Paraperipatus keiensis

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Paraperipatus keiensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Onychophora
Family: Peripatopsidae
Genus: Paraperipatus
Species:
P. keiensis
Binomial name
Paraperipatus keiensis
Horst, 1923

Paraperipatus keiensis is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family. [1] Females of this species have 24 or 25 pairs of legs; males have 22 or 23 leg pairs. [2] [3] [4] [5] The type locality is in Kai Besar in Indonesia. [6]

Contents

Discovery

This species was first described in 1923 by the zoologist Rutger Horst. He based the original description of this species on ten specimens (six females and four males). These specimens were found in 1922 under stones and fallen branches in the woods (at an altitude of about 300 m) on Gunung Daab, a mountain on Kai Basar (Great Kai island) in Indonesia. [3] [7]

Description

Horst reports that his female specimens have 24 or 25 pairs of legs, with three specimens featuring each number, but the males have 22 or 23 leg pairs. [3] The last pair of legs are shorter but also have claws. [2] Each foot has three spinous pads. The nephridial tubercle on the fourth and fifth leg pairs are connected with the proximal pad. [3] Each foot has three distal papillae that are notably long and slim. [2]

The females range from 27 mm to 48 mm in length and from 3 mm to 5 mm in width, whereas the males range from 25 mm to 33 mm in length and from 2 mm to 2.5 mm in width. [2] [5] When preserved in an ethanol solution, the dorsal surface of this velvet worm is green-black with yellow-brown spots, and the ventral surface is a light greyish blue, slightly speckled, with a row of large whitish spots along the midline between each pair of legs. The inner jaw blade features seven to nine accessory teeth in addition to the main tooth with no diastema. [2] [3]

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<i>Peripatopsis overbergiensis</i> Species of velvet worm

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References

  1. Oliveira, I.; Hering, L. & Mayer, G. "Updated Onychophora checklist". Onychophora Website. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ruhberg, Hilke (1985). Die Peripatopsidae (Onychophora) : Systematik, Ökologie, Chorologie und phylogenetische Aspekte (in German). Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart. p. 147. ISBN   3-510-55023-4. OCLC   14872354.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Horst, R. (1923). "Paraperipatus keiensis n. sp". Videnskabelgie Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening i Kjøbenhavn. 76: 119–121 via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. Leloup, E. (1931). "Paraperipatus leopoldi nov. nom.". Résultats scientifiques du voyage aux Indes orientales néerlandaises de LL. AA. RR. le prince et la princesse Léopold de Belgique (PDF) (in French). Vol. 2. Bruxelles: Musée royale d'histoire naturelle de Belgique. pp. 1–14.
  5. 1 2 Monge-Nájera, Julián (1994). "Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora)". Revista de Biología Tropical. 42 (3): 611–622. ISSN   2215-2075.
  6. Oliveira, I. S.; Read, V. M. S. J.; Mayer, G. (2012). "A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (211): 1–70. Bibcode:2012ZooK..211....1O. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.211.3463 . PMC   3426840 . PMID   22930648.
  7. Oliveira, Ivo de Sena (2023-11-16). "An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys. 1184: 133–260 [212]. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1184.107286 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   10680090 . PMID   38023768.