Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895

Miranda, Gustavo Silva de, Giupponi, Alessandro P. L., Prendini, Lorenzo & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2021, Systematic revision of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi), European Journal of Taxonomy 772, pp. 1-409 : 162-164

Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895

Figs 94 , 100 ; Table 7

Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895: 47 .

Charinus neocaledonicus – Kraepelin 1899: 249–250; 1901: 264; 1914: 337. — Mello-Leitão 1931: 54. — Werner 1935: 471. — Fage & Simon 1936: 300–301. — Dunn 1949: 7–8. — Weidner 1959: 142. — Kritscher 1966: 373–374. — Weygoldt 1972b: 123, fig. 22g; 2006a: 240–243, figs 1–2, 5–7, 10–11, 14; 2006b: 24–28, figs 9–10, 12, 16, 33–34. — Strinati & Aellen 1983: 18, 24. — Delle Cave 1986: 155, fig. II. — Harvey 2003: 6. — Miranda & Giupponi 2011: 67–68. — Wolff et al. 2015: 525; 2017: 2–3, 7, fig. 8. — Giupponi & Miranda 2016: 27.

Diagnosis

This species may be separated from other species of Charinus in Oceania by means of the following combination of characters: slight sexual dimorphism in pedipalp length; cheliceral claw with five teeth and two patches of setae on retrolateral surface; prolateral surface of pedipalp tibia, tarsus and distal part of patella with several long, narrow setae; pedipalp femur with three or four dorsal spines and three ventral spines; pedipalp tibia with two setae between spine and distal margin; distal spine of pedipalp tarsus short; leg IV basitibia trichobothrium bt situated medially; distitibia trichobothrium bc situated closer to sbf than to bf.

Etymology

Although unspecified, the species name is evidently an adjective referring to New Caledonia, the island to which this species is endemic.

Type material

Holotype NEW CALEDONIA • ♂; Grande Terre Island; MNHN.

Additional material

NEW CALEDONIA • 1 ♂; Mount Arago; [21°14′ S, 165°29′ E]; 14–20 Apr. 1914; P.D. Montague leg.; BMNH • 4 ♀♀, 1 ♂, 1 juv.; Mont Koghi, 22°10.856′ S, 166°29.532′ E, 3 Dec. 2004, P. Weygoldt leg.; forest, under stones; MHNG • 1 ♂; North Province, Mt Aoupinié; 21°10′ S, 165°31′ E; 890 m a.s.l.; 12 Feb. 1993; N.I. Platnick, R.J. Raven and M.S. Harvey leg.; AMNH • 1 ♀; Mont Koghi; 22°10′51.36″ S, 166°29′31.92″ E; 3 Dec. 2004; P. Weygoldt leg.; forest, under stones; AMCC [ LP 5174 ] • 1 ♀, 6 juv.; Mount Koghi; 3 Dec. 2005; P. Weygoldt leg.; forest, under stones; AMCC [ LP 4223 ] • 1 juv; Grande Terre, Forêt Nord , near rocky portion of track; 22°19′20.1″ S; 166°54′58.6″ E; 17 Apr. 2007; 205 m a.s.l.; J. Murienne and P. Sharma leg.; rainforest, hand collected from rock; AMCC [ LP 10276 ] • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; North Forest; 22°19′20.1″ S, 166°54′58.6″ E; 205 m a.s.l.; 17 Apr. 2007; J. Murienne and P. Sharma leg.; near rocky portion of track, under rock; MCZ ( DNA 104045 ) • 3 ♀♀, 1 ♂; Riviere Blanche, forest track ; 22°10′36.9″ S, 166°39′21.8″ E; 26 Apr. 2007; 349 m a.s.l.; J. Murienne and P. Sharma leg.; rainforest, hand collected from rock; MCZ • 1 ♀, 1 juv.; Riviere Blanche; 22°10′06.1″ S, 166°39′59.2″ E; 196 m a.s.l.; 26 Apr. 2007; J. Murienne and P. Sharma leg.; under rock; MCZ ( DNA 104046 ) • 1 ♀; South Province, Provincial parcel of Riviere Bleue ; 22°06′ S, 166°39′ E; 240 m a.s.l.; 9 Feb. 1993; N.I. Platnick, R.J. Raven and M.S. Harvey leg.; AMNH • 1 ♂; South Province, Rivière Blanche, Provincial parcel of Riviere Bleue ; 22°08′ S, 166°39′ E; 180 m a.s.l.; 23 Feb. 1993; N.I. Platnick, R.J. Raven and M.S. Harvey leg.; AMNH • 1 ♂; Stn 250 j, Rivière bleue , parcel VI G; 166°39′16″ E, 22°06′13″ S; 160 m a.s.l.; A. and S. Tillier leg.; 12 Jun. 1987; rainforest/alluvium 25 m 2; AMNH ex MNHN • 2 ♂♂; 3 Apr.–16 Dec. 1894; E. Simon leg.; BMNH • 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂; MNHN 4.632 .

Supplementary description

CARAPACE. Six anterior setae; frontal process triangular with pointed apex. Small granules densely scattered between ocular triads and among sulci. Median eyes well developed; median ocular tubercle reduced, with pair of setae; lateral eyes well developed, seta posterior to lateral ocular triad; lateral ocular triad well separated from carapace margin.

STERNUM. Tritosternum projected anteriorly with typical setation, long, surpassing base of pedipalp coxae; other sternal platelets wide, divided, with seta on each lateral margin and some smaller setae basally; pentasternum with two setae anteriorly and without seta in membranous region.

OPISTHOSOMA. Ventral sacs and ventral sac cover absent.

GENITALIA. Female genital operculum with prominent setae posteromedially and some smaller setae near margin; gonopod cushion-like (see Weygoldt 2006), slightly sclerotized basally. Male gonopod with apical border of fistula and lateral lobe sclerotized.

CHELICERAE. Small tooth projecting from retrolateral surface of basal segment, opposite to bifid tooth; retrolateral surface of claw with two patches of setae, one basal, other subdorsal; claw with five teeth; row of around eight setae on prolateral surface of basal segment; bifid tooth on basal segment with dorsal cusp larger than ventral cusp.

PEDIPALPS. Coxal dorsal carina without seta encircled by round carina and with three setae on border. Femur with three or four dorsal spines and three ventral spines; spine between ventral spine 1 and proximal margin. Patella with three long dorsal spines in primary series; prominent setiferous tubercle distal to spine I, half length of spine I; two ventral spines; small setiferous tubercle between spine I and distal margin. Tibia with ventral spine distally and one or two setae between spine and distal margin; several long, narrow setae on prolateral surface. Tarsus with two dorsal spines, spine 1 short, spine 2 aligned with and half length of spine 1; cleaning organ with 23–33 setae in ventral row.

LEGS. Leg of tibia I with 23 articles; tarsus I with 41 articles; first tarsal article about 3–4 times length of second article; tarsal organ situated near base of claw ( Fig. 100A, C, E ); rod sensilla with five setae and in shallow groove ( Fig. 100B, D ). Leg IV basitibia with four pseudo-articles, without sclerotized, denticulate margin at apex of articles; trichobothrium bt situated in proximal or distal third of pseudoarticle; distitibia trichobothrium bc situated closer to bf than to s bf, or vice versa; sc and sf series each with five trichobothria.

Measurements

See Table 7.

Distribution

Distributed across the island of New Caledonia.

Natural history

This species may be found under stones and fallen tree trunks on the forest floor along mountain slopes. Live specimens can be recognised by their dark coloration.

Remarks

Kraepelin (1899, 1901, 1914) attributed the discovery of C. neocaledonicus to Simon (1895), referring to the species as C. neocaledonicus Simon in litt. However, Simon did not publish a description of the species. In his revision of the world’s whip spiders, Kraepelin (1895) mentions receiving material from Simon and that the specimens were named C. neocaledonicus . Consequently, the description of the species, which was based on coloration and dimensions of the carapace and leg tarsi, is attributed to Kraepelin (1895).

Delle Cave (1986: 153) was the first to cite Kraepelin (1895) as the author of C. neocaledonicus and mentioned that “the quotation ‘ C. neocaledonicus Simon’ is erroneous in accordance with the rules of zoological nomenclature.” Whereas Harvey (2003, 2013) and Giupponi & Miranda (2016) erroneously listed Simon as author of the species, Weygoldt (2006a, 2006b) correctly followed Delle Cave (1986) in listing Kraepelin.

Figures

Fig. 94. Map plotting known distributions of species of Charinus Simon, 1892 in Oceania, with inset for New Caledonia.

Fig. 100. Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895 (AMNH), antenniform leg I, ♀. A. Apex of distal article of tarsus. B. Two distalmost articles, lateral view. C. Distal article of tarsus, frontal view. D. Olfactory setae ventral surface of last article of tarsus. E. Tarsal organ near tarsal claw. F. Claw and tarsal organ, lateral view. F. Tarsal organ, lateral view.