Draculoides noctigrassator 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 : 61-63

Draculoides noctigrassator Abrams and Harvey , n. sp.

( Figs. 1–8 , 34–35 )

Zoobank Code: http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ FF4FEC13-E55A-4653-AC55-FE453AE90BAB

Paradraculoides SCH 102: Abrams et al. 2019 MPE 106532: 8, fig. 2.

Material examined. Holotype male. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♂, Dragon , ca. 44 km SSE. of Pannawon- ica, 22°00’49.4”S, 116°33’21.1”E, 430 m, 07 October 2012, J.W. Quartermaine, G.B. Pearson ( WAM T142871 ) (DNA:12S, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♂, Dragon, ca. 45 km S. of Pannawonica , 22°00’48.8”S, 116°33’52.4”E, 06 October, scrape, 75 metres, G.B. Pearson, J.W. Quartermaine ( WAM T129673 ) (DNA: ITS2 ) ; 1 ♂, Dragon, ca. 44 km SSE. of Pannawonica, 22°00’45”S, 116°33’31.5”E, 19 July 2012, troglofauna scrape, - 71m, S. R . Bennett, S.G. Pearson ( WAM T142893 ) (DNA: 12S, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) .

Other material. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 juvenile, Dragon, ca. 44 km SSE. of Pannawonica , 22°00’45.0”S, 116°33’31.5”E, 19 July 2012, S. R . Bennett, G.B. Pearson ( WAM T144530 ) ; 1 juvenile, Dragon, ca. 44 km SSE. of Pannawonica , 22°00’49.4”S, 116°33’21.1”E, 430 m, 7 October 2012, J.W. Quartermaine, G.B. Pearson ( WAM T144531 ) .

Diagnosis. The shape of the male flagellum of Draculoides noctigrassator most closely resembles D. affinis , D. anachoretus , D. bythius , D. cochranus , D. eremius , D. gnophicola and D. kryptus , especially in the presence of a broad base. It differs from D. affinis , D. anachoretus D. bythius , D. cochranus , D. gnophicola and D. kryptus by the shape of the dorsal margin of the male flagellum, which is quite straight in D. noctigrassator and more curved and posteriorly tapering in the aforementioned species. It differs from D. eremius by the position of dm4, which is anterior to dl 3 in D. noctigrassator and level with dl 3 in D. eremius . Females are unknown. Draculoides noctigrassator can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at COI, 12S and ITS2 by the 50bp mini-barcodes shown in Figures 3 , 5 , and 7.

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 divided. Anterior sternum with 12-13, setae (including 2 sternapophysial setae); posterior sternum triangular with 6 setae.

Chelicera. Fixed finger with 2 large teeth plus 6 smaller teeth between these; membranous area between fixed and movable fingers with 3 large, lanceolate, terminally pilose setae (G1); G2 composed of 6 setae; G3 composed of 5 setae; internal face of chelicera with 4 short whip-like setae (G4); brush at base of fixed finger composed of 7 setae (G5A), each densely pilose in distal half and G5B composed of 9 setae; G6 with one seta; G7 composed of 4 setae. Movable finger serrula composed of 17 long lamellae, blunt guard tooth present subdistally; 1 large accessory tooth present.

Pedipalp. Without apophyses; trochanter with sharply produced ventro-distal extension, ventral margin with ca.

8 stout setae, without mesal spur; tarsus and tibia without spines; tarsal spur present; 0.50 × 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: 3 macrosetae

+ 6 microsetae (microsetae in column), tergites III–IX: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2; segment XII with very small dorsal process

(♂ only).

Flagellum. Male: Dorsoventrally compressed ( Figs. 34 D–F, 35A–C); 1.9 × longer than broad; seta dm1 situated dorso-medially, closer to anterior margin; seta dm4 set back from posterior margin, anterior to dl3; dl1slightly posterior to vl1; dl3 close to posterior margin; vm2 situated slightly anterior to vm1; vm5 situated in line with vl1; left vm3 slightly anterior to right vm3; four pairs of microsetae between vl1 and dl3. Female: unknown.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype male (WAM T142871): Body length 3.46. Propeltidium 1.15/0.62. Chelicera 0.73. Flagellum 0.37/0.19. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.54, femur 0.54, patella 0.46, tibia 0.42, tarsus 0.23, claw 0.13.

Variation. Body length (males) 3.06–4.04 (n = 3). Propeltidium setae: single seta following 2 on apical process and one extra pair of setae. Tergite II chaetotaxy: 2 setae instead of 3 as in holotype. Anterior sternum number of setae 12-13, including sternapophysial setae (n=3). Position of vm 5 in relation to vl1 varies, sometimes closer to vl1, sometimes vm5 is closer to vl2.

Other names. WAM SCH102 ( Abrams et al., 2019), Bennelongia sp. B37.

Remarks. Draculoides noctigrassator is known from several locations within the ‘Dragon’ deposit within the Bungaroo South (Buckland project) area of Western Australia ( Fig. 1E ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a verb referring to the occurrence of this species in permanently dark habitats (Latin, noctis, night; grassatus, go about, loiter).

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 34. Draculoides noctigrassator sp. nov., holotype male (WAM T142871):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 35. Draculoides noctigrassator sp. nov., holotype male (WAM T142871): A. Flagellum, dorsal; B. Flagellum, ventral; C. Flagellum, lateral. Scale bar A–C: 0.1 mm.