Toojah, Cruz-López, 2021

Cruz-López, Jesús A., 2021, Two new genera and two new species of troglobitic harvestmen of Stygnopsidae (Opiliones, Laniatores, Gonyleptoidea) from Oaxaca, Mexico, with notes on selected morphological characters, Zoosystema 43 (5), pp. 101-112 : 106-107

Genus Toojah n. gen.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:637DACBD-CADC-4FC1-B979-B5D9A5996E72

TYPE SPECIES. — Toojah cimutaa n. sp.

DIAGNOSIS. — Toojah n. gen. can be recognized from the other Stygnopsinae taxa with lateral clear areas in the middle of scutum (i.e. Panzosus Roewer, 1949 , Paramitraceras Pickard-Cambridge, 1905 , Philora Goodnight & Goodnight, 1954 , Troglostygnopsis and Sbordonia Šilhavý, 1977 ), by the following combination of characters: scutum type zeta (ζ) with the mid-bulge not marked, lateral margins straight, posterior margin of scutum wider than mid-bulge section giving the appearance of trapeze, lateral clear areas teardropshaped; ocularium at frontal margin, elevated and rounded apically, no eyes; pars distalis of penis swollen, with the flimsy lamina thick in lateral view, apical margin ventrally curved and presence of six pairs of microsetae T2 on the middle of flimsy lamina. Troglostygnopsis is the most similar genus to Toojah n. gen., both are eyeless and have lateral clear areas, but they can be differentiated by the following characters: ocularium narrow in Troglostygnopsis ( Šilhavý 1974: fig. 14), whereas the ocularium is apically rounded and wide in Toojah n. gen.; lateral clear areas in Troglostygnopsis are large and triangular ( Šilhavý 1974: fig. 20), whereas in Toojah n. gen. they are small and teardrop-shaped; pedipalpal femur of Troglostygnopsis is dorsally armed by a row of spiniform tubercles ( Šilhavý 1974: fig. 14), whereas in Toojah n. gen. it is unarmed; penis in Troglostygnopsis has a Paramitraceras -pattern with multiple spatulate MS A + B, a small pair of MS E1 and two pairs of MS D (Cruz-López & Francke 2017: fig. 42D-F), whereas in Toojah n. gen. MS A+ B groups are recognizable from each other, both with two pairs of large MS E, MS D absent and microsetae T2 on flimsy lamina present.

ETYMOLOGY. — Name taken from the Chinantecan word: ‘too jah’ that means cave, gender feminine.