Stenotaenia naxia, (VERHOEFF, 1901)

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 : 269-271

STENOTAENIA NAXIA ( VERHOEFF, 1901)

Geophilus (Geophilus) naxius Verhoeff, 1901: 420 (original description). Attems, 1903: 219 (in key). Clinopodes naxius: Brölemann, 1909a: 332 . Geophilus (Onychopodogaster) naxius: Brölemann, 1909b: 211 (in key). Geophilus linearis naxius: Verhoeff, 1925: 72 (redescription), 73 (in key). Clinopodes linearis naxius: Attems, 1929a: 203 (in key), 205 (redescription); 1947: 120 (in key). Kanellis, 1959: 38 (key).

Geophilus graecus Verhoeff, 1902: 560 (original description), fig. 2; 1924a: 413. Clinopodes graecus: Brölemann, 1909a: 332 . Synonymy by Verhoeff (1925: 73).

Type locality: ‘ Naxos’ = Naxos, Naxos island ( Greece) .

Type material: Holotype, female, 44-mm long; held in the Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin, ZMB /Myr-13498 ( Moritz & Fischer, 1979).

Diagnosis: A Stenotaenia species of large body size (total length almost reaching 7 cm); c. 77–85 legbearing segments; first maxillae with distinct lappets on the telopodites; chitin lines of the forcipular coxosternum reaching the anterior condyles; forcipular intermediate articles not distinctly separate; sternal pore areas in the anterior part of the trunk oval, longer than wide, and placed on the posterior half of each sternum; each coxopleuron with one anterior and one posterior pouch with pores, the two pouches apparently coalescent (see also Table 3).

Taxonomic history: After the original description by Verhoeff (1901), other specimens were referred to this species by different authors ( Brölemann, 1904; Verhoeff, 1925; Chamberlin, 1952; Zapparoli, 1994, 1995, 2002; Simaiakis, Minelli & Mylonas, 2004). This taxon has been occasionally referred to either Clinopodes or Onychopodogaster ( Brölemann, 1909a, b), has been treated as a subspecies of S. linearis ( Verhoeff, 1925; Attems, 1929a, 1947; Chamberlin, 1952; Kanellis, 1959), or has even been considered as a full synonym of S. linearis ( Matic, 1972; Kaczmarek, 1979).

Assignment to Stenotaenia: It is assigned confidently to Stenotaenia (comb. nov.), as the original description documents a combination of characters that are diagnostic for this genus (Table 2). Its affinity to some of the species recognized here as belonging in Stenotaenia , namely S. linearis and S. cribelliger , was recognized by Verhoeff (1901) himself, and was reflected by the fact that G. naxius has been occasionally referred to either Clinopodes or Onychopodogaster , has even been treated as a subspecies of S. linearis , or has even been considered a full synonym of S. linearis .

Validity: It is recognized here as a distinct species only based on published accounts, which assign diagnostic value to some characters including body size, the number of trunk segments, and the arrangement of the coxal pores ( Table 3). However, further investigations should evaluate the taxonomic status of S. naxia in respect to other nominal species, above all S. linearis .

Remarks on synonyms

Geophilus graecus Verhoeff, 1902 . Geophilus graecus was described by Verhoeff (1902) from one male and one female from Syros in the Aegean Sea, but no other specimen was later referred to it. Geophilus graecus was cited under either Clinopodes ( Brölemann, 1909a) or Geophilus ( Verhoeff, 1924a) , until Verhoeff (1925) himself recognized that it was a junior synonym of G. naxius . The synonymy was accepted by all subsequent authors. Indeed, the original description of G. graecus is fully consistent with that of G. naxius , but for the putatively shorter sternal pore areas and the more numerous coxal glands, which, however, may be related to the larger size of the syntypes of G. graecus with respect to the holotype of G. naxius . The two nominal taxa share some features that appear to be diagnostic with respect to other Stenotaenia species , namely body size, the number of trunk segments, and the peculiarly large and almost coalescent groups of coxal glands. It is worth noting that Verhoeff (1902), in describing G. graecus , disclosed his suspicion that it could be best treated as a subspecies of G. naxius .

Distribution: It occurs in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin, where it has been reliably recorded from the islands of Syros, Naxos, Halki, Rhodes, and Crete, and from Palestine. A record from inland Anatolia ( Chamberlin, 1952) should be reassessed, as supporting evidence is lacking, whereas a record from the southern coast of France ( Brölemann, 1904) was recognized as erroneous by the same author ( Brolemann, 1930).