Stenotaenia antecribellata, (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 : 259-260

STENOTAENIA ANTECRIBELLATA ( VERHOEFF, 1898)

Geophilus cribelliger antecribellatus Verhoeff, 1898: 347 (original description), figs 4–6. Attems, 1903: 222 (in key), 229 (redescription); 1929a: 176 (redescription); 1947: 112 (in key). Geophilus antecribellatus: Kos, 1992: 355 . Stoev, 1997: 102.

Simophilus albanensis Attems, 1929b: 333 (original description), figs 1–4; 1929a: 196 (redescription and in key). Stoev, 2001: 103. Syn. nov.

Type locality: ‘ Bosnaquelle bei Ilidce’ = Bosna springs, near Ilidza ( Bosnia & Herzegovina) .

Type material: Holotype, female, 25-mm long; held in the Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin, ZMB /Myr-13502 ( Moritz & Fischer, 1979).

Diagnosis: A Stenotaenia species of medium body size (total length reaching at least 2.5 cm); c. 61–65 legbearing segments; first maxillae apparently without lappets; chitin lines of the forcipular coxosternum reaching the anterior condyles; anterior margin of the forcipular coxosternum angulated; forcipular intermediate articles distinctly separate; sternal pore areas in the anterior part of the trunk trapezoid–oval, slightly longer than wide, and placed on the posterior half of each sternum; each coxopleuron with one anterior pouch with pores and one posterior single pore (see also Tables 2 and 3).

Taxonomic history: After the original description by Verhoeff (1898), other specimens were referred to G. cribelliger antecribellatus by Attems (1903, 1929a, b). However, the identity and validity of this taxon remained undiscussed, and very recently it was treated as a distinct species, G. antecribellatus ( Kos, 1992; Stoev, 1997).

Assignment to Stenotaenia: It is assigned confidently to Stenotaenia (comb. nov.) as the original description and illustrations, as well as the direct examination of the holotype by P. Stoev (pers. comm.), document a combination of characters that are diagnostic of this genus (Table 2). This is also suggested by the subsequent description of other material ( Attems, 1903), as well as by the original treatment of this taxon as a subspecies of Geophilus cribelliger Verhoeff, 1898 , which is also included here in Stenotaenia [see Stenotaenia cribelliger ( Verhoeff, 1898) ].

Validity: It is treated here as a distinct species only provisionally, as its original description and illustrations do not provide clear diagnostic traits in respect to other nominal species, in particular to the better known Stenotaenia sorrentina ( Attems, 1903) ( Table 3). Pending more thorough sampling and comparisons, we provisionally maintain S. antecribellata as distinct from S. sorrentina , as they apparently occur in nonoverlapping ranges: the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula, respectively.

Remarks on synonyms

Simophilus albanensis Attems, 1929 . Simophilus albanensis was described by Attems (1929b) on a single specimen from ‘Ljubeten’, putatively in Albania. As for the genus Simophilus , the true identity of S. albanensis has also remained obscure to date (e.g. Stoev, 2001), and no specimens, other than the holotype, were ever identified under this name.

published Claw of legs of last the pair – x x x x – x x x x x x x x x to the Pattern of coxal pores x x x x x – x – x x x – x x x according last of genus,

of Shape sternum leg-bearing segment x x x x x x x x – – x x x x x the in of pore here Pattern sternal areas x x x x x x x – x x x x x x x included

Internal

of margin forcipules x x x x x x x x x – x x x x x species of the Shape of forcipules x x x x x – x x x – x x x x x each

Stenotaenia in Chitin lines of forcipular coxosternum x x x x x x x – x x x x x x x

genus material Anterior margin of forcipular coxosternum x x x x x – x – x – x x x x x the of of characters of the type) Shape labrum – – x – x – x – – – – – a – x x diagnostic illustrations 1945, b a 1956 1863 1970 1983,; Minelli 1994; Lewis, of the either text or Source, Verhoeff 1898, Verhoeff 1898 1941, Verhoeff, 1898 Verhoeff 1934, Verhoeff, 1870 Meinert Folkmanova, Koch, 1835, Verhoeff 1901, 1925, Verhoeff, Attems 1903 Kaczmarek, Silvestri, 1895, 1903 Attems, 1903 Attems Occurrence (Table. 2 descriptions antecribellata asiaeminoris bosporana cribelliger fimbriata frenum giljarovi linearis naxia palaestina palpiger rhodopensis romana sorrentina sturanyi

However, according to the original description and illustration, the holotype of S. albanensis is clearly recognizable as a representative of the genus Stenotaenia , as it shares a combination of characters that are diagnostic for this genus, including features of the labrum, the forcipules, the forcipular coxosternum, the sternal pore areas, and the coxal pores. In particular, the number of leg-bearing segments (61 in the male holotype), the evident lappets of the first maxillae, the shape of the sternal pore areas, and the geographical origin, all suggest that S. albanensis is a junior synonym of S. antecribellata .

Distribution: Originally described from a locality in Bosnia ( Fig. 2 ), S. antecribellata was later recorded from a few other localities in the Dinarides ( Verhoeff, 1898; Attems, 1903, 1929a, b). Attems (1903, 1929a, b) listed a few other localities in the same region for G. cribelliger antecribellatus , which, however, had previously been listed by Verhoeff (1898) for G. cribelliger ; Attems did not provide an explanation, and indeed maintained the two taxa as distinct. Therefore, as these subsequent identifications may be unwarranted, and because most recent authors virtually ignored S. antecribellata , the actual distribution of this species is at present unknown. In particular, some published records under the names G. linearis or G. abbreviatus , from different localities throughout the Dinarides, from Istria to Greek Macedonia, could actually represent S. antecribellata .

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.