Eoperipatus horsti
| Eoperipatus horsti | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Family: | Peripatidae |
| Genus: | Eoperipatus |
| Species: | E. horsti
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eoperipatus horsti Evans, 1901
| |
Eoperipatus horsti is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatidae family.[1] Authorities have designated this velvet worm as the type species for the genus Eoperipatus, because among the species originally included in this genus, this species is the only one known from specimens of both sexes.[2] This species is found in Malaysia.[2]
Discovery
[edit]This species was first described in 1901 by Richard Evans of Jesus College at the University of Oxford. He based the original description of this species on eleven specimens (six males and five females). These specimens were found in 1899 in dry rotten wood inside dead trees in the state of Kelantan in West Malaysia.[3]
Description
[edit]The males of this species can reach 40 mm in length, and the females can reach 46 mm in length. Evans reports that the average length of his male specimens was 33.5 mm, the average length of his females was 35.4 mm, and the average length of all eleven of his specimens was 34 mm. Each blade of the jaw features two accessory teeth in addition to the main tooth. The inner blade also features nine or ten smaller denticles, separated from the accessory teeth by a diastema.[3]
The dorsal surface of this species is brown with pale spots and a dark brown line running down the middle of its back. The ventral surface ranges from pink to a yellowish grey. A row of whitish areas appear along the midline of the ventral surface. The basal piece of the primary papillae on the dorsal surface varies in shape between a cone and a cylinder, while the apical piece may be conical, cylindrical, or spherical.[3]
Females of this species have 24 or 25 pairs of legs; males have 23 or 24 leg pairs, usually 23 pairs.[4][3][5] The sole of each foot features four pads, except for the feet on last two pairs of legs. The penultimate pair has only three pads on each foot, and the last pair has only two pads on each foot.[3] On the fourth and fifth leg pairs, the nephridial tubercles appears at the proximal margin of the fourth pad.[6] Each foot features two papillae, one on the anterior margin and the other on the posterior margin.[3]
The genital opening is located between the penultimate pair of legs. In the female, this opening is a transverse slit, but in the male, this opening takes the form of a cross aligned with the transverse and longitudinal axes of the body. In the male of this species, the two leg pairs in front of the genital opening feature crural glands, with two openings for these glands in a groove on each leg. The male also features an opening for the anal glands between the last pair of legs.[3]
This species shares many traits with the other species of Eoperipatus. These characteristics include two papillae on the distal margin of each foot (one in front and one in back), two accessory teeth on the outer blade of the jaw, a cruciform genital opening in the male, and a transverse slit for the female genital opening.[3] Other features considered characteristic of this genus include the single opening for the anal gland in front of the anus and the crural tubercles linked by a dermal fold on each leg of the two pregenital leg pairs.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Oliveira I.; Hering L. & Mayer, G. "Updated Onychophora checklist". Onychophora Website. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ^ a b Oliveira, I. S.; Read, V. M. S. J.; Mayer, G. (2012). "A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (211): 1–70 [4–5]. Bibcode:2012ZooK..211....1O. doi:10.3897/zookeys.211.3463. PMC 3426840. PMID 22930648.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Evans, Richard (1901). "On two new species of Onychophora from the Siamese Malay States". Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. 44: 473–538 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Monge-Nájera, Julián (1994). "Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora)". Revista de Biología Tropical. 42 (3): 611–622. ISSN 2215-2075.
- ^ Bouvier, E.-L. (1905). "Monographie des Onychophores". Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie (in French). 9 (2): 1–383 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Oliveira, Ivo de Sena; Schaffer, Stefan; Kvartalnov, Pavel V.; Galoyan, Eduard A.; Palko, Igor V.; Weck-Heimann, Andreas; Geissler, Peter; Ruhberg, Hilke; Mayer, Georg (2013-06-01). "A new species of Eoperipatus (Onychophora) from Vietnam reveals novel morphological characters for the South-East Asian Peripatidae". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 252 (4): 495–510 [507]. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2013.01.001. ISSN 0044-5231.
- ^ Oliveira, Ivo de Sena; Franke, Franziska Anni; Hering, Lars; Schaffer, Stefan; Rowell, David M.; Weck-Heimann, Andreas; Monge-Nájera, Julián; Morera-Brenes, Bernal; Mayer, Georg (2012-12-17). "Unexplored Character Diversity in Onychophora (Velvet Worms): A Comparative Study of Three Peripatid Species". PLOS ONE. 7 (12): e51220 [18]. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...751220O. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051220. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3524137. PMID 23284667.
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