Eucarlia tampolo, Wesener, 2024

Wesener, Thomas, 2024, Five new species and numerous locality records of Spirobolida millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae), Zootaxa 5529 (3), pp. 461-486 : 475-477

? Eucarlia tampolo sp. nov.

Fig. 10A–H

Material examined. Holotype: 1 M, FMNH-INS 7796 , Toamasina, Station Forestiere de Tampolo , 10 m, 17°17.2’ S, 49°24.5’ E, coll. S.M. Goodman, pitfalls, 3–16.iv.1997.

Paratypes: 4 M (mature?), 5 F, FMNH-INS 7796 , same data as holotype .

Derivatio nominis. tampolo, noun in apposition, after the littoral forest of Tampolo, the type and only known locality of the species.

Diagnosis.? Eucarlia tampolo sp. nov. shares the presence of a strong transverse ridge across the mentum, separating a basal, transversely striate part and an apical, smooth part, which is recessed when the gnathochilarium is viewed from below ( Fig. 10A ) with species of the genera Flagellobolus Wesener, 2009 , Riotintobolus Wesener, 2009 , Pseudocentrobolus Wesener, 2009 , Granitobolus Wesener, 2009 , Caprobolus Wesener, 2009 , Alluviobolus Wesener, 2009 , Ostinobolus Wesener, 2009 and Zehnterobolus Wesener, 2009. Sperm canal of posterior gonopod apically free ( Fig. 10H, I ), like in species of Flagellobolus and Caprobolus , but differs from all known Malagasy Spirobolida species in the combination of a simple wide anterior gonopod lacking projections or processes ( Fig. 10F, G )) with a special shape of the posterior gonopod ( Figs 10H, I ).

Description

Measurements: All 43+0 rings. Male holotype 38 mm long, 3.2 wide. Largest female circa 46 mm long, 4.8 mm wide. Habitus small and slender, body rings like Granitobolus Wesener, 2009 , thick.

Colour strongly faded, mesozonites dark, metazonite white. Collum dark except for posterior margin. Anal scale and part of anal valves white, rest of telson black. Legs and antennae whitish.

Head: Eyes very large, male eyes with 35 ommatidia, arranged in 7 rows, female similar. Antennae short, male antennae reaching back to third, female to second ring. Mandible basal joint without projection. Gnathochilarium with ridge, stipites each with three marginal setae, lamellae linguales each with two setae located behind one another ( Fig. 10A ). Female leg 1 with fused coxo-sternite ( Fig. 10B ), leg 2 also with coxo-sternite, coxal part elongated ( Fig. 10C ). Legs 8+ in both sexes at each podomere, except tarsus, with single ventral spine. Tarsus in male ( Fig. 10D ) with tarsal pad (except for posterior legs) and a pair of ventral spines. Claw large, apical spine quite small ( Fig. 10D ).

Ozopores starting at ring 6, located on or even posterior of suture ( Fig. 10E ).

Telson without projecting preanal scale, inconspicuous subanal scale, anal valves with weak lips ( Fig. 10E ).

Vulvae bivalve-like, posterior valve slightly overlapping anterior valve.

Male coxae 3–7 unmodified, but tarsi 3 - midbody legs with a tarsal pad.

Anterior gonopods sternite well-rounded, not protruding as high as coxite process ( Fig. 10F ). Sternal apodemes ( Fig. 10F ) short. Coxite wide, projecting mesally into a wide, broadly-rounded process ( Fig. 10F ), tip of process slightly overreaching telopodite process mesally but not apically ( Fig. 10G ). Telopodite apically expanding into a wide, well-rounded process, process almost as wide as base of telopodite ( Fig. 10G ).

Posterior gonopod clearly separated into coxite and telopodite, with coxite greatly extended and longer than telopodite ( Fig. 10I ). Sternite small but sclerotized, triangular ( Fig. 10I ). Coxite mesally with a single groove, elongated into a long stem ( Fig. 10I ). Telopodite long, but shorter than elongated coxite ( Fig. 10I ), basally deeply divided into two branches, main branch and mesal branch, both curved mesally ( Fig. 10I ). Main branch slender on whole length, apical part slightly slenderer than basal 3/4, with well-rounded tip weakly curved towards mesal branch, sclerotized. Mesal branch with basal half sclerotized, apical half twice as wide as basal half and membranous ( Fig. 10H ). Tip of mesal branch with two openings of the sperm canal ( Fig. 10I ), the upper canal strongly and freely projecting mesally from membranous part of branch ( Fig. 10H ).

Remarks. The littoral forest of Tampolo is currently also the only known locality of the critically endangered Tampolo giant pill-millipede Zoosphaerium tampolo Wesener, 2009 ( Rudolf & Wesener 2017c).

Figures

FIGURE 10.?Eucarliatampolo, sp. nov., holotype (FMMC 7796), drawings.A. Gnathochilarium, ventral view; B. Coxosternite of female leg 1, posterior view; C. Coxosternite of female leg 2, posterior view; D. Male midbody leg, posterior view; E. Posterior body end with telson, lateral view; F. Anterior gonopod, anterior view; G. Anterior gonopod, posterior view; H. Right posterior gonopod, tip, anterior view; I. Right posterior gonopod, posterior view. Abbreviations: av = paraprocts; Cx = coxa; Cx-St = coxosternite; cx = coxite; Fe = femur; L = ledge on mentum of gnathochilarium; LL = lamella linguales; main = main branch of posterior telopod; Me = mentum; mes = mesal branch of posterior gonopod; pre = epiproct; Pre = prefemur; Po = postfemur; st = sternite; St = stipites; sub = hypoproct; t = telopodite; Ta = tarsus; ta-p = tarsal pad; Ti = tibia; Vu = vulva. Scale bars = 1 mm.