taxonID	type	description	language	source
E82AFD741365FFC2FDEF00DDFDA85B60.taxon	description	Morphological characteristics of adults The base colour of all observed Peripatopsidae was a dark bluish grey. However, the different morphs had varying numbers and patterns of orange papillae. All animals examined had a bulge of orange-coloured papillae situated in a latero-ventral position relative to the eyes (Fig. 2). This was considered to be a good characteristic for morphs of the ‘ P. novaezealandiae - complex’. Furthermore, animals from Mohi Bush, Monckton and Woodville Gorge had two orange-coloured ‘ ocular papillae’ (Fig. 2), whilst animals from the other three locations lacked these. The animals investigated had 15 pairs of legs, with three complete sole pads on the ventral part of each leg, and an additional fragmented one, proximal to the others (Fig. 3). Three distal papillae were present on every foot. The shape of the nephropore was hard to differentiate because the animals were moving, but it was apparent that its size varied between animals. The male genital pores were circular in shape and either orange-coloured or brownish grey with an orange frame (Fig. 4). The female genital pores were circular, swollen, and lipped, and again either orange-coloured or brownish grey. Interestingly, the lateral, orange-coloured anal papillae of the males from all locations studied here were converging (Fig. 13), except for the anal papillae of Woodville Gorge males (Fig. 14). On the basis of these observations, the six morphs proved to be morphologically distinguishable. A preliminary key was developed that could be extended to include other morphs and could possibly be used for field work. Preliminary key for six morphs of the ‘ Peripatoides novaezealandiae - complex’	en	Pripnow, Birgit, Ruhberg, Hilke (2003): Peripatopsidae (Onychophora) from New Zealand - observations on selected morphs of the ‘ Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex’ in culture: morphological and reproductive aspects. African Invertebrates 44 (1): 103-114, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7666500
