Draculoides karenbassettae Abrams and Harvey, 2020

Abrams, Kym M., Huey, Joel A., Hillyer, Mia J., Didham, Raphael K. & Harvey, Mark S., 2020, A systematic revision of Draculoides (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) of the Pilbara, Western Australia, Part I: the Western Pilbara, Zootaxa 4864 (1), pp. 1-75 : 50-54

Draculoides karenbassettae Abrams and Harvey , n. sp.

( Figs. 1–8 , 26–28 )

Zoobank Code: http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 99E6E90D-B530-4853-B1E3-E4BFB9AA908D

Material examined. Holotype male. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°38’46.01”S, 116°08’19.07”E, 4 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark (Phoenix Environmental Sciences, PE:16433) ( WAM T143338 ) (DNA: none).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♂, c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 2140’03.87”S, 116°08’03.65”E, 29 April 2013, bore scrape, E.S. Volschenk (Phoenix Environmental Sciences, PE:7836) ( WAM T143334 ) ; 1 ♀, c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°38’47.21”S, 116°08’30.95”E, 29 April 2013, 3 May 2013, bore scrape, E.S. Volschenk ( WAM T147346 ) ; 1 ♀, ca. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°38’47.21”S, 116°08’30.95”E, 29 April 2013 – 3 May 2013, bore scrape, E.S. Volschenk ( WAM T143333 ) .

Other material. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 2 juveniles, c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°38’42.51”S, 116°08’10.62”E, 4 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark ( WAM T143337 ) ; 1 juvenile, c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°37’57.53”S, 116°08’23.91”E, 6 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark ( WAM T143342 ) ; 1 juvenile, c. 19 km WSW. of Pannawonica , 21°38’46.01”S, 116°08’19.07”E, 4 April 2014, bore scrape, J. Clark ( WAM T145213 ) .

Diagnosis. Draculoides karenbassettae differs from all other Draculoides by the distinctive shape of the male flagellum, particularly in lateral view. The flagellum is laterally compressed and most closely resembles the flagellum of D. piscivultus and D. brooksi in dorsal view but differs from the former in the rounded shape of the upper lobe (rectangular in D. piscivultus ) and from the latter by the presence of a dorsal lobe (absent in D. brooksi ). It most closely resembles the flagellum of D. piscivultus in lateral view due to the convex dorsal margin and the tapering tip, but differs from D. piscivultus by the concave dorsal margin that lacks the overhanging process found in D. piscivultus and by the posterior position of dm4, which is anterior and on the dorsal slope of the flagellum, below the overhanging process in D. piscivultus . Females differ from all other species of Draculoides by the anterior placement of dm1 with respect to vm2 and vl2 close to the posterior margin of the flagellum.

Description (adults). Colour. Yellow-brown; propeltidium, pedipalps and flagellum darker.

Cephalothorax. Propeltidium with 2+1 apical setae in a triangular formation on anterior process and 2 + 2 + 2 setae; eye spots absent. Mesopeltidia separated. Metapeltidium faintly divided. Anterior sternum with 12 (♂)(♀) setae (including 2 sternapophysial setae); posterior sternum triangular with 7 (♂)(♀) setae.

Chelicera. Fixed finger with 2 large teeth plus 5 (♂), 4 (♀) smaller teeth between these, 2 (♂), 1 (♀) tiny lateral teeth on proximal finger; membranous area between fixed and movable fingers with 3 large, lanceolate, terminally pilose setae (G1); G2 composed of 7 (♂)(♀) setae; G3 composed of 4 (♂)(♀) setae; internal face of chelicera with 3 (♂)(♀) short whip-like setae (G4); brush at base of fixed finger composed of 8 (♂), 7 (♀) setae (G5A), each densely pilose in distal half and G5B composed of 11 (♂), 9 (♀) setae; G6 with one seta; G7 composed of 4 (♂)(♀) setae. Movable finger serrula composed of ca.16 (♂), 17 (♀) long lamellae, blunt guard tooth present subdistally; 1 large accessory tooth present at two-thirds from base of serrula.

Pedipalp. Without apophyses; trochanter with sharply produced ventro-distal extension, ventral margin with ca. 8 stout setae, without mesal spur; tarsus and tibia without spines; tarsal spur present; claw 0.6 × length of tarsus.

Legs. Tarsus I with 6 segments; baso-dorsal margin of femur IV produced at about a 90° angle.

Abdomen. Chaetotaxy of tergite I: 2 macrosetae + 4 microsetae (microsetae diagonal), tergite II: 2 macrosetae + 6 microsetae (microsetae in column), tergites III–IX: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 4; segment XII with small dorsal process (♂ only).

Female genitalia. Two pairs of spermathecae with equal-sized lobes, each pair connected basally before connection with bursa ( Fig. 28G ), distally round; plicate; sparsely covered with small pores; gonopod short, circular, distally slightly bifurcate.

Flagellum. Male: in dorsal view, strongly laterally compressed ( Figs. 26 D–F, 28A–C); in lateral view, dorsal margin strongly convex, tapering to flat posterior region; ventral margin evenly rounded; 3 × longer than broad; seta dm1 situated dorso-medially, slightly closer to anterior margin; seta dm4 situated approximately midway between dl1 and dl3; dl1 between dl3 and vl1; dl3 on posterior margin; vm2 situated below vm1; vm5 situated slightly above dl1, midway between vl2 and vm3; 1 pair of microsetae near anterior end, and three pairs between vl1 and dl3. Female: 2.5 × longer than broad ( Figs. 27 D–F, 28D–F); seta dm1 situated in middle of second flagellomere, slightly anterior to vm2; setae dl1 tiny, situated posterior to vl1, dm4 situated subdistally, equidistant between dl1 and dl3; dl3 situated at posterior margin marginally more posterior than vl2, vm1 situated in line with vm2, vm3 situated closer to vm1 than to vm5, vm5 halfway between vm3 and vl2, left vm3 absent; vl1 situated posterior to vm3 and anterior to dl1; 1 pair of microsetae baso-laterally on flagellomere III.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype male (WAM T143338): Body length 3.75. Propeltidium 1.04/0.62. Chelicera 0.62. Flagellum 0.46/0.15. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.50, femur 0.46, patella 0.62, tibia 0.58, tarsus 0.19, claw 0.12, total excluding claw 2.35.

Paratype female (WAM T147346): Body length 3.80. Propeltidium 1.21/0.63. Chelicera 0.77. Flagellum 0.19/0.08. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.54, femur 0.62, patella 0.62, tibia 0.52, tarsus 0.29, claw 0.10, total excluding claw 2.58.

Variation. Body length (males) 3.37–3.75 (n = 2) (females) 3.51–3.80 (n = 2).

Remarks. No sequence data are available designate this new species. Draculoides karenbassettae is known from three locations north of Mesa G in the Robe River Valley, situated in the western edge of the Hamersley Range, Western Australia ( Fig. 1B ). The juvenile specimens listed above are associated with this species by locality.

Other names. WAM SCH040 ( Abrams et al., 2019), Phoenix Environmental Sciences DNA05.

Etymology. The specific epithet is named in honour of Karen Bassett, in recognition of her commitment to the Western Australian Museum.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of an area of the Pilbara described as “West Pilbara” for the purposes of this study, showing the distribution of the named Draculoides species. Inset maps show species distributions in finer detail encompassing areas A: Warramboo, Mesas A, B and C and “BudgieBore”; B: Bungaroo, Mesas G, H, J, K and L; C: Cochrane and Jewell, Kens Bore, Cane and Upper Cane River, Trinity Bore and Catho Well, Mt. Stuart Station; D: Middle Robe, Robe Valley; E: Bungaroo South, West Pit, Buckland Hills and Dragon deposit.

FIGURE 2. Maximum Likelihood tree, based on the reduced dataset. See Methods for details. Each terminal represents a single species or OTU, with named species in bold. Clades are identified using dashed boxes and shaded boxes encompass the species discussed in this study. Nodes with bootstrap support <80 are not shown, except for the common ancestor of the Draculoides radiation.

FIGURE 3. COI mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913085). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 4. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 3) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 5. 12S mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913012). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 6. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 5) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 7. ITS2 mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913105). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 8. Maximum Likelihood tree based on ITS2 mini-barcodes (Fig. 7) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 26. Draculoides karenbassettae sp. nov., holotype male (WAM T143338):A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 2 mm and also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 27. Draculoides karenbassettae sp. nov., paratype female (WAM T147346): A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 2 mm and also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 28. Draculoides karenbassettae sp. nov.: A–C, holotype male (WAM T143338): A. Flagellum, dorsal; B. Flagellum, ventral; C. Flagellum, lateral. D–G, paratype female (WAM T147346): D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral; G. Spermathecae, ventral. Scale bar A–C: 0.2 mm, D–F: 0.1 mm, G: 0.1 mm.