Syrioiulus zarudnyi (Lohmander, 1932)

Vagalinski, Boyan, 2020, A new species of Syrioiulus Verhoeff, 1914 from Iran, with remarks on the taxonomy of the genus (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (1), pp. 83-94 : 92-93

? Syrioiulus zarudnyi (Lohmander, 1932)

Amblyiulus zarudnyi Lohmander, 1932a: 23-27 , figs 21-25. – Golovatch, 1983: 161.

Syrioiulus zarudni (sic!). – Mauriès, 1982: 441.

Syrioiulus zarydnyi . – Mauriès, 1984: 48. – Enghoff & Moravvej, 2005: 65.

Known records: All from Iran, Khuzestan Province (type locality) [exact locality unknown]; NW Iran , Canyon Sefidruda [on Sefid-rud River]; 68 km SW of Yezd; N end of Keredj [Karaj] ( Golovatch, 1983).

Note: This is another species of Syrioiulus deviating from the majority of congeners by the conformations of promere and mesomeral processes which are alike those of S. cappadocius . Furthermore, S. zarudnyi has a prominent anterior lamella of the solenomere (albeit apically not drawn into a process) which is also untypical of the genus. However, before a comprehensive revision and phylogeny of Syrioiulus and related genera is made, it seems better that this and the other two aforementioned doubtful species are placed in Syrioiulus .

According to Lohmander (1932a) the type locality of S. zarudnyi is the “Tschemle-Rogan” Spring in Arabistan (today Khuzestan Province). The toponym obviously refers to “Tscheschme-Rogan” [“Cheshme” (English transliteration) meaning “spring” in Persian], “in the land of the Bakhtiary people”. This is one of the sites visited by the original collector of this species, the Russian zoologist Nikolai Zarudny, during his forth expedition to Iran ( Birula, 1905). The exact location of that spring remains

Key to the species of Syrioiulus known from Iran based on characters of gonopods, vulvae and external somatic morphology

1A With ommatidia ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

1B Without ommatidia .................................................................................................................................................. 4

2A Opisthomere with a poorly developed mesocaudal lamella and a thick, apically finely dentate, anterior lamella .... ................................................................................................................................ S. zarudnyi (Lohmander, 1932)

2B Opisthomere with a well-developed mesocaudal lamella and a rather indistinct anterior lamella .......................... 3

3A Mesocaudal lamella apically forming a freely protruding pointed outgrowth, this being subequal to or slightly exceeding solenomere; ozopores in anterior part of body set at some distance behind pro-metazonal suture; metazonal hind margins without setae; walking legs in males without adhesive pads .............................................. ................................................................................................................................. S. discolor (Lohmander, 1932)

3B Mesocaudal lamella without freely protruding apical part but ending bluntly much lower than tip of solenomere; ozopores in anterior part of body set right behind pro-metazonal suture; metazonal hind margins with a whorl of short setae; walking legs in males with adhesive pads on tibiae ............................ S. continentalis ( Attems, 1903)

4A Metazonal hind margins with a whorl of setae; vulval operculum only slightly exceeding bursa; promere with a rounded, lobe-like mesal denticle ............................................................................. S. persicus ( Golovatch, 1983)

4B Metazonal hind margins without setae; vulval operculum considerably exceeding bursa ...................................... 5

5A Ozopores in anterior part of body set at 1/4-1/3 of metazonal length behind pro-metazonal suture; apical margin of vulval operculum with a distinct incision mid-laterally ( Figs 10 , 21 ); mesomeral process subequal to solenomere ( Figs 12, 14 , 15, 16 ) .............................................................................................................. S. lohmanderi sp. nov.

5B Ozopores in anterior part of body set on or right behind pro-metazonal sutures; apical margin of vulval operculum more or less smooth ................................................................................................................................................. 6

6A Vulva with its operculum exceeding bursa by 1/4-1/3 of total vulval height ( Fig. 20 ); adult females 30-32 mm in length and 2.1-2.3 mm in diameter ......................... S. incarnatus (Lohmander, 1932) (known only from females)

6B Vulva with its operculum exceeding bursa by 1/5-1/4 of total vulval height ( Fig. 19 ); females 24-28 mm in length and 1.4-1.5 mm in diameter; males with expanded mandibular stipites; mesomeral process shorter than solenomere ( Fig. 17 ) ......................................................................................................... S. astrabadensis (Lohmander, 1932)

unknown, but it is most likely situated in the eastern parts of Khuzestan which is inhabited predominantly by the Bakhtiari ethnic group.

Figures

Figs 5-10. Syrioiulus lohmanderi sp. nov., structures of male holotype (5-9) and female paratype (10), in MHNG. (5) Antenna. (6) Leg-pair 1, frontal view. (7) Leg 2. (8) Leg 3. (9) Right ventral edge of pleurotergum 7, ventro-lateral view. (10) Right vulva, caudal, slightly mesal view.Abbreviations: ct = central tube; lv = lateral valve; ma = mesal ampulla; mt = mesal tube; mv = mesal valve; op = operculum. Scale bar of Fig. 8: 0.2 mm; the rest: 0.1 mm.

Figs 19-21. Semidiagrammatic drawings of vulvae in caudal views of Syrioiulus spp. (19) S. astrabadensis. (20) S. incarnatus. (21) S. lohmanderi sp. nov. (Figs 19-20 redrawn from Lohmander, 1932a). Not to scale.

Figs 11-14. Syrioiulus lohmanderi sp. nov., gonopods of male holotype, in MHNG. (11) Left promere, caudal view. (12) Right pair of gonopods, mesal view. (13) Left opisthomere, caudal, slightly lateral view. (14) Distal parts of left opisthomere, lateral view.Abbreviations: cl = caudomesal lamella, ff = central filiform process, fp = fan-like process; m = mesomeral process; P = promere; s = solenomere; sp = shield-like process. Scale bar of Figs 11-13: 0.1 mm; Figs 14-15: 0.05 mm; Fig. 16: 0.01 mm.

Figs 15-16. Syrioiulus lohmanderi sp. nov., gonopods of male holotype, in MHNG. (15) Distal parts of left opisthomere, caudo-lateral view. (16) Solenomere, same aspect.

Fig. 17. Syrioiulus astrabadensis (Lohmander, 1932a), paratype male, in GNM, distal parts of right opisthomere in mesal view. Abbreviations: cl = caudomesal lamella; ff = central filiform process; m = mesomeral process; s = solenomere. Scale bar: 0.05 mm.