Tasmanophilus spenceri | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
Class: | Chilopoda |
Order: | Geophilomorpha |
Family: | Zelanophilidae |
Genus: | Tasmanophilus |
Species: | T. spenceri |
Binomial name | |
Tasmanophilus spenceri | |
Tasmanophilus spenceri is a species of centipede in the family Zelanophilidae. [2] [3] 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. [4] [5]
This species was first described in 1901 by the British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock. [6] The original description is based on a female holotype found at The Bluff on the South Island of New Zealand. [7] The species name spenceri honours the British-Australian evolutionary biologist Baldwin Spencer. [6]
Pocock originally described this species in 1901 under the name Necrophloeophagus spenceri. [6] [2] In 1920, the American biologist Ralph V. Chamberlain proposed moving this species to the genus Geophilus, [8] and in 1936, the New Zealand zoologist Gilbert Archey provided a more detailed description of this species under the name Geophilus spenceri. [4] In 1962, the American myriapodologist Ralph E. Crabill, Jr., of the Smithsonian Institution assigned this species to the genus Tasmanophilus , [7] which Chamberlain originally described in 1920. [8] [2]
This species can reach 23 mm in length, and both males and females have 39 pairs of legs. [7] [4] The first maxillae feature distinct lappets, and the second maxillae each feature a long curved claw. The claws on the forcipule are curved, stout, and long enough to reach the front of the head. These claws are each armed with a blunt tubercle. Pores appear in transverse bands in the posterior portion of each sternite but become progressively smaller and sparser after the 29th segment. The ultimate legs in the male are very broad and thick, with a small claw, a few long hairs above, and a dense covering of fine hairs below. The male also features many fine hairs on the last sternite. [4]
The species T. spenceri shares several features with T. opinatus , the only other species in the genus Tasmanophilus. For example, the anterior sternites in both species feature an unusual medial depression. [5] These pits appear in the first 15 sternites in T. spenceri and in the first 25 sternites in T. opinatus. [4] [6] The species T. opinatus, however, features 69 pairs of legs, many more than T. spenceri has. Furthermore, T. spenceri has distinctly larger pores and wider sternites. [6]
This centipede is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. This species has been recorded only at the type locality, The Bluff, near Invercargill in the Southland Region. [4]
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.
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.
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.
Zelanophilidae is a family of centipedes belonging to the order Geophilomorpha and superfamily Geophiloidea. Centipedes in this family are found in the Australasian region. This family includes seven species distributed among three genera.
Geophilus richardi is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is found in France and Monaco in the Western Alps and on the Italian mainland, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Ionian Islands. This species is notable as one of only two in the family Geophilidae to include centipedes with as few as 29 leg pairs.
Geophilus truncorum is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found across Western Europe, though it reaches as far as Poland, Italy, and Morocco. This centipede is relatively small, growing up to 20mm in length, with a yellow or orangeish brown body and dark yellow or brown head, denser and shorter hair than most Geophilus species, a main plate almost as elongated as in G. flavus (115:100), and distinct carpophagus fossae on the anterior sternites. Males of this species have 35 to 41 pairs of legs; females have 37 to 41.
Steneurytion is a genus of centipedes in the family Geophilidae. This genus was first described by Austrian myriapodologist Carl Attems in 1909. These centipedes are found in Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii.
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.
Tasmanophilus is a genus of two species of centipedes, in the family Zelanophilidae. It was described by American biologist Ralph Vary Chamberlin in 1920. Centipedes in this genus are found in Australia and New Zealand.
Tasmanophilus opinatus is a species of centipede in the Zelanophilidae family. It is endemic to Australia, and was first described in 1845 by British entomologist George Newport.
Pachymerellus zygethus is a species of centipede in the Geophilidae family. It is endemic to Australia and New Zealand, and was first described in 1920 by American biologist Ralph Vary Chamberlin.
Zelanophilus is a genus of three species of centipedes, in the family Zelanophilidae. This genus was described by American biologist Ralph Vary Chamberlin in 1920. Centipedes in this genus are found in Australia and New Zealand.
Zelanophilus pococki is a species of centipede in the Zelanophilidae family. It was first described in 1963 by R.E. Crabill.
Australoschendyla is a genus of centipedes in the family Schendylidae. This genus was described by R. E. Jones in 1996. Centipedes in this genus feature claws on the second maxillae fringed by a single row of filaments, short forcipules, subcircular sternal pore-fields, one or two pores on each coxopleuron, and ultimate legs without claws. These centipedes range from 1 cm to 2 cm in length, have 41 to 47 pairs of legs, and are found in west Australia.
Paralamyctes is a genus of centipedes in the family Henicopidae. It was described by British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901.
Australiophilus ferrugineus is a species of centipede in the Zelanophilidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described in 1877 by New Zealand biologist Frederick Hutton. Since then, authorities have recognized two junior synonyms, deeming Geophilus huttoni a synonym in 1936 and Geophilus polyporus a synonym in 2014.
Zelanophilus provocator is a species of centipede in the Zelanophilidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described in 1891 by British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock. The original description of this species is based on two male specimens with 69 pairs of legs and reports a length of 59 mm, but other specimens indicate that this species can have from 67 to 77 pairs and that females can reach 75 mm in length.
Zelanophilus kapiti is a species of centipede in the Zelanophilidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described in 1922 by New Zealand zoologist Gilbert Archey. Some authorities, including Archey himself, would later deem Z. kapiti to be a junior synonym of a similar species, Z. provocator.
Maoriella is a genus of centipedes in the family Geophilidae. It was described by Austrian myriapodologist Carl Attems in 1903. Species in this genus are found in New Zealand, Australia, and Tahiti.
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.