Parajulus Humbert

Shelley, Rowland M., 2008, Way Down South: The milliped family Parajulidae (Julida: Parajulini) in Mexico and Central America; first records from El Salvador and the Baja California Peninsula, Zootaxa 1893, pp. 1-37 : 9-10

Genus Parajulus Humbert & de Saussure, 1869

Parajulus Humbert & de Saussure, 1869:155. de Saussure & Humbert, 1872:93 –95, 182. Bollman, 1887a:32, 44; 1887b:226; 1893:119,138. Chamberlin, 1922:19; 1943:30 Jeekel, 1971:172. Mauriès, 1972:159. Hoffman, 1980:108; 1999:161. Shelley et al., 2000:50.

Paraiulus Latzel, 1884:55 . Pocock, 1903:54 –55. Loomis, 1968a:74.

Type species. P. o l m e c u s, Humbert & de Saussure, 1869, by monotypy.

Potential diagnostic features. The apical branching of the large pg caudal projection and the absence of spinules around the opening of the seminal canal.

Component Species. One.

Remarks. As noted by Hoffman (1999), Mauriès (1972) did not detect a seminal canal in the types of P. olmecus and concluded that there was none in Parajulus . I too did not find one, but I was unable to fully clear the pgs; perhaps Mauriès did not clear the posterior gonopod or do so for a long enough time. The type specimens have fibrils that project varying distances beyond the short, anterior branch, and I dissected a second male to confirm this. Fibrils occur only within the seminal canal, so their presence in P. o l m e c u s is prima facie evidence of such; perhaps it is short and difficult to observe, particularly in a gonopod that has been incompletely cleared.

No other nominal species even vaguely resembles P. olmecus , so Parajulus must presently be regarded as a monotypic genus.