Mecistocephalus erythroceps

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Mecistocephalus erythroceps
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Mecistocephalidae
Genus: Mecistocephalus
Species:
M. erythroceps
Binomial name
Mecistocephalus erythroceps
Chamberlin, 1920 [1]

Mecistocephalus erythroceps is a species of centipede in the Mecistocephalidae family. [2] This centipede is notable for featuring 51 pairs of legs rather than the 49 leg pairs usually observed in the genus Mecistocephalus . [1] [3] This species is found in Fiji. [2]

Contents

Discovery

This species was originally described in 1920 by the American myriapodologist Ralph Vary Chamberlin. He based the original description of this species on specimens collected by the American zoologist William M. Mann in Fiji. Mann found these specimens at Levuka on the island of Ovalau and at Nadarivatu on the island of Viti Levu. [1] [4] The holotype and two paratypes are deposited at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. [1] [5]

Description

This species has 51 pairs of legs and can reach 31 mm in length. The body is a uniform pale yellow with a reddish head. The body is slender, with a uniform width for the anterior half but attenuated over the posterior half. [1]

The sternites feature a sharply defined furrow in the middle that is only indistinctly forked at the anterior end. [1] This obscure bifurcation distinguishes this species from other species of Mecistocephalus with 51 leg pairs, such as M. evansi and M. lifuensis . Both M. evansi and M. lifuensis feature sternal furrows that are distinctly forked. [6]

Distribution

The species occurs in Fiji. The type locality is the district of Nadarivatu on the island of Viti Levu. [2] [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chamberlin, Ralph V. (1920). "The Myriopoda of the Australian region". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College. 64 (1): 1–269 [60].
  2. 1 2 3 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). "Mecistocephalus erythroceps Chamberlin, 1920". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  3. ↑ Bonato, L.; Minelli, A. (2004). "The centipede genus Mecistocephalus Newport 1843 in the Indian Peninsula (Chilopoda Geophilomorpha Mecistocephalidae)". Tropical Zoology. 17 (1): 15–63 [56]. Bibcode:2004TrZoo..17...15B. doi:10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198. ISSN   0394-6975. S2CID   85304657.
  4. 1 2 "Nadarivatu, Ba Province, Western Division, Fiji". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  5. ↑ "Mecistocephalus erythroceps Chamberlin, 1920". mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  6. ↑ Attems, Carl (1929). Attems, Karl (ed.). Lfg. 52 Myriapoda, 1: Geophilomorpha (in German). De Gruyter. pp. 129, 138. doi:10.1515/9783111430638.
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