Paramaracandus dolabratus, Zhang, Chao & Zhang, Feng, 2015

Zhang, Chao & Zhang, Feng, 2015, The assamiids harvestmen (Opiliones: Laniatores: Assamiidae) from Champasak Province, Laos, Zootaxa 3964 (3), pp. 335-351 : 341-346

Paramaracandus dolabratus sp. nov.

( Figs. 26–46 )

Types. Holotype male, Laos: Champasak, Phou Salao [N 15°05´, E 105°48´], alt. 150m, November 15, 2011, C.

Zhang leg. (MHBU-Opi-11ZC1129). Paratype, one male (MHBU-Opi-11ZC1130), same collecting data as holotype.

Diagnosis. Coxa IV prolaterally with many conspicuous hair-tipped granules. Femur of pedipalpus with a setiferous tubercle on the medial distal side. Ventral plate of penis somewhat triangular, and the tip of ventral plate nearly axe-shaped. Stylus long, cylindrical and gradually thickened towards base.

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word “ dolabratus ” meaning “shaped like an axe”, referring to the shape of the tip of the ventral plate in the penis.

Description. Male habitus as in Figs. 26–27 . Coloration: entire body yellowish brown, with dark brown patches on the dorsum; median area of carapace with dark brown reticulations; both lateral ridges of the carapace and scutum with blackish brown stripes; free tergites I–III each with a blackish brown band; coxae with dark brown reticulations; free sternites with transverse band of blackish brown; chelicerae and pedipalps reticulated above; trochanters of all legs pale yellow, femora, patellae, tibiae and metatarsi with black reticulations, tarsi lighter.

Dorsum ( Fig. 27 ). Dorsal scutum trapezoid in shape, widest portion of body at scutal area V. Anterior margin of carapace with two spines at the lateral portion and a single median spine: the lateral spines of similar length, the median a little smaller; front margin of the ocularium dorsally with a median spine, a transverse row of seven small tubercles on each side of this median spine. Ocularium small, oval, with a pair of conspicuous spines and two tubercles. Opisthosomal region of scutum with five areas, area II wider than others. Area I without a median groove. Area I with two median hair-tipped granules, areas II–III each with two median spines, the rear pair larger. Free tergites unarmed, with a transverse row of tubercles, similar to areas IV–V.

Venter. Surface of all coxae tuberculated. Coxa I with a row of four tubercles prolaterally, and two rows of tubercles on the surface. Coxa II with a row of marginal tubercles on the prolateral surface, and disto-dorsally with an enlarged tubercle. Coxa III with prolateral and retrolateral rows of tubercles. Coxa IV larger than others, prolaterally with many scattered tubercles, and disto-retrolaterally with two teeth. Genital operculum with a few hair-tipped granules. Free sternites smooth. Spiracles concealed.

Chelicera ( Figs. 28–30 ). Basichelicerite with distinct bulla, no prominent armaments except a few small hairtipped tubercles. Cheliceral hand unarmed, with sparse hairs only. Fingers relatively short, inner edges toothed as illustrated ( Fig. 30 ): moveable finger with 13 teeth, most square except for the proximal and distal ones crested; fixed finger with seven teeth.

Pedipalpus ( Figs. 31–33 ). Coxa dorsally with two setiferous tubercles. Trochanter dorsally with two setiferous tubercles, and ventrally with one small and two distal setiferous tubercles. Femur compressed laterally, widest at the middle of its length, ventrally with a row of 20 homogeneous setiferous tubercles; dorsally with many low conical tubercles along the entire length; on the medial distal side with a setiferous tubercle. Patella distoventromesally with a conspicuous bifurcated and disto-ventroectally with a non-bifurcated setiferous tubercle. Tibia ventromesally with two enlarged setiferous tubercles and three small ones, and ventroectally with a fairly enlarged setiferous tubercle and two small ones on its distal side. Tarsus ventromesally with a row of two slightly enlarged and four small setiferous tubercles; and ventroectally expanded, with two slightly enlarged and five small setiferous tubercles. Tarsal claw slightly curved, shorter than tarsus.

Legs. Short. Trochanters I–IV with hair-tipped granules on the ventral surface, the granules of trochanter I conspicuous. All femora with hair-tipped granules, femora III and IV curved. Tarsi III–IV without a pseudonychium, but with two bare claws. Tarsal formula (I–IV): 6/11– 12 /7/8. Distitarsus I two-jointed and II threejointed. The remaining leg-segments with hair-tipped granules.

Penis ( Figs. 38–46 ). Shaft slender, gradually distended from base to apical portion (pars distalis), slightly undulate (best seen from lateral). Ventral plate somewhat triangular, arched ventrally and concave dorsally, distal end axe-shaped (seen from dorsal and ventral). Glans partly sunken into the truncus. Capsula externa extremely compressed after eversion ( Fig. 45 ). Spiny funnel with many dense, small spines dorsally, and ventral small portion (capsula interna) lacking spines ( Fig. 46 ). Stylus long, columnar, distally blunt, gradually thickened to base. Ventral plate with many short setae ( Fig. 43 ).

Female. Unknown.

Measurements. Male: body 6.26 long, 4.12 wide at the widest portion, scutum 5.26 long. Ocularium 0.38 long, 0.69 wide. Pedipalpus claw 0.59 long. Penis 3.94 long. Measurements of pedipalpus and legs as in Table 2 .

Habitat. The specimens were collected by leaf litter sieving in dark moist places of the forest, under dense canopy.

Variation (male paratype). Body 7.07 long, 4.31 wide at the widest portion, scutum 5.22 long. The single paratype, with larger body and rounded abdomen posteriorly ( Fig. 34 ), and its finger teeth of chelicerae ( Fig. 35 ) and pedipalpus ( Figs. 36–37 ), shows only slight differences with the holotype.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Remarks. The genus Paramaracandus encompasses three species, P. f u s c u s Suzuki, 1976 (type from Malaysia), P. sexdentatus Suzuki, 1985 (from Thailand) and P. dolabratus sp. nov. (from Laos).The latter two species seem more similar to each other than P. f u s c us, e.g., dorsa are more swollen, ocular tubercles are provided with a pair of conspicuous spines, coxae IV possess many tubercles prolaterally ( Fig. 26 ; Suzuki 1985: 98, fig. B), femora of pedipalps have a setiferous tubercle on the medial distal side ( Fig. 33 ; Suzuki 1985: 98, fig. E) and ventral plates of penis are extended noticeably and covered with many short setae ( Fig. 43 ; Suzuki 1985: 98, fig. I). However, P. dolabratus sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from P. sexdentatus and P. f u s c u s by the triangular ventral plate in the penis ( Fig. 38 ; Suzuki 1985: 98, fig. G; Suzuki 1976: 25, fig. H).

The appearance of the only paratype, having larger body size and especially the blunt round abdomen posteriorly, initially led us to consider it a female ( Fig. 34 ). After we dissected the genitalia, we recognized it as a male. This is another example of species variation.

Figures

FIGURES 26 – 31. Paramaracandus dolabratus sp. nov., Holotype. 26. Male body, lateral view. 27. Same, dorsal view. 28. Left chelicera of male, medial view. 29. Same, ectal view. 30. Cheliceral fingers of male, frontal view. 31. Patella, tibia and tarsus of male left pedipalpus, dorsal view. Scale bars: 5 mm (26 – 27); 1 mm (31); 0.75 mm (28 – 30).

FIGURES 32 – 37. Paramaracandus dolabratus sp. nov. 32 – 33. Holotype. 34 – 37. Paratype. 32. Left pedipalpus of male, ectal view. 33. Same, medial view. 34. Male body, dorsal view. 35. Left cheliceral fingers of male, frontal view. 36. Left pedipalpus of male, ectal view. 37. Patella, tibia and tarsus of male left pedipalpus, dorsal view. Scale bars: 5 mm (34); 1 mm (32 – 33, 36 – 37); 0.75 mm (35).

FIGURES 38 – 46. Paramaracandus dolabratus sp. nov., Holotype. 38. Penis, dorsal view. 39. Same, lateral view. 40. Same, ventral view. 41. Distal part of penis, dorsal view. 42. Same, lateral view. 43. Same, ventral view. 44. Same (expanded), dorsal view. 45. Same, lateral view. 46. Same, ventral view. CI, capsula interna; CE, capsula externa; Fo, follis; S, stylus; SF, spiny funnel. Scale bars: 3 mm (38 – 40); 0.75 mm (44 – 46); 0.5 mm (41 – 43).

Tables

TABLE 2. Pedipalpus and leg measurements of the male of Paramaracandus dolabratus sp. nov.

Trochanter Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus Tarsus	Total
Pedipalpus 0.75 1.66	1.19	0.84	0.89	5.33
Leg I 0.63 3.03	0.99	1.91	3.21 1.68	11.45
Leg II 0.71 5.57	1.33	4.57	5.42 3.07	20.67
Leg III 0.83 4.01	1.26	2.34	4.04 1.78	14.26
Leg IV 0.89 5.51	1.33	3.26	5.99 2.13	19.11