Cryptops (Cryptops) speleorex, Vahtera & Stoev & Akkari, 2020

Vahtera, Varpu, Stoev, Pavel & Akkari, Nesrine, 2020, Five million years in the darkness: A new troglomorphic species of Cryptops Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha) from Movile Cave, Romania, ZooKeys 1004, pp. 1-26 : 1

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1004.58537
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D0B8A000-E559-4FB6-B5D5-4DAAA79F2487
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/8A28E7DF-168B-485C-8A0C-CD7EB218E650
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:8A28E7DF-168B-485C-8A0C-CD7EB218E650
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Cryptops (Cryptops) speleorex
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Cryptops (Cryptops) speleorex sp. nov. Figs 1A, B View Figure 1 , 2A View Figure 2 , 3A View Figure 3 , 4A, C View Figure 4 , 5A View Figure 5 , 6A-C View Figure 6

Previous records.

Cryptops anomalans : Negrea, 1993: p. 87 and all subsequent records ( Negrea 1994, 1997, 2004; Negrea and Minelli 1994; Sarbu et al. 2019).

Material examined.

Holotype: Romania: Constanța County, Mangalia, Movile Cave (Peștera Movile), Lake Hall, June, 2014, leg. S. Sarbu, 1 ex. (NMNHS, Myriapoda Collection Id: 10 812); Paratypes: same locality and collector leg. S. Serban, 1 ex. (NHMW10177); same locality, 22.XI.2017, leg. A. Hillebrand, 1 ad. ex., identified as C. anomalans by Stefan Baba (ISER); 1 ad. ex., same locality, date and collector, identified as C. anomalans by Stefan Baba (http://mus.utu.fi/ZMUT.MYR-TYPE001).

Diagnosis.

A species morphologically similar to Cryptops anomalans , but differing from it by the much elongated antennae and legs, generally less setose forcipules and body, coxopleures with more than 300 coxal pores (vs. less than 100 in Cryptops anomalans ), ultimate leg with 13-17 saw teeth on tibia (usually 7-10, occasionally 12 in Cryptops anomalans ), and larger and elongated spiracles (see Table 2 View Table 2 ). Genetically, Cryptops speleorex sp. nov. differs from the C. anomalans specimens from Romania and Serbia by 9.2-12.2% in COI and 6.6-8.7% in 16S rDNA.

Description (holotype).

Length (anterior margin of head plate to posterior margin of telson) approx. 52 mm (46 mm in an adult paratype) (Figs 1A, B View Figure 1 ). Head plate (Fig. 2A View Figure 2 ) 3.2 mm long, 3.4 mm broad; antenna approx. 10 mm long. Body yellow-brownish (Fig. 1A View Figure 1 ); antennae and legs pale yellow; posterior edge of head and tergites with irregular light brownish band, darker in the middle (Figs 1B View Figure 1 , 2A View Figure 2 ); forcipular tarsungulum and leg claws dark brown. Head plate overlaps approx. 1/3 of tergite 1; head plate slightly broader than long (3.2 mm × 3.4 mm), posterior corners strongly rounded, sides convex outwards, anterior apex slightly indented at the base of antennae, bisected by longitudinal median furrow; paramedian sutures diverging anteriorly on head plate; head punctate, sparsely covered with fine setae.

Antenna relatively long, extending to the middle of tergite 5 when folded backward (Figs 1A View Figure 1 , 2A View Figure 2 ); composed of 17 articles; article length formula: 17<1<2=16<3=4=13=14<5=6=11=12<7-10; basal two articles relatively stout, in general articles increase in length to a maximum at articles 7-10, then gradually shortening; article 17 is more than half length of article 16 (approx. 60%); articles 5-10 much longer than wide, length up to 3 times the width. All surfaces of antennal articles with scattered long setae, densest on articles 1-3; short, fine setae abundant on all articles except for articles 1 and 2, as well as basal part of 3.

Clypeus with 2 setae; prelabral setae in one row of 21-22; 4 short setae between clypeus and prelabral row, irregularly or more evenly scattered. Labral mid piece with a short, but well-developed tooth; side pieces rounded (Fig. 3A View Figure 3 ).

Forcipular segment anterior margin of coxosternite convex on each side, with a weak median diastema, fringed by 2 marginal setae on each side. Surface of coxosternite (Fig. 3A View Figure 3 ) covered with scarce short setae, 10-15 in total; trochanteroprefemur stout, median margin slightly expanded proximally, with 4 setae; femur and tibia very short; tarsungulum long, curved, almost equal in length to trochanteroprefemur’s height.

Maxilla 2 with a well-developed pretarsus; dorsal brush white, dense, situated on the distalmost part of article 3 of telopodite. Proximal side of first maxillary telopodite covered by 10-15 setae (Fig. 3A View Figure 3 ).

Tergites Tergite 1 with a complete anterior transverse suture and cruciform sutures (Figs 1A View Figure 1 , 2A View Figure 2 ). Oblique sutures present on tergites 2-8; complete paramedian sutures on tergites 2-20; lateral crescentic sulci visible on tergites 6-20; all tergites nearly devoid of setae, occasionally individual scattered short setae. Tergite 21 longer than wide, posterior margin subtriangular, with rounded apex; shallow median depression along posterior half of tergite (Fig. 1B View Figure 1 ).

Sternites 1-2 and 19-21 without transverse and median sutures; S 3-18 with median longitudinal and curved transverse sutures, more prominent from sternite 5 onward (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ). All sternites covered by minute setae. Endosternite: subtrapezoidal, lateral margins very slightly convex, posterior margin slightly concave in the middle; surface with several (6-10) moderately long and sparse setae.

Spiracles strongly elongated on T3, reducing in size towards the posterior end of the body; slit-like (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ).

Coxopleural pore field elliptical, covering 4/5 of surface, with more than 310 coxal pores (317-320), extending nearly to posterior margin of coxopleuron (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ). Approx. 15-20 sparse spiniform setae emerging between pores and from the dorsal and posterior margins of coxopleuron.

Legs generally long; leg 10: prefemur 1.47 mm long, femur 1.59 mm, tibia 1.76 mm, tarsus 2.35 mm, pretarsus 0.7 mm. All tarsi single (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ). Walking legs (Fig. 6A, B View Figure 6 ) smooth, generally poor in setae; spiniform setae sparsely present on the surface of prefemur, and occasionally also on the femur; all pretarsi long, with an anterior and posterior accessory spines of different size, the larger being 2/3rd of pretarsus; accessory spines absent on leg 21; 20 leg: prefemur, femur and tibia slightly swollen; femur and tibia being slightly concave at midlength; a specific field of dense, minute setae present on the ventral, lateral and mesal sides of prefemur, femur and part of tibia.

Ultimate leg (Fig. 6C View Figure 6 ): prefemur 3.61 mm long, femur 3.05 mm, tibia 1.94 mm, tarsus 1: 1.28 mm, tarsus 2: 2.22, pretarsus 0.56 mm.; numerous robust spiniform setae on the ventral, mesal and less so on lateral and dorsal sides of prefemur; spiniform setae present also on the ventral and mesal sides of femur; tibia, tarsus 1 and tarsus 2 covered by tiny dense setae on all sides; 13-14 saw teeth on tibia (17 in an adult paratype) and 5-6 on tarsus 1.

Etymology.

The species epithet is a noun in apposition, meaning "king of the cave", referring to the species top position in the food chain of the Movile ecosystem.

Distribution.

The species is hitherto known only from the aphotic zone of the Cave Movile in the southern part of Romanian Dobrogea.

Ecological remarks.

Cryptops speleorex sp. nov. is the largest invertebrate species in Movile Cave. It has been observed feeding on terrestrial isopods ( Trachelipus troglobius Tabacaru & Boghean, 1989, Armadillidium tabacarui Gruia, Iavorschi & Sarbu, 1994), smaller beetles, Diplura or spiders ( Sarbu et al. 2019).