Geophilus richardi

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Geophilus richardi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Geophilidae
Genus: Geophilus
Species:
G. richardi
Binomial name
Geophilus richardi
Brolemann, 1904

Geophilus richardi is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. [1] This centipede is found in France and Monaco in the Western Alps and on the Italian mainland, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Ionian Islands. [2] [3] [1] This species is notable as one of only two in the family Geophilidae to include centipedes with as few as 29 leg pairs. [4] [5]

Contents

Discovery

This species was first described by the French myriapodologist Henri W. Brölemann in 1904. The original description of this species is based on two female specimens found in Monaco. Brölemann named this species for the French oceanographer Jules Richard, director of the Musée Océanographique de Monaco, who collected these specimens in 1902. [6]

Description

Females of this species have 33 pairs of legs, whereas males can have either 29 or 31 leg pairs, [4] but are usually recorded with 31 pairs. [7] [3] This centipede is small, reaching only 10 mm in length, and has no carpophagus pits. [2] Each of the second maxillae ends in a short curved claw that tapers gradually. [2] [8] This species features short setae on the head, trunk, and legs. [8]

This species lacks the clusters of pores typically observed on the ventral surface of most soil centipedes, which usually feature pores from 2 to 4 micrometers in diameter that are each surrounded by a cuticular ring. Instead, the sternites in G. richardi bear a small number of pores from 0.5 to 1 micrometer in diameter. These pores are bounded by a cuticular ring, like the pores typically observed in other species and unlike smaller micropores, which lack such a ring. The small pores observed in G. richardi are possibly the remnants of typical ventral pores, their smaller size being a byproduct of overall miniaturization. [9]

Related Research Articles

Pachymerium caucasicum is a species of centipede in Geophilidae family. It was described by Carl Attems in 1903 and is endemic to the European part of Turkey. Males of this species have 47 pairs of legs; females have 49 pairs of legs. Authorities now deem P. caucasicum to be a junior synonym of P. ferrugineum.

Pachymerium tabacarui is a species of centipede in Geophilidae family that is endemic to Romania. The original description of this species is based on a female specimen from the Carpathians measuring 15 mm in length with 53 pairs of legs. Some authorities consider this description consistent with a juvenile specimen of P. ferrugineum and therefore deem P. tabacarui to be a junior synonym of that species. A more recent review of this description suggests that P. tabacarui is a junior synonym of Geophilus flavus rather than P. ferrugineum. Extensive investigations in the Carpathian region have failed to collect any more specimens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geophilidae</span> Family of centipedes

Geophilidae is a family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea and the order Geophilomorpha. In 2014, a phylogenetic analysis based on morphological and molecular data found this family to be polyphyletic. To avoid this polyphyly, authorities dismissed the families Aphilodontidae, Dignathodontidae, Linotaeniidae, and Macronicophilidae, which are now deemed to be junior synonyms for Geophilidae. Authorities also moved some genera from Geophilidae to form the family Zelanophildae in order to avoid the polyphyly of the family Geophilidae. The family Geophilidae now includes more than 650 species in more than 120 genera. This family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species found almost worldwide.

<i>Geophilus hadesi</i> Species of centipede

Geophilus hadesi is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is a troglobite, spending its entire life cycle in a cave environment. This species and Geophilus persephones are the only two troglobites known in the order Geophilomorpha. The species G. hadesi is named after Hades, god of the underworld in Greek mythology and the husband of Persephone, the namesake of the first troglobite discovered among the soil centipedes. The species G. hadesi has been observed in a cave as far as 1,100 meters below the surface, the deepest underground that any centipede has ever been recorded.

<i>Geophilus</i> Genus of centipedes

Geophilus is a large, heterogeneous genus of soil centipedes in the family Geophilidae largely considered to be synonymous with Brachygeophilus. The generic name first appeared in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopaedia in 1814 as Geophilus electricus. This genus has a Holarctic distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schendylidae</span> Family of centipedes

Schendylidae is a family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Himantarioidea and the order Geophilomorpha. These centipedes are found in the Americas, the Palearctic region, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and southeast Asia, and also on some Pacific islands. This family was first proposed by the American biologist Orator F. Cook in 1896.

Geophilus persephones is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae discovered in 1999. This species is named after Persephone, the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology, and found in caves in the Gouffre de la Pierre Saint-Martin. It has elongated antennae and legs as well as abundant sensory setae, and like other geophilomorhps it lacks sight, has a flattened trunk, and is well adapted to underground life. This species was the first troglomorphic geophilomorph ever discovered and one of the only two in existence along with Geophilus hadesi. Known from a single male specimen measuring 16.2 mm in length, G. persephones has only 29 pairs of legs, one of only two species in the Geophilidae family to feature so few leg pairs.

Geophilus arenarius is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is found in Algeria. As part of the carpophagus species-complex, this species is closely related to both G. carpophagus and G. easoni.

Geophilus osquidatum is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in western Europe, from mainland Spain through western France to Britain and Ireland, though it's also been recorded in Italy, Czech Republic, and Germany. Males of this species have 51 to 57 pairs of legs; females have 53 to 63 leg pairs. This species grows up to 30 millimeters and is bright yellow with a darker reddish head. Because of this, it's often confused with G. flavus and G. gracilis. Its subspecies, G. osquidatum porosum, was found synonymous with G. flavus. In Britain, G. osquidatum is found in a wide range of habitats including woodland, grassland, and coastal shingle as well as gardens and waste ground.

Geophilus bosniensis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae endemic to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It grows up to 30 millimeters and has 75 leg pairs, as well as sternites unseparated in the median but with a suture line, and sternal pore areas in the trunk segments only. Overall, the identity and phyletic position of this centipede are uncertain.

Geomerinus is a monotypic genus of centipedes in the family Geophilidae. It was described by French myriapodologist Henry Wilfred Brolemann in 1912. Its sole species is Geomerinus curtipes, originally described as Geophilus curtipes by Erich Haase in 1887. It is endemic to Australia.

<i>Ribautia</i> Genus of centipedes

Ribautia is a genus of centipedes in the family Geophilidae. This genus was described by French myriapodologist Henry Wilfred Brolemann in 1909. Centipedes in this genus are found in South America, tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia.

Schendyla is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Schendylidae. These centipedes are found in the west Palearctic region. This genus was described by Danish entomologists Vilhelm Bergsøe and Frederik Vilhelm August Meinert in 1866. This genus now includes more than 20 species.

Pectiniunguis is a genus of centipedes in the family Schendylidae. This genus was described by American naturalist Charles Harvey Bollman in 1889. Centipedes in this genus feature second maxillae with claws fringed by two rows of filaments, transversally elliptical sternal pore-fields on almost all trunk segments, two pores on each coxopleuron, and ultimate legs without claws.

Ityphilus is a genus of centipedes in the clade Ballophilidae. It was described by American myriapodologist Orator Fuller Cook in 1899. Centipedes in this genus feature distinctly club-like antennae, well marked sclerotized lines on the forcipular coxosternite, and two pores on each coxopleuron. These centipedes range from about 1 cm to about 9 cm in length and have 41 to 113 pairs of legs. The dwarf species Ityphilus donatellae ranges from 8.5 to 11 mm in length and can have as few as 41 leg pairs, the minimum number found in this genus. The large species I. grandis can reach 93 mm in length and have as many as 113 leg pairs, the maximum number found in the clade Ballophilidae.

Geophilus oligopus is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is found in several European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovenia, and Romania. Although this centipede has been described as having an Alpine-Dinaric distribution, this species has also been found in the Carpathian mountains and may be more widespread than previously thought.

Dicellophilus carniolensis is a species of soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae. This centipede is well known and found in central Europe. This species features 43 pairs of legs, a number rarely found in the family Mecistocephalidae and recorded in only one other genus in this family: In the genus Tygarrup, an undescribed species found in the Andaman Islands also has 43 leg pairs.

Schendylops oligopus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This species is notable as one of only two species in the order Geophilomorpha known to include centipedes with only 27 pairs of legs, the minimum number recorded in this order. Furthermore, S. oligopus was the first species in this order found to feature so few legs.

Mecistocephalus evansi is a species of soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae. This centipede is notable for featuring 51 pairs of legs rather than the 49 leg pairs usually observed in the genus Mecistocephalus. This species was first described by the French myriapodologist Henry W. Brolemann in 1922. He based the original description of this species on a single female specimen found in the Maysan governorate on the Tigris river in Iraq.

Dinogeophilus oligopodus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede ranges from 4.5 to 5.5 mm in length, the smallest size recorded not only in the order Geophilomorpha but also in any epimorphic order of centipedes. This species is also notable as one of only six species in the order Geophilomorpha to feature only 29 pairs of legs and one of only two species to include females with only 29 pairs, the minimum number recorded for females in this order.

References

  1. 1 2 Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Geophilus richardi Brölemann, 1904". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  2. 1 2 3 Bonato, Lucio; Stoev, Pavel (2015). "At the end of the rope: Geophilus hadesi sp. n. – the world's deepest cave-dwelling centipede (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae". ZooKeys (510): 95–114. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.510.9614 . PMC   4523767 . PMID   26257537.
  3. 1 2 Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "New records and remarks on the centipede fauna of endogean habitats of Sardinia (Chilopoda)" (PDF). Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati. 5: 223–242 [237].
  4. 1 2 Pereira, Luis Alberto (2013-01-01). "Discovery of a second geophilomorph species (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) having twenty-seven leg-bearing segments, the lowest number recorded up to the present in the centipede order Geophilomorpha". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 53 (13): 163–185. doi: 10.1590/S0031-10492013001300001 . hdl: 11336/3449 . ISSN   1807-0205.
  5. Bonato, Lucio; Minelli, Alessandro; Drago, Leandro; Pereira, Luis Alberto (2015-09-25). "The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha)". Contributions to Zoology. 84 (3): 237–253. doi: 10.1163/18759866-08403004 . hdl: 11577/3146565 . ISSN   1875-9866.
  6. Brölemann, H.W. (1904). "Chilopodes Monégasques. I. Liste des chilopodes du territoire de la principauté ou dans ses environs immediats. II. Description de geophilides nouveaux. III. Un nouvel Himantarium monstrueux". Bulletin du Musée Océanographique de Monaco (in French). 15: 1-15 [9-11] via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  7. Brolemann, H.W. (1930). Éléments d'une faune des myriapodes de France. Chilopodes (PDF) (in French). Toulouse: Imprimérie Toulousaine. pp. 185–186.
  8. 1 2 Foddai, D. (1999-02-01). "A troglomorphic geophilomorph centipede from southern France (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Geophilidae)". Journal of Natural History. 33 (2): 267–287. doi:10.1080/002229399300416. ISSN   0022-2933.
  9. Minelli, Alessandro (1995). "The sternal pore areas of geophilomorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 115 (2): 185–209. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb02327.x . Retrieved 29 March 2022.