Chiraziulus troglopersicus, Reboleira & Hosseini & Sadeghi & Enghoff, 2015

Reboleira, Ana Sofia P. S., Hosseini, Mohamad Javad Malek, Sadeghi, Saber & Enghoff, Henrik, 2015, Highly disjunct and highly infected millipedes - a new cave-dwelling species of Chiraziulus (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Cambalidae) from Iran and notes on Laboulbeniales ectoparasites, European Journal of Taxonomy 146, pp. 1-18 : 11-13

Chiraziulus troglopersicus sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B8EF3E4B-E658-4CC6-B4DE-8045734547EE

Figs 1 , 9–10

Diagnosis

A species of Chiraziulus , differing from C. kaiseri by anterior gonopods not presenting a triangular shape in anterior view, by having equally sized anterior and posterior lobes of anterior gonopod telepodites, and by posterior gonopod having a spine-like process ending in a halberd-like structure.

Etymology

From Greek trōglo: cave, common prefix for terrestrial cave-dwelling animals, and Latin persicus: Iranian.

Type material

Holotype

IRAN: ♂, Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province , Khaeiz protected area, Mt. Khaeiz , 45 km southwest of Dehdasht city, Neyneh Cave, 30°40’18” N, 50°21’71” E, altitude 770 m (gonopods coated for SEM), 17 May 2012 ( ZMUC).

Paratypes

IRAN: same data as the holotype: 4 ♀♀ ( ZMUC); 1 ♀ and 3 ♂♂ (ZM CBSU).

Description

Males: 41–44 podous + 2 apodous rings, diameter 1.39–1.64 mm. Females: 39–51 podous + 2 apodous rings, and 53 + 0 podous rings, diameter 1.38–1.75 mm. Habitus typical of the genus, eyes absent. Six supralabral setae. Ozopore starting on 5 th body ring (except for one female paratype that presents teratological traits and in which ozopores start on 6 th body ring).

Male ( Fig. 9 )

Anterior gonopods ( Fig. 9 A–D) with remarkably long flagellum ( Fig. 9A , D–E), making a full loop from its insertion point on posterior face of anterior gonopod coxites pointing distad. Anterior gonopods with blade-shaped and apically rounded coxite (not of a triangular shape in anterior view as in C. kaiseri ) ( Fig. 9 A–D); each coxite with 2 setae in mesal anterior view (s) ( Fig. 9B ) and a lateral ridge with 4 setae at mid-height (dp); external lateral margin slightly concave, with rugose-scaly microsculpture ( Fig. 9B ). Telepodite shorter than coxite, bi-lobed ( Figs. 9 A–D). Anterior and posterior lobes of telepodite (Ta and Tp) about the same size; anterior lobe with 8 setae, slightly concave on side facing posterior lobe; posterior lobe with 8 parallel setae. Flagellum (f) extremely long, covered with c. 5 µm long hair-like, retrorse processes and a pointed tip ( Fig. 9E ). Posterior gonopods ( Fig. 9 F–J) apically covered with setae and with a long slender spine-like process ending in a halberd-like expansion. Mesal sternal part of gonopods forming a trough covered with sharktooth-like denticles ( Fig. 9 I–J).

Habitat

The new species was discovered in the Neyneh Cave ( Fig. 10 ), located in the mountainous Khaeiz protected area, in Zagros Mountains, southwestern Iran. Neyneh Cave is situated in the warmer part of the province where the temperature at the surface reaches to 50°C during the summer. The temperature inside the cave is 25°C; the relative humidity is very high, 95–99.9%, and the CO 2 level is 613–700 ppm. There was no water flow in the cave. This cave is located in cliffs and has more than 700 m of horizontal maze development. It is located in an area with difficult access, thus protected from human pressure; however, there is some destruction due to the activities of treasure hunters. Chiraziulus troglopersicus sp. nov. specimens were found in complete darkness, crawling on guano and cave walls. Some colonies of bats produce enough guano to cover the cave soil, providing an important source of organic matter for this subterranean trophic chain. Species richness in Neyneh Cave is relatively high and includes several arthropod taxa (Acari, Araneae, Oniscidea, Collembola, Orthoptera, Coleoptera ), as well as some vertebrate taxa, such as gekkos, bats and hystricid rodents.

Figures

Fig. 1. Habitus of Chiraziulus troglopersicus sp. nov., paratype.

Fig. 9. Chiraziulus troglopersicus sp. nov., ♂, paratype, gonopods. Scanning electron micrographs. A. Anterior gonopods in posterior view. B. Detail of the process on the tip of an anterior gonopod in posterior view. C. Anterior gonopods in anterior view. D. As C, in apical view. E. Tip of the flagellum. F. Posterior gonopods in lateral view. G. Tip of the long spine-like process of the posterior gonopod. H. Posterior gonopods in posterior view. I. As H, in anterior view. J. Detail of the mesal sternal part of the gonopods. Abbreviations: C = coxal process; T = telepodite; f = flagellum; s = setae; dp = distal process. Scale bars: A–D, F, H–I = 10 μm; E, G, J = 1 μm.

Fig. 10. Chiraziulus troglopersicus sp. nov., habitat; Neyneh Cave in Zagros Mountains, Iran.