Tirrenosiro axeli Karaman & Mitov & Snegovaya 2024, gen. et sp. nov.
Creators: name: Karaman, Ivo M.
name: Mitov, Plamen G.
name: Snegovaya, Nataly
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Opiliones
Sironidae
Tirrenosiro
Tirrenosiro axeli

description: Tirrenosiro axeli gen. et sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: FEE995CB-B901-47EB-8801-C0205236CF33
Figs 7A–C, 8A–D, 9, 11A
Diagnosis
Small species (1.36 mm) with narrow elongated ozophores; laterodistal setae (t1) of ovipositor apical lobe half length of terminal setae; posterior margin of coxal lobes II half width of anterior margin; rough integument with small, oval, first rank granules.
Etymology
This species is dedicated to our colleague, Dr Axel Schönhofer, who collected the type specimen.
Material examined
Holotype
ITALY • ♀; Lazio, Prov. Latina, Monte Circeo; 41°13ʹ44.1ʺ N, 13°51ʹ17.5ʺ E; 77 m a.s.l.; 9 Apr. 2006; A. Schönhofer leg.; CJM 5040 (SMF).
Description
Female (holotype)
BODY. Length 1.35 mm, uniformly brown in color. Dorsum oval, rugose (Fig. 7A); anterior margin of prosoma short and protruded, concave; anterolateral margins short, sinuate. Ozophores narrow, longer than wide at their bases, laterally orientated (type 1).
CHELICERAE. Stocky (Fig. 9E), basal article 0.58 mm long; second article 0.57 mm long. Basal article smooth, dorsal transverse ridge rises sharply, ventral bulge emphasized. Second article smooth, 3 times as long as wide. Teeth on fiXed finger (7) and movable finger (7) tightly spaced.
PEDIPALPS. Of normal proportions (Fig. 9D), 1.05 mm long without coxa and apotele. Trochanter slightly shorter than patella, more than half of femur length. Tarsus as long as patella, shorter than tibia. Sensilla closer to basal part of coxae.
LEGS. Basitarsi I–II elongated (I L/W ratio>3, II L/W ratio>2.5), ornamentation covers more than one-third of their length (Fig. 9A–B); basitarsi III–IV fully ornamented; telotarsus I elongated (L/W ratio>3); telotarsus II L/W ratio>2.5; basitarsi III and IV longer than telotarsi (Fig. 9C). Claws of legs II–IV with two teeth. Measurements of legs (without coxae and claws, in mm): I 1.59; II 1.31; III 1.17; IV 1.37.
VENTRAL PROSOMAL COMPLEX (Fig. 7C). Posterior margin of coxal lobes II half width of anterior margin; coxal lobes III three times as wide as long; posterior margin of gonostome distinctly thickened.
OVIPOSITOR. Apical lobes (Fig. 11A) 2.5 times as long as terminal article. Openings of receptacles situated in terminal quarter of length of apical lobes. Receptacles of saccate form. Each apical lobe bearing one exceptionally long terminal, two short medio-distal, two long and two very short laterodistal setae; laterodistal setae (t 1) half length of terminal setae.
Male
Unknown.
Remarks
Based on the ovipositor setation, Tirrenosiro cf. minor (Juberthie, 1958) (Figs 7D–F, 8E–F, 10, 11B) from Sardinia (Nuoro, Macomer, M. Borora, 700 m a.s.l., A. Vigna leg., 30 Apr. 1967, SMF 22559/1) is much closer to the new species than to T. minor (Juberthie, 1958) from Corsica. It is clearly distinguished from the new species by the profile of the coXal lobes II and III, the anterior margin of the prosoma and the position of the sensilla on the pedipalp coXae. It clearly differs from T. minor from Corsica by the setation of the ovipositor. Considering the diversity of the ancient fauna in Sardinia (Taiti et al. 2018) and the disjunct distribution of the populations of these cyphophthalmids, it is justified to assume that more than one species of the genus Tirrenosiro is present in Sardinia itself.
One of the characteristics of the species of the new family is the fragility of the pedipalp apotele, leg claws and setae, which we have not noticed so far in other groups of Cyphophthalmi.
description: Published as part of Karaman, Ivo M., Mitov, Plamen G. & Snegovaya, Nataly, 2024, Parasironidae fam. nov., a Cimmerian lineage of Mediterranean Cyphophthalmi (Opiliones), with the description of three new genera and four new species, pp. 173-209 in European Journal of Taxonomy 921 (1) on pages 182-186, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.921.2427, http://zenodo.org/record/10656519