Abstract
Nemaspela Šilhavý, 1966 (Opiliones: Nemastomatidae) is a genus of exclusively troglobiotic harvestmen species inhabiting caves in the Crimea, Caucasus and Balkan Peninsula. In this paper, Nemaspela borkoae sp. nov., recently found in four caves in Montenegro, is described. The new species is characterized by its small body, 1.5–2.1 mm long, and very long, thin appendages, with legs II about 15 times as long as the body. Although very similar, Nemaspela ladae Karaman, 2013 and N. borkoae sp. nov. can be easily distinguished by the terminally rounded vs conical glans, straight vs conspicuously ventrally bent pedipalp tarsus on its proximal portion and pedipalp tarsus measuring about ½ vs ⅔ tibia length. Nemaspela ladae and N. borkoae sp. nov. constitute the western Nemaspela group, both missing the male cheliceral apophysis present in all species of the eastern Nemaspela group from the Crimea and Caucasus, except in N. femorecurvata Martens, 2006. However, according to the glans morphology, N. borkoae sp. nov. seems much more closely related to several species from the Caucasus than to N. ladae from the Balkan Peninsula. We speculate that N. ladae and N. borkoae sp. nov. might originate from two epigean ancestral lineages.
Highlights
During the past two centuries, following the establishment of speleobiology – the biology of subterranean habitats – in 1832 (Polak 2005; Sket 2012), an immense effort has been invested in the discovery of specializedKOZEL P. et al, First Nemaspela species from Montenegro subterranean species
Similar patterns of geographically distant but closely related species from the Caucasus and the Dinaric Karst have been noted in both surface and subterranean taxa (Zakšek et al 2007; Tarkhnishvili 2014; Sidorov et al 2018; Hrivniak et al 2020)
The main reason for such disjunct distribution patterns may be orogeny processes during the Miocene, which fundamentally changed the physical geography of the wider area, including the Dinaric Karst, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Rhodopes, etc. (Popov et al 2004)
Summary
During the past two centuries, following the establishment of speleobiology – the biology of subterranean habitats – in 1832 (Polak 2005; Sket 2012), an immense effort has been invested in the discovery of specializedKOZEL P. et al, First Nemaspela species from Montenegro subterranean species. New data on subterranean fauna revealed some peculiar distribution patterns that include groups of closely related organisms being distributed over various geological formations and geographic regions that are hundreds or even thousands of kilometers apart (e.g., Pérez-González et al 2017; Taiti et al 2018; Inäbnit et al 2019; Lukić et al 2019). Recognition of such patterns raises questions about the origin, dispersal potential and shared ancestry of animals that had been assumed to exhibit limited dispersal abilities. A similar spatial pattern has been found in the subterranean harvestman genus Nemaspela Šilhavý, 1966 (Opiliones: Dyspnoi: Nemastomatidae)
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