SF, 4 m a.s.l., lat.14,54971, long. -61,01907, leg. MC, 19.09.2022 ( CAEC, 16320) ; 1 spm, HC from deadwood on the ground, Les Trois-Ilets, Gros Ilet, SF, 4 m a.s.l., lat.14,54971, long. -61,01907, leg. MC, 28.09.2022 ( CBGP, FAUN 17334 ) ; 1 spm, HC from deadwood on the ground, Les Trois-Ilets, Gros Ilet, SF, 4 m a.s.l., lat.14,54971, long. -61,01907, leg. MC, 28.09.2022 ( CAEC, 16168) ; 1 spm, HC from deadwood on the ground, Les Trois-Ilets, Gros Ilet, SF, 4 m a.s.l., lat.14,54971, long. -61,01907, leg. MC, 28.09.2022 ( CAEC, 16276) .

Material mentioned in Schileyko et al. (2018). Holotype: as locus typicus, 11.05.2016, lat. 14.7753, long. -61.0653, 260 m, 1 ad. ( MNHN, P1 C) . Paratype: Schoelcher, Plateau Clark, 06.04.2016, lat. 14.6820, long. - 61.1037, 520 m, 1 juv. ( MNHN, No P 8A) .

Diagnosis. See Schileyko et al. (2018: 568).

Variability. Adults ( Fig. 28 ) 19–27 mm long. In all studied specimens (including immatures) tergal sutures as in the holotype. Sternal trigonal sutures: K-shaped on sternites 3–4(5), X-shaped on sternites 5(6)–8(10) and C-shaped ( Figs 29, 30 ) on sternites 9(11)–15(17). Sternites 18–19 show only minor traces of C-shaped sutures throughout the studied material; in immature (ca 8–16.5 mm) specimens these sutures less developed and only on sternites 9(11)–12(14).

A single adult specimen (CBGP, FAUN 17334) has sternites 11–12 with K-shaped (not C-shaped) sutures.

Ultimate legs: in the majority of specimens dorsodistal spinous processes as in the holotype (figs 27–29 in Schileyko et al., 2018), but in two specimens the ultimate femur lacks one of these processes and in one other specimen prefemur has two of these processes (instead of the usual single one).

An important feature, not previously seen (overlooked or absent?) in two specimens (the adult holotype and subadult paratype) described by Schileyko et al. (2018) is the presence of a small single ventral saw tooth of the ultimate femur (see Remarks below) in nearly all recently studied adults ( Fig. 31 ). In the immature specimens this tooth may be minute, or even absent / not visible (in three of them)—for example the largest (16.5 mm long) subadult lacks this femoral tooth. All adults collected since 2018 have the ultimate tibia with 8–12 (8–9 in the holotype) and tarsus 1 with 5 (4–5 in the holotype) saw teeth.

Ecology in Martinique. C. (T.) martinicensis has been initially found in tropical rainforests in a few high-altitude localities ( Schileyko et al. 2018). Since then, the species has also been collected abundantly in dry coastal environments of Martinique as well as on the Saintes Islands of Guadeloupe. This considerably extends the range of C. (T.) martinicensis which is no longer a strict endemic of Martinique and has a more ubiquitous distribution than was supposed initially.

Range. Currently known only from the central part of the Lesser Antilles ( Guadeloupe and Martinique).

Remarks. 7 specimens (of them 4 adults) of C. martinicensis have been found since issue of Schileyko et al. (2018); this allow for correction of the original diagnosis concerning the presence of a saw tooth on the ultimate femur ( Fig. 31 ), which is occasionally/abnormally absent (hidden by the neighboring spine-like setae or broken) in the holotype. It should be noted that in the “new” adult specimens this tooth is small and not always well distinguished, so it requires removal of some surrounding spine-like setae to be seen better. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no possibility to re-study the corresponding types deposited in MNHN. Until now, it was known that the character under discussion within Cryptops sensu lato is strictly species-specific (in contrast to the number of saw teeth on the ultimate both tibia and tarsus 1, which can vary intraspecifically). Apparently this is the first case of the intraspecific variability of this character in the genus Cryptops (at least in the subgenus Trigonocryptiops ). There is also some possibility that this variability is the result of a random mutation; in any case this character is unreliable (at least in this representative of Trigonocryptops ) and should not be used as diagnostic for it.

Figures

FIGURES 26–31. Cryptops (Trigonocryptops) amicitia n. sp., holotype, 212-P8G (MNHN). 26. Left ultimate leg, laterally. Scale bar: 0.5 mm. 27. LBS 3 and 4, dorsally. Scale bar: 0.2 mm. Cryptops (T.) martinicensis Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis 2018. 28. General view of live specimen, dorsally. No FAUN 17334 (CBGP-CIRAD). 29. LBS 17, ventrally. Scale bar: 0.2 mm. 30. LBS 16 and 17, ventrally. Scale bar: 0.4 mm. 31. Right ultimate leg, dorso-laterally. Scale bar: 0.3 mm.