Scolopocryptopidae

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Scolopocryptopidae
Tidops nisargani.jpg
Tidops nisargani
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Scolopendromorpha
Family: Scolopocryptopidae
Pocock, 1896
Subfamilies

Scolopocryptopidae is a family of blind centipedes in the order Scolopendromorpha. [1] The number of leg-bearing segments is fixed at 23 for species in this family, which distinguishes the species in this family from all other centipede species. [2] [3] This family includes more than 90 species. [4]

Contents

Distribution

Most species in this family are found in the Americas (North America, South America, and the West Indies) and East Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia). Some species have also been recorded in West Africa (from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Gabon), New Guinea, and Fiji. [2] [5] This family is most diverse and abundant in the New World, especially in the Neotropical realm. [5]

Description

Species in this family are eyeless and have 23 pairs of legs. [5] The second maxillary claw in these species is pectinate. These centipedes have a forcipular coxosternite without prominent serrate tooth-plates, featuring at most a few shallow teeth. [2]

Species in this family feature a distinctive gizzard. Gizzards in the families Scolopocryptopidae, Cryptopidae, and Plutoniumidae are characterized by a sieve formed by multiple transverse rows of elongate projections along the inside of the gizzard. These projections taper with their tips pointing forward toward the anterior end of the gizzard. [6] In the family Scolopocryptopidae, these stiff projections are pineapple-shaped and kinked in the middle. [2] This kink separates the proximal and distal halves of these projections, with the distal half pointing more directly forward. These projections contrast with those found in other families, which feature projections that curve evenly without any kink. [6]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic studies using molecular data indicate that the three eyeless families Scolopocryptopidae, Cryptopidae, and Plutoniumidae are each monophyletic and together form a clade. [1] [7] [8] This blind clade also features sieve projections in the gizzard as a shared characteristic. [6] These results imply a single shift from 21 to 23 pairs of legs leading to the last common ancestor of the family Scolopocryptopidae, with kinked sieve projections in the gizzard as an unreversed autapomorphy. [8]

Subfamilies

This family includes four subfamilies: Ectonocryptopinae, Kethopinae, Newportiinae, and Scolopocryptopinae. Newportiinae is the largest of these subfamilies, containing about 60 species, with most species in the genus Newportia (more than 50 species) and a few species in the genera Tidops and Kartops . The next largest subfamily is Scolopocryptopinae, containing more than 20 species, with nearly all of these species in the genus Scolopocryptops and only a couple of species in the genus Dinocryptops. The other two subfamilies are small, each with only a few species: Kethopinae includes the genera Kethops and Thalkethops , and Ectonocryptopinae includes the genera Ectonocryptops and Ectonocryptoides . [2]

Species in the subfamily Newportiinae are found in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Species in the subfamily Scolopocryptopinae are found in temperate and tropical regions of the Americas, in West Africa, and from East Asia to New Guinea. Species in the subfamily Kethopinae are found in western North America, and species in the subfamily Ectonocryptopinae are found in Mexico and Belize. [2]

Genera

This family contains the following genera distributed among four subfamilies: [2]

Subfamily Ectonocryptopinae Shelley & Mercurio, 2005
Subfamily Kethopinae Shelley, 2002
Subfamily Newportiinae Pocock, 1896
Subfamily Scolopocryptopinae Pocock, 1896


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

Scolopendridae is a family of large centipedes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scolopendromorpha</span> Order of centipedes

Scolopendromorpha is an order of centipedes also known as tropical centipedes or bark centipedes. This order includes about 700 species in five families. These centipedes are found nearly worldwide, with tropical and subtropical regions providing the richest diversity in species. This order includes the only known amphibious centipedes, Scolopendra cataracta, Scolopendra paradoxa, and Scolopendra alcyona.

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

Himantariidae is a monophyletic family of centipedes in the order Geophilomorpha and superfamily Himantarioidea, found almost exclusively in the Northern Hemisphere. Centipedes in this family feature a short head with a concave labral margin bearing a row of denticles, a single dentate lamella and some pectinate lamellae on each mandible, second maxillae with strongly tapering telopodites and slightly spatulate claws, and a stout forcipular segment with short forcipules and a wide tergite; the ultimate legs usually have no pretarsus, and the female gonopods are distinct and biarticulate.

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

The Cryptopidae are a family of scolopendromorph centipedes. Cryptopids are blind and possess 21 pairs of legs. The genus Cryptops is the numerically largest in the family, comprising over 150 species worldwide.

Dendrothereua is a genus of house centipedes in the family Scutigeridae. There are at least three described species in Dendrothereua, found in the southern United States and the Neotropics.

<i>Plutonium zwierleini</i> Species of centipede

Plutonium zwierleini, in the monotypic genus Plutonium, is one of the largest scolopendromorph centipedes in Europe, and one of the few potentially harmful to humans. Nevertheless, it has been rarely reported, only from the southern part of the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, Sardinia and Sicily.

<i>Scolopocryptops</i> Genus of centipedes

Scolopocryptops is a genus of bark centipedes in the family Scolopocryptopidae. There are over 20 described species in Scolopocryptops.

<i>Strigamia</i> Genus of centipedes

Strigamia is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Linotaeniidae found in temperate parts of the Holarctic region. Members of this family can be identified by their anteriorly tapering bodies, the extra claw on the forcipules, scattered coxal pores, and the distinctly swollen ultimate legs of the males. The generic name is from Latin striga, "strip," referring to its strip of bristles.

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

Ballophilidae is a monophyletic group of centipedes belonging to the order Geophilomorpha and superfamily Himantarioidea. Authorities now dismiss this group as a family, citing phylogenetic analysis, and instead refer to this clade as Ballophilinae, a possible subfamily within the family Schendylidae. Centipedes in this clade differ from others in the family Schendylidae by having bodies tapered toward the anterior tip, short heads, slender forcipules that are well apart, and an undivided lamina for the female gonopods. Centipedes in this clade are found in most tropical regions.

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

Plutoniumidae is a family of centipedes belonging to the order Scolopendromorpha. Centipedes in this family are blind and have 21 pairs of legs.

<i>Craterostigmus crabilli</i> Species of New Zealand centipede

Craterostigmus crabilli is a species of small centipede in the order Craterostigmomorpha. It is endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Scolopendra pinguis</i> Species of centipede

Scolopendra pinguis is a species of centipede in the subfamily Scolopendrinae that is endemic to Southeast Asia.

<i>Arthrorhabdus</i> Centipede genus

Arthrorhabdus, from the Greek ἄρθρον, a joint, and ῥάβδος, a staff, is a genus of Scolopendrid centipede in the subfamily Scolopendrinae. Species are found in Mexico and the Southern United States, Australia (A. paucispinus & A. mjöbergi), and South Africa (A. formosus). Since a reapprasial in the genus in 2010, the genus only has four species. It may be polyphyletic.

Mecistocephalus is the largest genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae, with about 140 species. This genus is among the most diverse and widespread of all the genera in the order Geophilomorpha. The British entomologist George Newport first proposed this genus in 1843 to contain a group of centipedes marked by an unusual elongation of the head.

Tasmanophilus spenceri is a species of centipede in the family Zelanophilidae. This centipede is found only in New Zealand and has only 39 pairs of legs, the minimum number recorded in the family Zelanophilidae. This species reaches only 23 mm in length and is the smallest centipede in this family.

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.

Krateraspis is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae. Centipedes in this genus are found in Central Asia. This genus contains only two species, K. meinerti, with 45 pairs of legs, and K. sselivanovi, with 53 leg pairs. The species K. sselivanovi is notable for featuring 53 leg pairs without any intraspecific variation. This number of legs is rarely observed in the family Mecistocephalidae and also appears to be the maximum number evidently fixed by species in the class Chilopoda.

Mesoschendyla is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Schendylidae. These centipedes are found in Africa, Madagascar, and Java. The Austrian myriapodologist Carl Attems originally proposed Mesoschendyla in 1909 as a subgenus within the genus Schendyla. The genus Mesochendyla is relatively small, containing only eight species. These centipedes resemble their close relatives in the genera Schendylops and Orygmadyla.

References

  1. 1 2 Vahtera, Varpu; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Giribet, Gonzalo (2012). "Evolution of blindness in scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha): insight from an expanded sampling of molecular data". Cladistics. 28 (1): 4–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00361.x . ISSN   1096-0031. PMID   34856735. S2CID   84329980.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview". In Minelli, Alessandro (ed.). The Myriapoda. Volume 1. Leiden: Brill. pp. 363–443. ISBN   978-90-04-18826-6. OCLC   812207443.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ↑ Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Giribet, Gonzalo (2007). "Evolutionary Biology of Centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda)". Annual Review of Entomology. 52: 151–170. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091326. PMID   16872257.
  4. ↑ "ITIS - Report: Scolopocryptopidae". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  5. 1 2 3 Shelley, Rowland M.; Mercurio, Randy (2005-12-13). "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)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1094 (1): 25–40. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1094.1.2. ISSN   1175-5334.
  6. 1 2 3 Koch, Markus; Pärschke, Stefan; Edgecombe, Gregory D. (2009). "Phylogenetic implications of gizzard morphology in scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda)". Zoologica Scripta. 38 (3): 269–288. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00372.x. ISSN   0300-3256.
  7. ↑ Jiang, Chao; Bai, Yunjun; Shi, Mengxuan; Liu, Juan (2020-12-05). "Rediscovery and phylogenetic relationships of the scolopendromorph centipede Mimops orientalis Kraepelin, 1903 (Chilopoda): a monotypic species of Mimopidae endemic to China, for more than one century". ZooKeys (932): 75–91. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.932.51461 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   7239954 . PMID   32476974.
  8. 1 2 Benavides, Ligia R.; Jiang, Chao; Giribet, Gonzalo (2021-09-01). "Mimopidae is the sister group to all other scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha): a phylotranscriptomic approach". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 21 (3): 591–598. doi:10.1007/s13127-021-00502-2. ISSN   1618-1077. S2CID   239688370.
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