Sarax huberi, Seiter, Michael, Wolff, Jonas & Hörweg, Christoph, 2015

Seiter, Michael, Wolff, Jonas & Hörweg, Christoph, 2015, A new species of the South East Asian genus Sarax Simon, 1892 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae) and synonymization of Sarax mediterraneus Delle Cave, 1986, Zootaxa 4012 (3), pp. 542-552 : 543-548

Sarax huberi sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–3 )

FIGURE 2. Sarax huberi sp. nov. Arrowheads point to diagnostic characters. A, C–I Female; B, J–K Male; A–B Habitus; C Pedipalp, dorsal (spines of femur and tibia numbered); D Female pedipalp, ventral; E Chelicera; F Prosoma, ventral (sternal tubercles numbered); G Pedipalp, distal parts, prolateral; H Basitibia and distitibia of walking leg IV, dorsal (trichobothria marked as follows:: bt, basitibial; bf, basofrontal; bc, basocaudal; sbf, subbasofrontal; sc 1–x; caudal series and trichobothria, sf 1-x, frontal series and trichobothria); I Female gonopods, protruded (right gonopod enhanced by white lines); J Spermatophore organ of male, dorsal; K Detail of male gonopods (right gonopod enhanced by white lines). Labels: cx, coxa; bta, basitarsus; dta, distitarsus; fe, femur; gp, gonopod; LoD, lobus dorsalis; LoL1, lobus dorsalis primus; LoL2, lobus dorsalis secundus; pta, pretarsus (claw); ta, tarsus; ti, tibia; tr, trochanter.

Type material: Holotype: Female ( NHMW 21895), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, CEBU, Moalboal, surrounding of the Busay cave, GPS coordinates 9°54'57.5"N 123°26'13.2"E, March 2008, leg. S. Huber; Paratypes: Female ( SMNS), same data as HT; Female and male ( SMNS), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, CEBU, Kawasan Falls, South of Moalbaol, GPS coordinates 9°48’20.1’’N, 123°22’17.7’’E, 21 February 2001, leg. S. Huber; Female, male and juvenile ( NHMW 21896), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, CEBU, Kawasan Falls, South of Moalboal, GPS coordinates 9°48’20.1’’N, 123°22’17.7’’E, 21 February 2001, leg. S. Huber; 3 females, 2 male and 2 juveniles ( NHMW 21897), same data as HT; 2 females and 2 males ( NHMW 21897), same data as HT, except 28 March 2014; female ( NHMW 21897), same data as HT, except 23 February 2001; one female and one male ( NHMW 21897), same data as HT, except GPS coordinates 9°55'02.3"N 123°25'05.8"E, 30 March 2014.

Comparative material examined: Holotype: Sarax brachydactylus Simon, 1892 : One juvenile ( MNHN 14801), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON; Types: Seven adults ( MNHN 14802), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON; Types: One adult and two juveniles ( MNHN 14803), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON; Female ( NHMW 21898), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON, Biak Na Bato National Park, GPS coordinates 15°6’32.82’’N, 121°4’16.38’’E, 39 m a.s.l., 28 April 2012, leg. Seiter, Nigl & Gottlieb, det. M. Seiter; 15 sub-/adult both sexes and 9 deutonymphs ( NHMW 21899), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON, La Mesa Watershed, GPS coordinates 14°42’40.86’’'N, 121°4’39.18’’E, 23 m a.s.l., 0 9 April 2012, leg. Seiter, Nigl & Gottlieb, det. M. Seiter; Female ( NHMW 21900), REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, LUZON, Bulacan, inside Puning cave, GPS coordinates 14°57’43.98’’N, 121°5’30.78’’E, 87 m a.s.l., 29 April 2012, leg. Seiter, Nigl & Gottlieb, det. M. Seiter.

Sarax aff. brachydactylus : Male ( NHMW 27601), CAMBODSCHA, GPS coordinates 11°34’37.44’’N; 103°07’41.04’’E, 10 m a.s.l., 0 3 December 2014, leg. J. Nigl, det. M. Seiter (see discussion section).

Sarax yayukae Rahmadi, Harvey & Kojima, 2010: 4 females (wild caught) (NHMW 27599), BORNEO, SARAWAK, Kuching, GPS coordinates 1°32’1.309’’N, 110°22’0.545’’E, 12 September 2010, leg. and det. M. Seiter; 3 juveniles (NHMW 27600) (captive breed), same data as HT, except 0 2 January 2011.

Diagnosis: Sarax huberi sp. nov. can be distinguished from their closest geographically related species S. brachydactylus and S. curioi by the following combination of characters: presence of denticles in the chelicerae claw (absent in S. curioi ) and the cuspid shape of the denticles of the basal segment of the chelicerae; pedipalp distitarsus with two very short, separated dorsal spines (geminated in S. curioi ); sclerotized granules on the surface of the pedipalp (smooth in S. brachydactylus ); absence of corners on the anterior margin of the carapace (present in S. curioi ); 6 setae on the anterior margin of carapace; gonopods soft, cone-shaped with several setae on the margin of genital operculum; sexual dimorphism in male pedipalp length (femur and tibia elongated). For all other species compare Table 2.

Sarax huberi sp. nov. ♀♀ Sarax huberi sp. nov. ♂♂

DIMENSIONS (mm) Holotype Paratype Paratype Paratype Paratype

Busay Busay Busay Busay Kawasan Carapace (L / W) 3.15 / 4.18 3.16 / 4.36 3.29 / 4.73 2.47 / 3.62 2.57 / 3.18 Description of female holotype: Measurements in Table 1.

Coloration (in vivo): Pedipalps and carapace dark brown with light red distal part. Opisthosoma brown with a pair of reddish spots on each tergite. Legs light brown to reddish ( Fig. 1 A).

Carapace ( Fig. 1 A, 2A): Carapace ratio width to length about 1.38; surface finely granulated without setiferous tubercles, with 6 setae in frontal area; prominent eyes, median eyes triangular, lateral eyes close to lateral margin of carapace, without apical setae; white flange wide and bend upward.

TABLE 2. Selected characters to distinguish all known Sarax species from each other. Character A: antero-dorsal spines on pedipalp distitarsus; Character B: cheliceral claw; Character C: number of trichobothria on the distitibia of leg IV; Character D: segmentation on the basitibia of leg IV; S = separated; G = geminated; WD = with denticles; WO = without denticles; - = unknown; numbers represents the amount of the described features; a indicates the examined single male specimen from Cambodscha.

Sternum (Fig. 2F): Tri-segmented with decreasing sclerotization downward. Tritosternum elongated, with paired apical setae and laterally several setae shorter than apical setae. Second and third sternites rounded, second sternit with 8 and third with 3 short setae.

Opisthosoma ( Fig. 1 A, 2A): Oblong, brownish with a pair of reddish spots on each tergite.

Chelicera (Fig. 2E): Cheliceral furrow with 4 internal teeth, the distal one bifid, the first cusp bigger than the second one. The fourth tooth one-third longer than the others and much stouter. Tooth length (from tip to basis) IV> Ia> Ib> II = III. Claw (movable article) with three denticles. Dorsum finely granulated with several frontal setae and many fine setae.

Pedipalp (Fig. 2C–D, G): Short and stout. Trochanter with several small setiferous tubercles on antero-dorsal margin, one prominent spine and several setiferous tubercles ventrally; ventral anterior apophysis equipped with several prominent setiferous tubercles. Femur fine granulated with 5 major spines antero-dorsally (length F1> F2> F3> F5> F4), between F2 and F3 one small spine present, several setiferous tubercles and small tubercles. Femur with five major antero-ventral spines (length FII> FIII> FV> FI> FIV), small tubercles present. Tibia antero-dorsal with five major spines (length T1 = T2> T3> T4> T5), with several setiferous tubercles, tibia antero-ventral with three major spines (length TI> TII> TIII), with several setiferous tubercles. Basitarsus with two major spines on antero-dorsal margin, length of proximal spine more than half the length of distal one, small tubercles proximally, several setiferous tubercles. Basitarsus antero-ventral margin with one major spine, some setiferous tubercles. Distitarsus and claw divided, with two denticles on antero-dorsal margin, of equal length, distal one more curved towards the base than proximal one. Cleaning organ ventrally with various modified hairs, several blunt setae on inner surface of distitarsus; apotele present.

Legs (Fig. 2H): Basitibia II and III with one segment, basitibia IV 4 -segmented, fourth segment with bt one third from the margin, bc closer to bf than sbf, pulvilli present, 16 trichobothria on the distitibia.

Gonopods (Fig. 2I): soft, cone-shaped with paired finger-like apically pointed projections; with several setae on the margin of genital operculum.

Description of male paratype ( Fig. 1 B, 2J–K): Identical to female holotype, with differences in pedipalps (sexual dimorphism) and genitalia. Measurements in Table 1.

Pedipalp (Fig. 2B): Femur and patella one third longer than in females (sexual dimorphism).

Genitalia (Fig. 2J–K): Covered ventrally by genital operculum, posteriorly bearing paired median lobes; dorsally, submedian brown bands running from anterior margin to the middle, V-shaped, sclerotized; LoD cuspid, LoL1 + LoL2 round and of equal size.

Spermatophore ( Fig. 3 ): The spermatophore consists of the stalk, spermatophore head and sperm masses. The complete structure is about 2.50 mm high. Two bands of the stalk are fused medially and anteriorly to a more or less round structure. At the top, each of these bands splits and forms a separate spermatophore head, with ear-like lateral wings (lw). As usual, they are directed anteriorly, so the female can approach the spermatophore from this direction. Between these wings two sperm masses (s) are present. At the top, two upwardly directed processes are formed (upper wings; uw), and in the lateral view the notched structures (ns) are visible (following Weygoldt 2000).

Etymology: This species is dedicated to Siegfried Huber ( Germany) for his contribution to the taxonomy of whip spiders and for providing the type specimens.

Distribution: This species is only known from the Moalboal region on Cebu Island.

Ecology: The specimen s were collected outside the Busay cave, in the Busay forest and in Kawasan Falls, South of Moalboal ( Fig. 4 ). They were mainly found sitting on the bottom side of stones and fallen leaves in front of the cave entrance, in a shady place protected by the vegetation growing in the humid soil.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Photographs of living adult Sarax huberi sp. nov. individuals in standard plastic terraria. A Female; B Male. Note the sexual dimorphism in pedipalp length.

FIGURE 3. Spermatophore of Sarax huberi sp. nov. A Anterior view; B Lateral view; C Posterior view. lw, lateral wings; s, sperm masses; uw, upper wings; ns, notched structure.

FIGURE 4. Photographs of the natural habitat of Sarax huberi sp. nov. on Cebu Island. A Path to the type locality; B Busay cave.