Crettaros, Cruz-López & Francke, 2015

Cruz-López, Jesús A. & Francke, Oscar F., 2015, Cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the genus Karos Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 (Opiliones, Laniatores, Stygnopsidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (4), pp. 827-891 : 867

CRETTAROS GEN. NOV.

Distribution: Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico, from northern Querétaro and central San Luís Potosí, to central Veracruz.

Type species: Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov.

Included species: Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov. and Crettaros valdezi sp. nov.

Etymology: Derived from the word crettaro, which in the Purepecha language means ‘boulder or mountainous region’, in allusion to the habitat of the specimens of the type species. It is important to note that this word is one of the possible original names of Querétaro, the state where the type species occurs. It is masculine in gender.

Diagnosis: Small stygnopsids, not longer than 3 mm. Scutum quadrangular, with the mid-bulge slightly convex at level of dorsal area I ( Figs 41E , 43E ). Ocularium slightly removed from anterior margin of prosoma, very low, barely elevated from the eyes, blunt, and unarmed ( Figs 41C, F , 43C, F ). Mesotergal areas II and III with median humps ( Fig. 63C, D ). Femur IV in males slightly thicker than in females ( Figs 41B , 43B ). Stigmatic area in males slightly longer than in females ( Figs 41D , 43D ). Male genitalia: pars distalis undifferentiated, ventral plate spatular, very flattened in lateral view. Five to six pairs of lateral setae, long and thin. Two central pairs of ventral microsetae. Two pairs of parastylar setae, lateral to follis. Follis noticeably long, width similar to width of pars distalis ( Figs 42 , 44 ).

Comparisons: The male genitalia in this genus are similar to those in Karos , but these similarities, depending upon the optimization criterion used (ACCTRAN or DELTRAN), may be a synapomorphy for the clade ( Karos + Potosa ) + Crettaros ) or may represent parallelisms between Crettaros and Karos .

Figures

Figure 41. Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov. A, habitus, dorsal view. B, legs IV, mesal view. C, habitus, lateral view. D, habitus, ventral view. E, scutum, dorsal view. F, ocularium, frontal view. Scale bars: A = 2.5 mm, B, D, and E = 1.5 mm, C = 1 mm, F = 0.5 mm. The dark lines on (D) indicate the stigmatic area.

Figure 42. Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov. male genitalia. A, dorsal view. B, ventral view. C, lateral view. White arrows indicate ventral microsetae in (B) and parastylar setae in (C).

Figure 43. Crettaros valdezi sp. nov. A, habitus, dorsal view. B, legs IV, mesal view. C, habitus, lateral view. D, habitus, ventral view. E, scutum, dorsal view. F, ocularium, frontal view. Scale bars: A = 2.5 mm, B, D, and E = 1.5 mm, C = 1 mm, F = 0.5 mm. The dark lines on (D) indicate the stigmatic area.

Figure 44. Crettaros valdezi sp. nov. male genitalia. A, dorsal view. B, ventral view. C, lateral view. White arrows indicate ventral microsetae in (B) and parastylar setae in (C).

Figure 63. A, dorsal view of the anal bulge on Chapulobunus poblano sp. nov.; arrow indicates the bulge. B, lateral view of Huasteca silhavyi sp. nov., line indicates the very high lateral channel area. C, laterodorsal view of scutum of Crettaros valdezi sp. nov., showing the median humps on areas II and III indicated by dotted circles. D, posterodorsal view of scutum of Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov., showing the median humps on areas II and III indicated by dotted circles. E, dorsal view of trochanter IV of Karos barbarikos; arrow indicates the tridentate apophysis. F, anterodorsal view of scutum of Karos barbarikos, the black points mark the tubercles forming a ‘V’. G, dorsal ornamentation of Karos tersum sp. nov. showing the transversal row of tubercles on mesotergal areas; transversal row II indicated by black dots. H, detail of the ventral ornamentation on femur IV of Karos barbarikos. I, detail of the ectal ornamentation on tibia IV of Karos barbarikos; arrows indicate the spiniform tubercles. J, detail of the ventral ornamentation on leg IV in Chapulobunus poblano sp. nov. K, detail of the two apical spines on femur IV in Chapulobunus poblano sp. nov. These images are not at the same scale.