Ectonocryptoides, Shelley & Mercurio, 2005

Shelley, Rowland M. & Mercurio, Randy, 2005, Ectonocryptoides quadrimeropus, a new centipede genus and species from Jalisco, Mexico; proposal of Ectonocryptopinae, analysis of subfamilial relationships, and a key to subfamilies and genera of the Scolopocryptopidae (Scolopendromorpha), Zootaxa 1094 (1), pp. 25-40 : 33-34

Ectonocryptoides , new genus

Type species. Ectonocryptoides quadrimeropus , new species.

Diagnosis. Ectonocryptopinae with 4 podomeres on ultimate legs, 2 nd tarsi absent, tibiae and 1 st tarsi inflated and bulbous, imparting subclavate appearance to overall appendage, latter with dorsal excavations forming terminal lobes and with short, fine hairs arising in shallow apical depressions; prefemora and femora heavily armored with small spines in addition to ventral spinous processes.

Species. One.

Distribution. Known only from coastal Jalisco.

Etymology. The generic name reflects the close anatomical similarity to Ectonocryptops , based on Crabill's written description (1977) of the latter.

Remarks. The discovery of a new scolopendromorph genus is a rare event. Only five years into the new millenium, two and three new genus­group names have already been erected in the Lithobiomorpha and Geophilomorpha , respectively; Ectonocryptoides is not only the first in the 21 st century for the Scolopendromorpha , it is also the first since Schileyko (1992) established Tonkinodentus for a Vietnamese species. Only nine generic names have been proposed for scolopendromorphs since 1950 1, whereas around 36 and 78 have been proposed in the Lithobiomorpha and Geophilomorpha , respectively, during this same 55 year period, though some are junior subjective synonyms of older names (Jeekel

1. They are Dinocryptops Crabill, 1953 ; Thalkethops Crabill, 1960 ; Paratrigonocryptops Demange, 1963 , a subgenus of Cryptops ; Congobius Dobroruka, 1968 ; Asanadopsis Würmli, 1972 ; Ectonocryptops Crabill, 1977 ; Notiasemus Koch, 1985 ; Tonkinodentus Schileyko, 1992 ; and Ectonocryptoides new genus.

2005 plus searches in Zoological Record, the Nomenclator Zoologicus website, and references in RMS' personal library); conversely, only three new genera have been proposed for the Scutigeromorpha, the least diverse global order. As the Scolopendromorpha contains the largest and most visible chilopods, with lengths ranging to over 300 mm (12 in) (Shelley and Kiser 2000), perhaps man has now discovered, named, and diagnosed most of the obvious genera, even with substantial unexplored areas in the tropics. However, minute, litter­dwelling scolopendromorphs are a different and virtually untouched realm, and where, it would seem, additional genera are most likely to be found.