Charinus bahoruco Teruel, 2016

Fig. 12; Table 1

Charinus bahoruco Teruel, 2016: 7–8, figs 4–6, 7b, 8.

Charinus sp. – Armas & Pérez, 2001: 50, 59, 64, figs 2a, c, e, 11. — Armas 2004: 39; 2006b: 229, 242.

Diagnosis

Based on the description of Teruel (2016), this species may be separated from other Caribbean and Central American Charinus by means of the following combination of characters: median eyes absent, median ocular tubercle small; lateral eyes well developed; tritosternum very short (slightly longer than wide); cheliceral basal segment with retrolateral tooth reduced to vestigial boss; cheliceral claw with four or five teeth; pedipalp femur with three dorsal spines and three ventral spines; pedipalp patella with three dorsal spines and two ventral spines; pedipalp tarsus with two dorsal spines; tibia of leg I with 21 articles, tarsus I with 37 articles; leg IV basitibia with three pseudo-articles; secondary sexual dimorphism present, males larger than females.

This species resembles C. dominicanus, but may be differentiated by the number of articles on the tarsus of leg I, which comprises 37 articles in C. bahoruco but 33 in C. dominicanus . Additionally, C. dominicanus bears eight teeth on the cheliceral claw, whereas C. bahoruco bears four or five teeth. The count of 21 articles on tibia of leg I also differentiates C. bahoruco from C. acosta, C. belizensis, C. centralis, C. muchmorei, and C. reddelli, in which the tibia comprises 23 articles. Charinus bahoruco differs from C. acosta, C. aguayoi and C. bruneti in the absence of median eyes, and from C. caribensis in the count of three preudo-articles in basitibia of leg IV. The short tritosternum, which barely reaches base of pedipalp coxae, is a unique character this species shares with C. dominicanus .

Etymology

Noun in apposition referring to the name of the mountain range, Sierra de Bahoruco, where the type locality is located (Teruel 2016).

Type material

Holotype DOMINICAN REPUBLIC • ♂; Pedernales Province, Pedernales Municipality, Sierra de Bahoruco, Sección Mencía, Banano, El Mulito [Río Mulito]; 18°09′34″ N, 71°44′56″ W; 12 Mar. 2014; 409 m a.s.l.; R. Teruel, F. Kovařík and P. Kindl leg.; BIOECO [not examined].

Paratypes DOMINICAN REPUBLIC • 7 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂, 1 juv.; same collection data as for holotype; BIOECO [not examined] • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; IES [not examined] .

Measurements

See Table 1.

Distribution

Known only from the westernmost part of the southern watershed of the Sierra de Bahoruco range in the Dominican Republic. Hispaniola is the second largest Caribbean island and contains ten species of whip spiders on its 76 192 km ², four of which are endemic to the Dominican Republic, C. bahoruco, C. dominicanus, C. magua and Phrynus kennidae Armas & Perez Gonzalez, 2001, the first two restricted to the Pedernales and Baharona Provinces, in and around the Sierra de Bahoruco.

Natural history

Specimens were found under rocks among leaf litter, close to streams, in a broadleaf semideciduous forest (Teruel 2016). Specimens were always in small groups of two to four individuals.