Draculoides piscivultus Abrams and Harvey, 2020

Abrams, Kym M., Huey, Joel A., Hillyer, Mia J., Didham, Raphael K. & Harvey, Mark S., 2020, A systematic revision of Draculoides (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) of the Pilbara, Western Australia, Part I: the Western Pilbara, Zootaxa 4864 (1), pp. 1-75 : 65-70

Draculoides piscivultus Abrams and Harvey , n. sp.

( Figs. 1–8 , 38–40 )

Zoobank Code: http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ C1F26CAD-2994-4330-A870-886CB04A9ECC

Paradraculoides SCH 095: Abrams et al. 2019 MPE 106532: 8, fig. 2.

Material examined. Holotype male. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: ca. 23.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°48’15.02”S, 116°09’31.87”E, 07 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark ( WAM T143346 ) (DNA: 18S, 28S, ITS2 ).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♀, Mesa H, ca. 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°45’49.96”S, 116°13’11.86”E, 20 January 2016, troglofauna trap, P. Brooshooft, S. Werner ( WAM T143619 ) ; 1 ♂, c. 23 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’57.23”S, 116°18’41.42”E, 28 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143357 ) (DNA: 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) ; 1 ♀, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’11.94”S, 116°17’41.03”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143354 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, ITS2 ) .

Other material. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♀, Mesa H, 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°44’43”S, 116°11’52”E, 09 November 2010, troglofauna trap, J. Cairnes, V. Cartledge ( WAM T110843 ) (DNA: 18S, ITS2 ) ; 1 juvenile, Mesa H, 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°44’43”S, 116°11’52”E, 09 November 2010, troglofauna trap, J. Cairnes, V. Cartledge ( WAM T110844 ) ; 1 juvenile, Bungaroo, 22.9 km SSE. of Pannawonica , 21°50’48”S, 116°19’35”E, 15 April 2011, troglofauna trap, J. Alexander, S. Werner ( WAM T114971 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) ; 1 ♂, Mesa H, ca. 17 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°43’54.23”S, 116°11’30.90”E, 27 June 2016, troglo- fauna trap, N. Watson, C. Cole ( WAM T133452 ) ; 1 ♂, Mesa H, ca. 17 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°46’56.04”S, 116°14’30.77”E, 12 December 2016, troglofauna trap, N. Watson, C. Cole ( WAM T133453 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) ; 1 ♀, Mesa H, ca. 17 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°46’56.04”S, 116°14’30.77”E, 12 December 2016, troglofauna trap, N. Watson, C. Cole ( WAM T133454 ) ; 1 juvenile, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’11.94”S, 116°17’41.03”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T133456 ) ; 1 ♀, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’14.02”S, 116°17’43.87”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T133458 ) ; 1 juvenile, c. 23.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°47’03.76”S, 116°07’52.90”E, 07 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark ( WAM T143347 ) ; 1 ♂, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’14.02”S, 116°17’43.87”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143350 ) ; 1 juvenile, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’09.06”S, 116°17’42.48”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143351 ) ; 1 ♀, 1 juvenile, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’08.28”S, 116°17’35.42”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143352 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) ; 1 ♀, c. 22 km S. of Pannawonica , 21°50’06.91”S, 116°17’36.12”E, 27 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143353 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) ; 1 ♀, c. 18 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°46’23.98”S, 116°12’34.97”E, 29 May 2014, bore scrape, A.E. Leung ( WAM T143358 ) ; 1 juvenile, Mesa H, ca. 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°45’49.96”S, 116°13’11.86”E, 20 January 2016, troglofauna trap, P. Brooshooft, S. Werner ( WAM T143618 ) ; 1 juvenile, Mesa H, ca. 17.7 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°45’43.37”S, 116°12’52.37”E, 20 January 2016, troglofauna trap, P. Brooshooft, S. Werner ( WAM T143621 ) ; 1 juvenile, Mesa H, ca. 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°45’53.33”S, 116°13’21.79”E, 19 January 2016, stygofauna haul net, P. Brooshooft, S. Werner ( WAM T143628 ) ; 1 juvenile, Mesa H, 17.5 km SW. of Pannawonica , 21°44’43”S, 116°11’52”E, 9 November 2010, troglofauna trap, J. Cairnes, V. Cartledge ( WAM T144198 ) .

Diagnosis. Draculoides piscivultus differs from all other species of Draculoides by the distinct shape of the laterally compressed male flagellum ( Figs. 39 D–F, 40A–C); in lateral view, the dorsal margin is broad, rounded and protruding. Additionally, D. piscivultus differs from all other Draculoides in its lack of accessory teeth on the movable finger of the chelicera. Females are most similar to D. bythius and D. cochranus but can be distinguished from the former by D. piscivultus having a larger inner lobe than outer lobe of the spermathecae (they are of equal size in D. bythius ) and from the latter by differences in the positions of setae dl1 (more dorsal than D. cochranus ) and vm3 (more ventral than D. cochranus ). Draculoides piscivultus can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at COI by the 50bp mini-barcode shown in Figure 3 . Draculoides piscivultus can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at 12S ( Fig. 5 ) except for and D. eremius .

Draculoides piscivultus can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at ITS2 ( Fig. 7 ) except for D. confusus , D. bramstokeri , Draculoides sp. SCH071, Draculoides sp. SCH092, Draculoides sp. SCH037, Draculoides sp. SCH054, Draculoides sp. SCH072, Draculoides sp. SCH081, Draculoides sp. SCH106, Draculoides sp. SCH107, Draculoides sp. SCH016, Draculoides sp. SCH105, and Draculoides sp. SCH110, which are not distinguishable using the ITS2 mini-barcode.

Description (adults). Colour. Yellow-brown; propeltidium and pedipalps somewhat darker.

Cephalothorax. Propeltidium with 2 apical setae on anterior process and 2+2+2 setae; eye spots absent. Mesopeltidia separated. Metapeltidium faintly divided. Anterior sternum with 11 (♂), 14 (♀) setae (including 2 stern- apophysial setae); posterior sternum triangular with 6 setae.

Chelicera. Fixed finger with 2 large teeth plus 3 (♂), 4 (♀) smaller teeth between these; membranous area be- tween fixed and movable fingers with 3 large, lanceolate, terminally pilose setae (G1); G2 composed of 7 (♂), 5 (♀) setae; G3 composed of 3 (♂), 4 (♀) setae; internal face of chelicera with 3 (♂) (♀) short whip-like setae (G4); brush at base of fixed finger composed of 6 (♂),(♀) setae (G5A), each densely pilose in distal half and G5B composed of 10 (♂), 7 (♀) setae; G6 with one seta; G7 composed of 3 (♂) (♀) setae. Movable finger serrula composed of c. 14 (♂), 15 (♀) long lamellae, blunt guard tooth present subdistally; accessory tooth absent.

Pedipalp. Without apophyses; trochanter with sharply produced ventro-distal extension, ventral margin with ca. 10 stout setae, without mesal spur; tarsus and tiba without spines; tarsal spur present; claw 0.27 (♂), 0.46 (♀) × length of tarsus.

Legs. Tarsus I with 6 segments; baso-dorsal margin of femur IV produced at about a 90° angle.

Abdomen. Chaetotaxy of tergite I: 2 macrosetae + 4 microsetae (microsetae diagonal), tergite II: 2 macrosetae + 6 microsetae (microsetae in column), tergites III–IX: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 4: 4; segment XII with small dorsal process (♂ only).

Female genitalia. Two pairs of spermathecae with elongated lobes, outer lobe smaller than inner lobe, each pair connected basally before connection with bursa ( Fig. 40G ); sparsely covered with small pores mainly in lower half; gonopod triangular and distally somewhat bifurcated.

Flagellum. Male: In dorsal view moderately laterally compressed ( Figs. 38 D–F, 40A–C); in lateral view, dorsal margin strongly rounded with distinctive paired dorsal lobes between dm1 and dm4, distal section narrowed with slightly pointed distal tip; ventral margin evenly rounded; 3.75 × longer than broad; seta dm1 situated dorso-medially, slightly closer to posterior margin of dorsal lobe; seta dm4 situated posterior to dorsal lobe; dl1 small, between dm4 and dl1; dl3 close to posterior margin; vm2 situated anterior to vm1; vm5 situated anterior to vl1, midway between vm3 and vl2; two pairs of lateral microsetae, near middle, between vm3 and dm1, and three pairs between dl1 and dl3. Female: 3.50 × longer than broad ( Figs. 38 D–F, 40D–F); seta dm1 situated in middle of flagellomere II; setae dl1 situated anterior to dm4, dm4 situated at two thirds length of flagellomere III; dl3 situated close to posterior margin, slightly posterior than vl2; vm1 situated level with vm2, vm3 situated closer to vm1 than to vm5, vm5 closer to vm3 than vl2, vl1 situated posterior to vm3 and anterior to dl1; 1 pair of microsetae posterior to vl1 on flagellomere III, 1 pair of microsetae posterior to dm4, 1 pair of microsetae laterally between dl3 and vl2.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype male (WAM T143346): Body length 3.52. Propeltidium 0.87/0.48. Chelicera 0.48. Flagellum 0.29/0.08. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.33, femur 0.38, patella 0.38, tibia 0.33, tarsus 0.21, claw 0.06, total excluding claw 1.69.

Paratype female (WAM T143619): Body length 3.22. Propeltidium 0.96/0.67. Chelicera 0.81. Flagellum 0.27/0.08. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.40, femur 0.48, patella 0.50, tibia 0.35, tarsus 0.23, claw 0.11, total excluding claw 1.96.

Variation. Body length (males) 2.26–3.52 (n = 5). Body length (females) 3.32–3.70 (n= 2).

Remarks. Draculoides piscivultus is known from several locations within three areas known as Mesa H, Bungaroo and an unnamed site situated in the western edge of the Hamersley Range, Western Australia ( Fig. 1B ). The distribution is larger than for most known Draculoides species and there is a relatively large COI (7.8%) divergence within this species, with specimens from southern Bungaroo most geographically and genetically distant, potentially suggesting the presence of a morphologically cryptic species. Comparison of numerous males throughout the species’ range revealed no consistent morphological differences therefore we have retained a single species at this time. The shape of the male flagellum is unusual for Pilbara species and more similar to that of the Cape Range Draculoides . The juvenile specimens listed above are associated with this species by locality and, in many cases, by sequence data ( Fig. 1B ).

Other names. WAM SCH086/SCH095 ( Abrams et al., 2019), Helix SCH015/SCH016.

Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective referring to the appearance of the male flagellum in lateral view, which resembles a fish head (piscis, Latin, fish; vultus, Latin, countenance, face, look, aspect).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of an area of the Pilbara described as “West Pilbara” for the purposes of this study, showing the distribution of the named Draculoides species. Inset maps show species distributions in finer detail encompassing areas A: Warramboo, Mesas A, B and C and “BudgieBore”; B: Bungaroo, Mesas G, H, J, K and L; C: Cochrane and Jewell, Kens Bore, Cane and Upper Cane River, Trinity Bore and Catho Well, Mt. Stuart Station; D: Middle Robe, Robe Valley; E: Bungaroo South, West Pit, Buckland Hills and Dragon deposit.

FIGURE 2. Maximum Likelihood tree, based on the reduced dataset. See Methods for details. Each terminal represents a single species or OTU, with named species in bold. Clades are identified using dashed boxes and shaded boxes encompass the species discussed in this study. Nodes with bootstrap support <80 are not shown, except for the common ancestor of the Draculoides radiation.

FIGURE 3. COI mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913085). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 4. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 3) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 5. 12S mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913012). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 6. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 5) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 7. ITS2 mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913105). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 8. Maximum Likelihood tree based on ITS2 mini-barcodes (Fig. 7) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 38. Draculoides piscivultus sp. nov., holotype male (WAM T143346): A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 1 mm and also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 39. Draculoides piscivultus sp. nov., paratype female (WAM T143619): A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 1 mm also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 40. Draculoides piscivultus sp. nov.: A–C, holotype male (WAM T143346): A. Flagellum, dorsal; B. Flagellum, ventral; C. Flagellum, lateral. D–G, paratype female (WAM T143619): D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral; G. Spermathecae, ventral. Scale bars: A–C: 0.1 mm, D–F: 0.1mm, G: 0.1 mm.