Cryptops (Cryptops) punicus Silvestri 1896
Creators: name: Akkari, Nesrine
name: Stoev, Pavel
name: Lewis, John
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Scolopendromorpha
Cryptopidae
Cryptops
Cryptops punicus

description: <i>Cryptops</i> (<i>Cryptops</i>) <i>punicus</i> Silvestri, 1896 Figs 28-30 <i>Cryptops anomalans</i> Newport, v. n. <i>punicus</i> Silvestri, 1896, Naturalista Siciliano, An. I (Nuova Serie), 8: 151. <i>Cryptops anomalans punicus</i>: Brolemann 1921, Bulletin de Société des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc, I (3-6): 104. <i>Trigonocryptops punicus</i>: Brolemann 1928, Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse, 57: 257, figs 10-18. <i>Trigonocryptops punicus</i>: Brolemann 1932, Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire Naturelle d’Afrique du Nord, 23 (2): 48-49. <b>Material examined.</b> TUNISIA: 3 ex., Nabeul Distr., Soliman, N 36°42.54 / E10°21.15, alt. 98 m, 12.11.2006; 2 ex., Ariana Distr., Sidi Thabet, N36°55.05 / E10°04.54, alt. 70 m, 20.11.2003; 1 ex. Mahdia Distr., Chebba, 20.3.2004; 1 ex., Le Kef, N36°11.44 / E08°44.39, alt. 623 m, 24.10.2003; 5 ex., Bizerta Distr., La Grotte Beach, N37°19.56 / E09°51.30, alt. 39 m, 12.2.2004; 1 ex., Sousse Distr., Bou Ficha, N36°17.55 / E10°27.30, alt. 6 m, 22.3.2005; 4 ex., Zaghouan Distr., Jebel Zaghouan, N36°23.269 / E10°08.157, alt. 352 m, 25.2.2007; 1 ex., Gabes Distr., Chenini Oasis, 22.3.2006; 1 ex., Ariana Distr., Sidi Thabet, 17.3.2004; 1 ex., Kasserine Distr., Chambi N.P., surrounding of the park’s guest house, N35°10.139 / E08°40.486, alt. 950-1000 m, <i>Pinus halepensis</i>, <i>Stipa tenacissima</i>, <i>Thuya</i>, under stones, logs and leaf litter of <i>Pinus halepensis</i>, 8.3.2008; 2 ex., Gabes Distr., Matmata, N33°32.450 / E09°59.054, alt. 384 m, arid biotope, shrubs and stones, under stones, 12.3.2008; 2 ex., Mahdia Distr., Mahdia City, Touristic area, N35°32.796 / E11°01.662, alt. 0 m, scattered palm trees and shrubs close to the road, polluted area not far from agricultural land, under stones, 16.3.2008; 2 ex., Zaghouan Distr., Jebel Zaghouan, surroundings of the Gouffre du Courant d’Air (small limestone cave), N36°21.980 / E10°05.513, alt. 561 m, <i>Quercus ilex</i>, <i>Pistacia lentiscus</i>, <i>Jasminum fruticans</i>, under stones and leaf litter, 17.3.2008; 1 ex., same mountain, surroundings of the marabout Sidi Bou Gabrine, N36°22.423 / E10°06.328, alt. 642 m, meadows, scattered trees, under stones and leaf litter, 17.3.2008; 1 ex., Jendouba Distr., Tabarka, the Genoese fort and surroundings, N36°57.838 / E08°44.680, alt. 7 m, sea shore, 10- 40 m from the water line, logs, grass, under stones, 22.3.2008; 1 ex., Nabeul Distr., Cap Bon Peninsula, Kelibia, the fort and surroundings, N36°50.337 / E11°06.841, alt. 10- 40 m, slope, <i>Eucalyptus</i>, <i>Mimosa</i>, shrubs, under stones, 25.3.2008; 3 ex., same area, 7 km of Menzel Bou Zelfa, N36°40.268 / E10°40.677, alt. 236 m, <i>Pinus</i>, <i>Quercus</i>, shrubs, under stones, 25.3.2008; 1 ex., Siliana Distr., Jebel Bargou, 5 km of Bargou (road Bargou – Oueslatia), N36°05.775 / E09°37.347, alt. 571 m, <i>Quercus</i>, <i>Olea</i>, shrubs, under stones, 28.3.2008; 5 ex., Zaghouan Distr., Jebel Mansour, close to Sidi Aouidet Village, N36°12.307 / E09°45.588, alt. 514 m, Pine forest, <i>Rosmarinus</i>, under stones and leaf litter, 28.3.2008. LIBYA: 1 ex., Tripoli, 0-20 m, 28- 30.11.1999, P. Beron leg. <b>Description.</b> Light brown to tawny with dense punctuation, and extensive setation. Maximal length: 22-28 mm. Head as long as broad, with 2 short paramedian longitudinal sutures on the anterior and posterior borders of head plate. Antenna composed of 17 articles. Coxosternum rounded and slightly prominent (Fig. 29). Labrum with a single tooth (Fig. 30). First tergite with a complete curved anterior transverse suture only (Fig. 28). Paramedian sutures incomplete on the second tergite, becoming complete from the third. Lateral crescentic sulci starting on the 3rd or 4th tergite. From third leg-pair onwards tarsus 1 and tarsus 2 faintly separated. Ultimate pair of legs: coxopleura with pore field extending to but not touching the posterior margin of coxa. Many scattered setae among the pores and a tuft of 7-8 posterior to the pore field. Tibial saw with 11-13 sharp teeth. Tarsal saw with 5-7 teeth (Fig. 31). <b>General distribution.</b> Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Italy: Sicily, Sardinia, Tuscan Archipelago (Matic 1962, Minelli 1982, Zapparoli 1995). <b>Distribution in Tunisia</b> (Map 6). One of the most common scolopendromorphs in Tunisia found in all bioclimatic zones. Originally described from Tunis (Silvestri 1896), it is currently known also from the littoral of Kroumirie (Tabarka), from the Gulf of Tunis area and along the eastern part of the Tunisian Ridge up to the Cap Bon Peninsula (Soliman, Mensel Bou Zelfa). Towards the centre, it is present in the western mountains of the Ridge (Chambi N.P.) and along the eastern coast of the Sahel (Sousse, Mahdia, Chebba) down to the plain of Jeffara in the southeast (Matmata, Gabes). <b>Altitudinal range in Tunisia.</b> Known from sea level up to 1000 m in the mountains (Jebel Chambi). <b>Habitats.</b> Forests dominated by <i>Q. coccifera</i> or <i>Pinus halepensis</i>, mixed woods of <i>Q. ilex</i> and <i>P. halepensis</i> or <i>Q. coccifera</i> and <i>P. halepensis</i>, mountain meadows, suburban areas, oases, arid rocky terrains with scattered shrubs. <b>Remarks.</b> Silvestri (1896) described <i>Cryptops punicus</i> from Kroumirie as a variety of <i>C. punctatus</i> (now <i>anomalans</i>). It was synonymised with <i>C. anomalans</i> by Kraepelin (1903) and later revived by Brolemann (1928). Besides raising <i>punicus</i> to full species rank, Brolemann also transferred it to the genus <i>Trigonocryptops</i>, which is currently considered a subgenus of <i>Cryptops</i> Leach, 1815. <i>Trigonocryptops</i> is characterised by trigonal sutures in front of the endosternite, a transverse ridge on the sternites between the coxae, generally bipartite tarsi, head overlying tergite 1, a transverse suture on tergite 1, a divided katopleure and mostly yellow or brown colour. Other characters shared by members of <i>Trigonocryptops</i> are an anterior setose area on the clypeus delimited by sutures, paired spinose process on the ultimate leg, slit-like spiracles, etc. (Edgecombe 2005). <i>C. punicus</i> shows some of the characters typical for <i>Trigonocryptops</i>, e.g. subdivided tarsi (very faint in most specimens), yellowish colouration, head overlying tergite 1, transverse suture on tergite 1 but these are shared with some species of the subgenus <i>Cryptops</i>. Instead of trigonal sutures at the base of endosternite there is just a curved transverse suture (see Brolemann 1928, fig. 14). With this possible exception <i>C. punicus</i> lacks the characters unique to the subgenus <i>Trigonocryptops</i> viz. the clypeus is devoid of sutures, and ultimate leg is devoid of processes. The spiracles are ovoid-shaped and the katopleure is single. For the above reasons, we prefer to place <i>C. punicus</i> in the subgenus <i>Cryptops</i> rather than in <i>Trigonocryptops</i> as suggested by Brolemann (1928). Nevertheless, until combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis is undertaken in the genus <i>Cryptops</i>, the real position of <i>C. punicus</i> remains uncertain. The specimen from Tripoli represents the first formal record of the species from Libya.
description: Published as part of <i>Akkari, Nesrine, Stoev, Pavel &amp; Lewis, John, 2008, The scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha) of Tunisia: taxonomy, distribution and habitats, pp. 77-102 in ZooKeys 3 (3)</i> on pages 94-96, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.3.51, http://zenodo.org/record/576419
description: {"references": ["Silvestri F (1896) Una escursione in Tunisia (Symphyla, Chilopoda, Diplopoda). Naturalista Siciliano An. I, (Nuova Serie) 8: 144 - 161.", "Brolemann H (1921) Liste des Myriapodes signales dans le nord de l'Afrique. Bulletin de Societe des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc I (3 - 6): 99 - 110.", "Brolemann H (1928) Notes sur quelques Cryptops. Bulletin de la Societe d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse 57: 249 - 260.", "Brolemann H (1932) Tableaux de determination des Chilopodes signales en Afrique du Nord. Bulletin de la Societe d'Histoire Naturelle d'Afrique du Nord 23 (2): 31 - 64.", "Matic Z (1962) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Chilopoda aus Sizilien. Bollettino delle sedute dell'Accademia Gioenia di Scienze naturali in Catania Serie IV, 7: 51 - 62.", "Minelli A (1982) On Sardinian centipedes. Bollettino di Zoologia 49: 1 - 16.", "Zapparoli M (1995) Chilopoda. In: Massa, B. (ed.): Arthropoda di Lampedusa, Linosa e Pantelleria. Naturalista Siciliano 19 (Suppl.): 115 - 140.", "Kraepelin K (1903) Revision der Scolopendriden. Mitteilungen aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum in Hamburg 20: 1 - 276.", "Edgecombe G (2005) A troglomorphic species of the centipede Cryptops (Trigonocryptops) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) from Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 315 - 323."]}