Draculoides belalugosii Abrams and Harvey, 2020

Abrams, Kym M., Huey, Joel A., Hillyer, Mia J., Didham, Raphael K. & Harvey, Mark S., 2020, A systematic revision of Draculoides (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) of the Pilbara, Western Australia, Part I: the Western Pilbara, Zootaxa 4864 (1), pp. 1-75 : 31-35

Draculoides belalugosii Abrams and Harvey , n. sp.

( Figs. 1–8 , 13–15 )

Zoobank Code: http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ A199BE76-0028-4AD8-AE10-0C75FE3705CC

Paradraculoides SCH 077: Abrams et al. 2019 MPE 106532: 8, fig. 2. Material examined. Holotype male. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: Buckland Hills, 45.4 km SSE. of Pannawonica , 22°00’21.19”S, 116°30’52.52”E, 27 October 2014, troglofauna scrape, J. Alexander, J. King (Biota Environmental Sciences, BHDD004-20141027 -SC01) ( WAM T135952 ) (DNA: COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 1 ♀, Buckland Hills; 47.6 km SSE. of Pannawonica , 22°08’24”S, 116°14’06”E, 26 October–16 December 2014, troglofauna trap, J. Alexander, J. King (Biota Environmental Sciences, BHRC120-20141216 - T1-02 ) ( WAM T135954 ) (DNA: 12S, COI, 18S, 28S, ITS2 ) .

Diagnosis. The shape of the male flagellum is distinctive as it is short, broad, and rounded. It most closely resembles Draculoides confusus in lateral profile but differs in the distal position of dm 4 in D. belalugosii (sub-distal in D. confusus ) and the close proximity of dl 3 in relation to vl1 (dl3 is distally placed and widely separated from vl 1 in D. confusus ). Females differ from all other species of Draculoides by the comparatively short, rounded, unconnected spermathecae of the female genitalia. Draculoides belalugosii can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at COI and 12S by the 50bp mini-barcodes shown in Figures 3 and 5 . Draculoides belalugosii can be diagnosed from all other Draculoides species that were sequenced at ITS2 ( Fig. 7 ) except for D. anachoretus , D. bythius , D. eremius , D. gnophicola , D. kryptus , D. mckechnieorum , D. warramboo , D. immortalis , D. christopherleei , D. piscivultus and D. akashae , which are not distinguishable using the ITS2 mini-barcode.

Description (adults). Colour. Yellow-brown; propeltidium somewhat darker.

Cephalothorax. Propeltidium with 2 +1 apical setae in a triangular formation on anterior process and 2+1+2 setae; eye spots absent. Mesopeltidia widely separated. Metapeltidium partially divided. Anterior sternum with 13 (♂), 14 (♀) setae (including 2 sternapophysial setae); posterior sternum triangular with 6 setae.

Chelicera. Fixed finger with 2 large teeth plus 5 (♂)(♀) smaller teeth between these; membranous area between fixed and movable fingers with 3 large, lanceolate, terminally pilose setae (G1); G2 composed of 5 (♂), 4 (♀) setae; G3 composed of 5 (♂),4 (♀) setae; internal face of chelicera with 4 (♂) (♀) short whip-like setae (G4); brush at base of fixed finger composed of 6 (♂), 5 (♀) setae (G5A), each densely pilose in distal half and G5B composed of 10 (♂), 9 (♀) setae; G6 with one seta; G7 composed of 5 (♂)(♀) setae. Movable finger serrula composed of 16 (♂), 17 (♀) long lamellae, blunt guard tooth present subdistally; 1 large accessory tooth present at two-thirds from base of serrula (♂), 1 large and 1 slightly smaller accessory tooth present (♀).

Pedipalp. Without apophyses; trochanter with sharply produced ventro-distal extension, ventral margin with ca. 8 stout setae, without mesal spur; tarsus and tibia without spines; tarsal spur present; claw 0.42 (♂), 0.55 (♀) × length of tarsus.

Legs. Tarsus I with 6 segments; baso-dorsal margin of femur IV produced at about a 90° angle.

Abdomen. Chaetotaxy of tergite I: 2 macrosetae + 4 microsetae (microsetae diagonal), tergite II: 3 macrosetae + 6 microsetae (microsetae in column), tergites III–IX: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2; segment XII with small dorsal process (♂ only).

Female genitalia. Two pairs of spermathecae with short circular, equal-sized lobes, each pair not connected basally before connection with bursa ( Fig. 15G ), distally round and smooth; sparsely covered with small pores and numerous tiny folds; gonopod short, roughly rectangular.

Flagellum. Male: Dorsoventrally compressed ( Figs. 13 D–F, 15A–C); 1.86 × longer than broad; seta dm1 situated dorso-medially; seta dm4 situated close to posterior margin; paired setae dl3 ‘staggered’ with left lower than right; dl3 on posterior margin, level with dm4; vm2 situated slightly posterior to vm1; vm5 situated slightly anterior to vl1, midway between vm3 and vl2; at least 4 pairs of microsetae between vl1 and dl3. Female: 4.25 × longer than broad; seta dm1 situated towards posterior end of flagellomere II, level with vm2; setae dl1 small, situated anterior to dm4, dm4 situated at four fifth length of flagellomere III; dl3 situated almost at posterior margin slightly more posterior than vl2, vm1 situated level with vm2, vm3 situated closer to vm1 than to vm5, vm5 closer to vm3 than vl2, vl1 situated posterior to vm3 and anterior to dl1; 1 pair of microsetae posterior to flagellomere III annulus, 1 pair of microsetae posterior to dl1, 1 pair of microsetae laterally between dl3 and vl2.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype male (WAM T135952): Body length 2.90. Propeltidium 0.96/0.50. Chelicera 0.6. Flagellum 0.38/0.20. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.35, femur 0.40, patella 0.44, tibia 0.52, tarsus 0.23, claw 0.10, total excluding claw 2.04.

Paratype female (WAM T135954): Body length 3.65. Propeltidium 1.00/0.58. Chelicera 0.75. Flagellum 0.16/0.04. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.46, femur 0.67, patella 0.48, tibia 0.40, tarsus 0.21, claw 0.12, total excluding claw 2.35.

Remarks. Draculoides belalugosii is known from several locations within an area known as Buckland Hills, situated in the eastern part of the Hamersley Range, Western Australia ( Fig. 1E ). Draculoides christopherleei also inhabits this area as well as two distinctive lineages (SCH100 and SCH101) which may represent new species but for which we do not have sufficient data to describe at this time.

Other names. WAM SCH077 ( Abrams et al., 2019), Helix sp. SAL.

Etymology. This species is named for actor Bela Lugosi (1882–1956) who played the role of Dracula in the 1931 movie of the same name.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of an area of the Pilbara described as “West Pilbara” for the purposes of this study, showing the distribution of the named Draculoides species. Inset maps show species distributions in finer detail encompassing areas A: Warramboo, Mesas A, B and C and “BudgieBore”; B: Bungaroo, Mesas G, H, J, K and L; C: Cochrane and Jewell, Kens Bore, Cane and Upper Cane River, Trinity Bore and Catho Well, Mt. Stuart Station; D: Middle Robe, Robe Valley; E: Bungaroo South, West Pit, Buckland Hills and Dragon deposit.

FIGURE 2. Maximum Likelihood tree, based on the reduced dataset. See Methods for details. Each terminal represents a single species or OTU, with named species in bold. Clades are identified using dashed boxes and shaded boxes encompass the species discussed in this study. Nodes with bootstrap support <80 are not shown, except for the common ancestor of the Draculoides radiation.

FIGURE 3. COI mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913085). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 4. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 3) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 5. 12S mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913012). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 6. Maximum Likelihood tree based on COI mini-barcodes (Fig. 5) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 7. ITS2 mini-barcodes for all Draculoides species including the operational taxonomic units used in Abrams et al. (2019). This barcode is the maximally diagnostic 50 bp fragment of DNA. Genetic variation within species is shown using IUPAC Ambiguity Codes. See Methods for details. The position of the mini-barcode is reported relative to a specimen of Draculoides celatus (WAM T98698, GenBank number MG913105). The blue tree on the left groups minibarcodes which are most similar to each other but does not represent an accurate phylogeny. The coloured bases in the figure are those that differ from the consensus reference sequence.

FIGURE 8. Maximum Likelihood tree based on ITS2 mini-barcodes (Fig. 7) showing similarity of mini-barcode sequences, relative to species identity. This phylogeny does not recover an accurate tree topology, and evolutionary relationships should not be inferred from this figure.

FIGURE 13. Draculoides belalugosii sp. nov., holotype male (WAM T135952): A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 1 mm and also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 14. Draculoides belalugosii sp. nov., paratype female (WAM T135954): A. Body, dorsal; B. Body, ventral; C. Body, lateral; D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral. The scale bar shown in image A is 1 mm and also applies to B and C and the scale bar shown in image D is 200 µm and also applies to E and F.

FIGURE 15. Draculoides belalugosii sp. nov.: A–C, holotype male (WAM T135952):A. Flagellum, dorsal; B. Flagellum, ventral; C. Flagellum, lateral. D–G, paratype female (WAM T135954): D. Flagellum, dorsal; E. Flagellum, ventral; F. Flagellum, lateral; G. Spermathecae, ventral. Scale bars: A–C: 0.1 mm, D–F: 0.1mm, G: 0.1 mm.