Cryptops (Cryptops) malabarensis, Balan & Sureshan & Khanna, 2012

Balan, Dhanya, Sureshan, P. M. & Khanna, Vinod, 2012, A new species of centipede of the genus Cryptops Leach (Scolopendromorpha: Cryptopidae) from southern Western Ghats with a key to the species of Cryptops in India, Journal of Threatened Taxa 4 (4), pp. 2510-2514 : 2511-2514

Cryptops (Cryptops) malabarensis sp. nov. ( Figs. 2-3 and Images 1–5 )

Material examined

Holotype: 01.viii.2011, 11032 ’40.59”N & 75055 ’33.40”E, elevation 641.2m, Urakkuzhy, Kakkayam, Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India, coll. Dhanya Balan, (ZSI/ WGRC /I-R/INV 2111) ( Images 1–5 ).

Paratypes: 29.viii.2011, three specimens, from type locality, coll. Dhanya Balan (ZSI/ WGRC /I-R/ INV 2080, 2108, 2109) ; 01.iv.2011 two specimens, 11030 ’26.98”N & 75048 ’24”E, elevation 145m, Narayamkulam , Calicut District, Kerala, India, coll. P.K. Umesh (ZSI/ WGRC /I-R/INV 2079) .

Diagnosis: A species of Cryptops lacking anterior transverse suture on Tergite-1; tergite paramedian sutures from tergite 4 or 5–20; absence of saw teeth on the ultimate femur ( C. hortensis group); ultimate leg tibia with 4–7 saw teeth on the tibia and 3–4 on tarsus one; no accessory spurs associated with the tarsal claw.

Description of holotype

Body length 23mm. Colour (before and after preservation) greyish-brown with dark subcutaneous pigment on tergites. Ultimate legs yellow.

Antennae composed of 17 articles; basal two articles relatively stout with long setae distally. An irregular whorl of long setae on the proximal end of articles 1–3, the rest with setae scattered irregularly, not in whorls but the dorsal middle region is not densely covered. Short, fine setae abundant from 6 th

2 - Cephalic plate and Tergite-1; 3 - Sternite suture

article onwards ( Images 4 & 5 ).

Cephalic plate and tergite one without sutures, tergite one overlying the posterior edge of the cephalic plate ( Fig. 2 ). Anterior edge of forcipular coxosternite weakly bilobed ( Image 1 ) and with four long and one small setae on each side. Tergite paramedian sutures from tergite 4 or 5–20. Tergite 21 without sutures and with slightly angular posterior margin. Sternites with longitudinal and transverse sulci, longitudinal sulci longer than the transverse ( Fig. 3 ). Sternite 21 with sides converging very slightly and straight posterior margin ( Images 2 & 8 ). Legs 1–19 with undivided tarsi. No accessory spurs associated with the tarsal claw ( Image 9 ).

Coxopleuron with nine large pores and with at least three minute setae in porefield; three or four fine setae on posterior margin and upto five between this and porefield. Posterior area of coxopleuron is poreless.

Leg 20 with dense fine setae ventrally on prefemur, femur and tibia in all specimens. Ultimate legs with strong setae on anterior, ventral and posterior surfaces of prefemur and on ventral and posterior surfaces of femur. Median longitudinal glabrous area absent. No distal tubercle on tibia and tarsus. No saw tooth on the femur ( Image 4 ); seven on the tibia and three on the tarsus 1 ( Image 3 ).

Additional information from paratypes

Body length of paratypes varies between 11–21 mm. Antennae of leftside is damaged in 2079. When compared to the holotype, the number of saw teeth on the ultimate leg tibia varies from four (2079), five (2080) or six (2108, 2109) and on tarsus 1 the variation is either three (2080, 2108, 2109) or four (2079) saw teeth. The number of coxopleural pores are not clearly countable.

Etymology

The species is named after the type locality “Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary”, Kerala, India .

6 - Dorsal view of antenna; 7 - Basal antennal articles; Sternite-21; Pretarsus of leg from middle trunk

Ecological observations

Habitat: The specimens were collected from moist deciduous forest tracts of southern Western Ghats. All specimens were found in loose soil, about 4–5 cm below the surface. Ecological parameters of the two collection localities during the period of March–April 2011 are provided in Table 1.

Discussion

Cryptops malabarensis sp. nov. is conspicuously different from the other described Indian species of Cryptops included in the C. doriae group (having saw teeth on the ultimate leg femur); and falls in the Old World C. hortensis group of Lewis (2011) (those lacking saw teeth on the ultimate leg femur), which have not yet been reported from India. C. malabarensis sp. nov. closely resembles C. decoratus Lawrence (1960) , which is also

Key to the Cryptops species of India

1. Sternites, at least on some anterior segments with trigonal sutures ………............................………….…….... …………………….………….......................................……(Subgenus Trigonocryptops ) C. (T) orientalis Jangi

- Sternites without trigonal sutures (Subgenus Cryptops )..................................................................................2

2. Ultimate leg femur with saw teeth…………….……….......................................................................................3

- Ultimate leg femur without saw teeth……… ……………..............................………. C. malabarensis sp. nov.

3. Tergite 1 with an anterior transverse suture. ........................................................................ C. kempi Silvesteri

- Tergite 1 without anterior transverse suture.....................................................................................................4

4. Each side of forcipular coxosternite convex and with 12 submarginal setae….......…… C. setosior Chamberlin

- Each side of forcipular coxosternite only slightly convex with 3 or 4 long and one or 2 small setae ……......… …………...…………………………………………………………………...................…………… C. doriae Pocock

a member of the Old World C. hortensis group. The two species share the absence of sutures on the cephalic plate and tergite one; anterior margin of coxosternite almost straight, an overlapping number of coxopleural pores (7–9), a similar number of setae in the porefield (at least three) and ultimate leg characters such as prefemur with long fine setae dorsally, absence of a median longitudinal glabrous area, tibia with four and tarsus 1 with two saw teeth. However the new species differs from the holotype description of C. decoratus , in having no median ridges on the tergites, no posterior median depression on tergite 21 and the absence of accessory spurs on the pretarsi. C. decoratus is a Malagasy species closely related to C. melanotypus Chamberlin, 1941 from the Philippines, Mauritius and the Seychelles but Lewis (2011) was unsure of their exact status. However, the strong similarity between the new species and C. decoratus and C. melanotypus suggests dispersal of a group of closely allied species over a wide area.

Figures

Figures 2–3. Cryptops (Cryptops) malabarensis sp. nov. (ZSI/WGRC/I-R/INV 2108)

Images 1–5. Cryptops (Cryptops) malabarensis sp. nov. (ZSI/WGRC/I-R/INV 2109). © WGRC, ZSI, Calicut 1 - Forcipular coxosternum; 2 - Cephalic plate ventral; Sternite-21; Prefemur and femur; Tarsus and tibia

Images 6–9. Cryptops (Cryptops) malabarensis sp. nov. (ZSI/WGRC/I-R/INV 2080). © WGRC, ZSI, Calicut