At the end of the rope: Geophilushadesi sp. n. - the world's deepest cave-dwelling centipede (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae).

Pavel Stoev,Lucio Bonato,Nesrine Akkari,Gregory D Edgecombe,Ana Komericki

doi:10.3897/zookeys.510.9614

Abstract

A new geophilomorph centipede, Geophilus hadesi sp. n., is described from caves in the Velebit Mountain, central Croatia. Together with Geophilus persephones Foddai & Minelli, 1999, described from Pierre Saint-Martin cave in France, they are the only two remarkably troglomorphic geophilomorphs hitherto known. The new species apparently belongs to a group of Geophilus species inhabiting mainly Western and Southern Europe, with a uniquely modified pretarsus in the second maxillae. Geophilus hadesi sp. n. shows unusual traits, some of which commonly found in troglobitic arthropods, including exceptionally elongated antennae, trunk segments and leg claws. The species is described upon specimens found in two caves at a depth below -250 m. Another two specimens apparently belonging to the same species have been recorded in another deep vertical cave at -980 m and -1100 m. The latter represents the world’s deepest record of Chilopoda as a whole.

Highlights

The new species apparently belongs to a group of Geophilus species inhabiting mainly Western and Southern Europe, with a uniquely modified pretarsus in the second maxillae
G. hadesi sp. n. shows unusual traits, some of which commonly found in troglobitic arthropods, including exceptionally elongated antennae, trunk segments and leg claws
Relationships between the species in the genus Geophilus are still largely unclear, G. hadesi sp. n. is probably related to a subgroup of species sharing a putatively modified shape of the second maxillary pretarsus, which resembles a stout tubercle with a short spine rather than an elongate curved claw

Summary

Introduction

True troglobites – species with an entire life cycle confined to cave environments – are much rarer in the group (see review of cave myriapods by Culver and Shear (2012)). Such species are usually pallid, eyeless (or with reduced numbers of ocelli) and with long appendages that bear elongated setae, characters which have evolved in relation to the underground lifestyle. They are not represented in these orders: lithobiomorphs seem much more prone to penetrate and adapt to this environment than the members of the other two orders, where only a handful of species are known (most of which belong to the blind scolopendromorph genus Cryptops Leach, 1815). Few troglobites are known from elsewhere, with only isolated examples south of the equator (Negrea and Minelli 1994; Edgecombe 2005, 2006; Ázara and Ferreira 2013, 2014a, b)

Methods

Results

Conclusion