LOMANELLIDAE Mendes & Derkarabetian, 2021

Derkarabetian, Shahan, Baker, Caitlin M., Hedin, Marshal, Prieto, Carlos E. & Giribet, Gonzalo, 2021, Phylogenomic re-evaluation of Triaenonychoidea (Opiliones: Laniatores), and systematics of Triaenonychidae, including new families, genera and species, Invertebrate Systematics 167 (1), pp. 277-288 : 140

Family LOMANELLIDAE Mendes & Derkarabetian , fam. nov.

ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B2825A44-1616-4103-91F1-A2BFF07BBC3F

Included genera: Lomanella Pocock, 1903, Abaddon Derkarabetian & Baker , gen. nov.

Type genus: Lomanella Pocock, 1903 .

Type species: Lomanella raniceps Pocock, 1903 , by original designation

Diagnosis

This Australian family ( Fig. 5 ) is most closely related to the morphologically unique Synthetonychiidae from New Zealand, but differs from the family-level diagnosis of Forster (1954) by the presence of an obvious eye mound and shorter pedipalps bearing tubercles, which are sometimes more robust. Synthetonychiidae are diagnosed by their lack of an eye mound and elongate pedipalps that are slender and without tubercles (e.g. Forster 1954, fig. 708). Lomanellidae can be distinguished from Triaenonychidae by their relatively simple palps with weak spination ( Fig. 6 E ) ( Hunt and Hickman 1993, fig. 1), a process on the dorsal surface of coxae II, and lateral projections on the carapace above coxae II associated with the ozopore. Additionally, compared to male triaenonychid genitalia, which typically possess the full complement of plates (dorsal, dorsolateral, and ventral), the male genitalia of lomanellids are extremely attenuated and show a complete loss of the dorsal plate ( Fig. 7 A ) ( Hunt and Hickman 1993, fig. 3).

Distribution

Lomanellids are restricted to Australia ( Fig. 5 ). The genus Lomanella is widespread in the temperate forests of southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, with a single species that is restricted to a small region of south-western Western Australia. The new genus Abaddon , gen. nov. is extremely restricted in distribution, known only from two localities in south-western Western Australia, an area where other arthropod taxa inhabiting these temperate rainforests show similar species distribution patterns (e.g. Rix et al. 2015; Sato et al. 2018; Schwentner and Giribet 2018).

Remarks

Amanda Mendes is included as a taxon author for this family to acknowledge her previous work, being the first to identify, recognise, and name this family in her unpublished dissertation. Although the morphological analyses of Mendes (2009) recovered Pyenganella in Lomanellidae , she expressed caution about the recovered relationship of Pyenganella with Lomanella and Synthetonychia . Simultaneously, she was certain that Lomanella represented a new family-level lineage as it was the only new name proposed based on her extensive morphological phylogenetic analyses. She approved the family diagnosis and agreed to authorship.

Figures

Fig. 5. Geographic distribution of Lomanellidae, fam. nov. and Triaenonychidae in Australia. Inset shows detailed distribution of lomanellid genera in Western Australia (with Triaenonychidae removed): A, Abaddon despoliator, gen. nov., sp. nov.: L, Lomanella peltonychium. Photograph is of a live Lomanella raniceps (photograph by Marshal Hedin). Note: Lomanellidae, fam. nov. is broadly sympatric with Triaenonychidae throughout its distribution range.

Fig. 6. General morphology of Abaddon despoliator, gen. nov., sp. nov. (A, B) Dorsal habitus: (A) male holotype (MCZ:IZ:134472_3), (B) female paratype (MCZ:IZ:134472_1).(C, D) Retrolateal view of leg I: (C) male holotype, (D) female paratype (MCZ:IZ:134472_1). (E) Retrolateral view of pedialp of male holotype.All scale bars: 1 mm; (A)–(D) at same scale. Note: (C) and (D) drawn without colour.

Fig. 7. Morphology of male genitalia. (A) Abaddon despoliator, gen. nov., sp. nov., ventral and ventrolateral views of male paratype (MCZ:IZ:132893_3). (B) Turonychus fadriquei, gen. nov., sp. nov., ventral and lateral views of male holotype.