Aphistogoniulus amberivery Wesener, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wesener, Thomas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirobolida
Pachybolidae
Aphistogoniulus
Aphistogoniulus amberivery

description: Aphistogoniulus amberivery sp. nov.
Fig. 2A–G
Material examined. 1 M holotype, FMNH-INS 3196506, Mahajanga, Sofia, Bemanevika, Amberivery Forest, 1570 m, slightly disturbed montane forest, 14°20’47.3’’ S, 48°34’47.3’’ E, coll. pitfalls, X.2013, S.M. Goodman and Toky Randriamora.
DNA barcode: PQ307145
Derivatio nominis. amberivery, noun in apposition, after the type and only known locality of the species.
Diagnosis. Characteristic colour with laterally entirely black body rings, which are above the ozopores dorsally bright red with a wide black posterior margin. Collum black, anterior and posterior margin with a red stripe. Head, antenna and legs black. The posterior gonopod with the shorter basal branch and the main branch with the numerous membranous fringes resembles only those of A. hova (deSaussure & Zehntner, 1897). A. amberivery differs from A. hova in fewer body rings (51 versus 54–57 in A. hova), as well as the anterior gonopod, where the retrorse process is located apically and not medially. Compared to the lectotype of A. hova, the sternite of the anterior gonopods of A. amberivery sp. nov. is single-tipped (double-tipped in A. hova), and the retrorse process is strongly protruding above the lateral margin of the telopodite (only very slightly protruding in A. hova). A. amberivery sp. nov. differs from all sampled 6 populations of A. hova in a p-distance of the COI barcoding fragment of 11–12%.
Description
Measurements: 51+0 body rings plus telson, circa 110 mm long, 10.2 mm wide.
Colour faded in ethanol. Body rings laterally entirely black, above ozopores dorsally bright red with a wide black posterior margin. Collum black, anterior and posterior margin with a red stripe (Fig. 2A). Head, antenna and legs black (Fig. 2B). Telson black, except for anal valves which have a large red spot (Fig. 2C).
Head typical for the genus (Fig. 2A, B). Antenna short, extending back to ring 4 (Fig. 2B).
Ozopore starting at ring 6, located on suture between meso- and metazonite.
Male legs 3–7 with coxae and prefemora slightly invaginated (Fig. 2B).
Telson without projecting preanal scale, anal valves without developed lips, subanal scale inconspicuous (Fig. 2C).
Anterior gonopod sternite triangular, no shoulders, rounded tip (Fig. 2D). Coxite process elongated, slightly shorter than telopodite (Fig. 2D, E). Telopodite appendage only weakly swollen, sharp-edged retrorse process starting to project apically (Fig. 2E).
Posterior gonopod telopodite branches forming a ‘C’ (Fig. 2F, G). Basal branch stout, shorter than main branch (Fig. 2F) Tips of main and basal branch distant from one another. Main branch at apically with membranous the numerous membranous fringes (Figs 2F, G). Main branch slenderer but much longer than basal branch.
Ecology. A. amberivery occurs in sympatry with two microendemic species of Zoosphaerium Pocock, 1895 (Sagorny & Wesener 2017), highlighting the only recently protected area of Bemanevika as a center of millipede endemism.
description: Published as part of Wesener, Thomas, 2024, Five new species and numerous locality records of Spirobolida millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae), pp. 461-486 in Zootaxa 5529 (3) on pages 466-467, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5529.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14022748