Stenotaenia asiaeminoris, (VERHOEFF, 1898)

Bonato, Lucio & Minelli, Alessandro, 2008, Stenotaenia Koch, 1847: a hitherto unrecognized lineage of western Palaearctic centipedes with unusual diversity in body size and segment number (Chilopoda: Geophilidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153 (2), pp. 253-286 : 260-263

STENOTAENIA ASIAEMINORIS ( VERHOEFF, 1898)

Geophilus linearis asiae-minoris Verhoeff, 1898: 349 (original description), 344 (in key), figs 16–19. Attems, 1903: 219 (in key; cited as Geophilus linearis asiae minoris). Geophilus (Onychopodogaster) asiaeminoris: Verhoeff, 1924a: 414 . Geophilus asiaeminoris: Verhoeff, 1925: 73 (in key). Clinopodes asiae minoris: Attems, 1929a: 203 (in key), 206 (redescription). Clinopodes linearis asiae minoris: Attems, 1947: 120 (in key).

Type locality: ‘ Cilicien , Kleinasien’ = Cilicia ( Turkey) .

Type material: Seven syntypes, of which two are males and five are females, 38–47-mm long; one syntype in the Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin, ZMB /Myr-3383 ( Moritz & Fischer, 1979); the repository of the other syntypes is unknown .

Diagnosis: A Stenotaenia species of large body size (total length reaching over 4.5 cm); c. 75–79 legbearing segments; first maxillae without distinct lappets on the coxosternum and small lappets on the telopodites; chitin lines of the forcipular coxosternum

Information is derived mainly from published accounts, to the exclusion of data based on possibly misidentified specimens.

reaching the anterior condyles; anterior margin of the forcipular coxosternum angulated; forcipular intermediate articles not distinctly separate; sternal pore areas in the anterior part of the trunk trapezoid, wider than long, and placed at mid-length of each sternum; each coxopleuron with one anterior and one posterior pouch, with pores (see also Table 3).

Taxonomic history: After the original description by Verhoeff (1898), it was later recorded only by Matic (1980). This taxon was variously considered either a subspecies or a full species, under either Geophilus or Clinopodes , but its identity and validity remained unchallenged.

Assignment to Stenotaenia: It is assigned confidently to Stenotaenia (comb. nov.), as the original description and illustrations document the presence of a combination of characters that are diagnostic for this genus (Table 2). Additional support comes from its original treatment as a subspecies of G. linearis , which is the type species of Stenotaenia .

Validity: It is recognized here as a distinct species only based on the published original description and illustrations, which indicate a peculiar shape of the sternal pore areas and other minor, possibly diagnostic, traits ( Table 3). According to the original description, it should be unique within the geophilids in having a single recognizable intermediate article, instead of two, in each forcipule, a condition paralleled only in the unrelated Aphilodontidae ( Verhoeff, 1937a) . However, we observed that an apparent coalescence of the forcipular intermediate articles is also chizopleres found in S. sturanyi , and a similar condition was illustrated for Schizopleres giljarovi by Folkmanova (1956), was described by Verhoeff (1901, 1902) under G. naxius as well as under G. graecus , and was recognized as a general feature of Onychopodogaster by Verhoeff (1937a) himself. Further investigation is required to evaluate the actual taxonomic status of S. asiaeminoris in respect to other nominal species, including S. linearis , Stenotaenia palaestina ( Verhoeff, 1925) , S. naxia , and S. giljarovi .

Distribution: Originally described from the southern part of Anatolia ( Fig. 2 ), it was subsequently recorded from a locality in the western part of Anatolia, but evidence supporting a correct identification of the new material is lacking ( Matic, 1980). As most recent authors working on faunistic surveys ignored this species, the actual distribution of S. asiaeminoris is at present unknown. In particular, published records of S. linearis from other localities in the Anatolia Peninsula could actually represent S. asiaeminoris .

Figures

Figure 2. Geographical distribution of Stenotaenia species. The previously published and new records have been plotted upon a grid of 30′ latitude ¥ 30′ longitude. The type localities of all nominal taxa are indicated by circles (full circles for valid species, empty circles for synonyms), with the following abbreviations: ab, abbreviatus; ac, acuneli; al, albanensis; an, antecribellatus; as, asiaeminoris; bo, bosporanus; br, brevicornis; c, caldarium; cr, cribelliger; fi, fimbriatus; ff, forficularius; fv, foveolatus; fr, frenum; gi, giljarovi; gr, graecus; li, linearis; na, naxius; or, ormanyensis; pl, palaestinus; po, polyporus; pp, palpiger; rh, rhodopensis; ro, romanus; sl, silvestrii; sm, simplex; so, sorrentinus; st, sturanyi.