Indohya furtiva Harvey & Burger, 2023

Harvey, Mark S., Burger, Mieke A. A., Abrams, Kym M., Finston, Terrie L., Huey, Joel A. & Perina, Giulia, 2023, The systematics of the pseudoscorpion genus Indohya (Pseudoscorpiones: Hyidae) in Australia, Zootaxa 5342 (1), pp. 1-119 : 73-74

Indohya furtiva Harvey & Burger , n. sp.

( Figs. 1–3 , 4 , 35 , 36 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:467E32EB-C7C9-41FC-95A1-41E4589EFC2A

Material examined. Holotype tritonymph. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: between Karratha and Millstream- Chichester National Park, 35 km SSE. of Karratha , 21°02′29.16″S, 116°55′47.76″E, 19–27 June 2011, Tullgren funnel, leaf litter, S. White, F. Bokhari ( WAM T114676 ).

Other material. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 deutonymph, collected with holotype ( WAM T151370 ) .

Diagnosis. Indohya furtiva is an epigean species with eyes that differs from all other Indohya species for which sequence data are available by a synapomorphy in COI mtDNA: at base 300 there is a substitution to G. The single sequenced specimen differs from all other sequenced specimens of Indohya by 13.8–28.7% (Table 2).

Description (tritonymph). Colour: pale, yellow-white.

Chelicera: hand with 6 setae, movable finger with 1 sub-medial seta.

Pedipalp: trochanter 2.35 ×, femur 3.59 ×, patella 2.93 ×, chela (with pedicel) 3.83 ×, chela (without pedicel) 3.64 ×, hand (without pedicel) 1.62 × longer than broad, movable finger 1.25 × longer than hand (without pedicel). Fixed finger with 7 trichobothria ( Fig. 36A ), eb, esb, est, et, ib, ist and it present; movable finger with 3 trichobothria; b, st and t present, st much closer to t than to b. Fixed chelal finger with 36 juxtadentate teeth, distal teeth quadrate, followed by 12 acute basal teeth, movable chelal finger with 8 low, juxtadentate teeth.

Cephalothorax: carapace 0.88 × longer than broad; with 14 setae, arranged 4: 2: 4: 2: 2, including posterior margin with 2 setae; smooth; without furrows; with 2 pairs of eyes. Coxal chaetotaxy 4: 4: 4: 5.

Legs: femur + patella IV 2.90 × longer than broad; metatarsi and tarsi not fused.

Abdomen: tergal chaetotaxy 4: 6: 7: 7: 7: 8: 8: 8: 6: 6 (including 4 tactile setae): 5 (including 2 tactile setae): 2; sternal chaetotaxy 0: (2) 6 (2): (3) 6 (3): 11: 11: 11: 11: 11: 8 (including 2 tactile setae): 5 (including 2 tactile setae): 2.

Dimensions (mm): holotype ( WAM T114676 ). Body length 1.86. Pedipalp : trochanter 0.385 / 0.100 , femur 0.485 / 0.135, patella 0.395 / 0.135, chela (with pedicel) 0.900 / 0.235, chela (without pedicel) 0.855, hand (without pedicel) length 0.380, movable finger length 0.475. Carapace 0.450 / 0.510 . Leg IV: femur + patella 0.420 / 0.145.

Description (deutonymph). Colour: Very pale, yellow-white.

Chelicera: hand with 5 setae, movable finger with 1 sub-medial seta.

Pedipalp: trochanter 2.40 ×, femur 4.16 ×, patella 2.63 ×, chela (with pedicel) 4.07 ×, chela (without pedicel) 3.93 ×, hand (without pedicel) 1.70 × longer than broad, movable finger 1.25 × longer than hand (without pedicel). Fixed finger with 6 trichobothria ( Fig. 36B ), eb, est, et, ib, ist and it present; movable finger with 2 trichobothria, b and t present. Fixed chelal finger 25 teeth. Fixed chelal finger distal teeth quadrate, followed by 7 acute basal teeth. Movable chelal finger 8 teeth. Movable chelal finger low, or juxtadentate.

Cephalothorax: carapace 1.33 × longer than broad; with 14 setae, arranged 4: 2: 4: 2: 2; without furrows; with 2 pairs of eyes. Coxal chaetotaxy 4: 4: 3: 4.

Legs: metatarsi and tarsi not fused.

Abdomen: tergal chaetotaxy 4: 5: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6 (including 2 tactile setae): 4 (including 2 tactile setae): 2; sternal chaetotaxy 0: (1)? (1): (2)? (2): 9: 7: 7: 7: 6: 6: 5 (including 2 tactile setae): 2.

Dimensions (mm): WAM T151370 . Body length 1.30. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.180 / 0.075 , femur 0.395 / 0.095, patella 0.250 / 0.095, chela (with pedicel) length 0.610 / 0.150, chela (without pedicel) length 0.590, hand (without pedicel) length 0.255, movable finger length 0.320. Carapace 0.340 / 0.255.

Distribution and remarks. Indohya furtiva is only represented by two nymphs but based on available sequence data is distinct from all other Pilbara species. It has only been found at a single location south of Karratha ( Fig. 4 ). The species was previously known by WAM identification code Indohya ‘PSE178’.

Conservation assessment. Indohya furtiva has only been found at a single epigean locality in the north-western Pilbara. It is unlikely to be restricted to this site, and cannot be assessed using the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2012) without targeted surveys in the region.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the cryptic nature of this species, which was only confirmed using sequence data (furtivus, Latin, stolen, secret, concealed) ( Brown 1956).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of Hyidae and other neobisioids, based on alignment of concatenated COI, 18S and 28S. Ultrafast bootstrap values are presented for nodes greater than 80%.

FIGURE 2. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of Australian Indohya, using COI, 18S and 28S concatenated dataset. Bootstrap values are presented for all nodes. The genes amplified for each specimen are depicted with black squares in the gene matrix.

FIGURE 3. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of Australian Indohya, using COI. Bootstrap values are presented for all nodes.

FIGURE 4. Map of north-western Australia depicting recorded distributions of the epigean species of Indohya from the Pilbara.

FIGURE 35. Indohya furtiva Harvey & Burger, n. sp., holotype tritonymph (WAM T114676); A, dorsal; B, ventral; C, cephalothorax, dorsal. Scale lines = 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 36. Indohya furtiva Harvey & Burger, n. sp.: A, left chela, retrolateral, holotype tritonymph (WAM T114676); B, left chela, retrolateral, deutonymph (WAM T151370). Scale lines = 0.2 mm.