Tasmanophilus spenceri

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Tasmanophilus spenceri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Zelanophilidae
Genus: Tasmanophilus
Species:
T. spenceri
Binomial name
Tasmanophilus spenceri
(Pocock, 1901) [1]

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]

Contents

Discovery

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]

Taxonomy

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]

Description

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]

Distribution

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]

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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.

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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.

References

  1. ↑ Pocock, RI (1901). "The Chilopoda or centipedes of the Australian Continent". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 7 (8): 451–463 [462]. doi:10.1080/03745480109443345.
  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). "Tasmanophilus spenceri (Pocock,1901)". ChiloBase 2.0 – A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  3. ↑ "ITIS - Report: Tasmanophilus spenceri". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Archey, Gilbert (1936). "Revision of the Chilopoda of New Zealand. Part 1". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 2: 43–70. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42905967. Wikidata   Q58676585.
  5. 1 2 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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Pocock, R. I. (1901). "LVIII.—The Chilopoda or Centipedes of the Australian Continent". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (47): 451–463 [462–463]. doi:10.1080/03745480109443345.
  7. 1 2 3 Crabill, R.E. (1962). "Concerning Chilopod Types in the British Museum (Natural History). Part I (Chilopoda : Geophilomorpha : Scolopendromorpha)". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 5 (56): 505–510. doi:10.1080/00222936208651277.
  8. 1 2 Chamberlin, R.V. (1920). "The Myriopoda of the Australian region". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College. 64 (1): 1–269 [44, 54] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.


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