Baianassa, Hoffman, 2012

Hoffman, Richard L., 2012, New Genera For Two Poorly-Known Millipeds From Bahia (Polydesmida: Chelodesmidae), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 52 (8), pp. 103-110 : 103-110

Baianassa gen. nov.

Type species: Leptodesmus carminatus Brölemann, 1903 .

Name: A fanciful feminine neologism composed of the elements “ Bahia ” + anassa (Gk., a female ruler), loosely “Empress of Bahia ”.

Diagnosis: Distinguished from all known chelodesmid genera by the following combination of characters: size large (L to 70 mm), paranota well-developed, stricture costulate, prefemoral knobs and tibial pads absent, femora of legs 4 th -6 th pairs somewhat more incrassate than the others, those of 2 nd and 3 rd pairs with small but prominent ventrobasal lobe; anterior sternal processes of 5 th segment originating at coxal condyles long, acuminate, directed mesad with the apices in contact.

No sclerotized gonosternal sclerite present; coxa large and robust, with elongated coxosternal apodeme, dorsal coxal apophysis enlarged, with a field of setae on its lateral side, no paracannular setae present. Telopodite slightly smaller than coxa, lacking torsion, efferent groove conducted on a small laminate solenomere terminating the acropodite; prefemoral process large, calyciform, enveloping the acropodite. Neither element of telopodite with cingulum.

Species: Only the type species is known.

Comment: Like the foregoing species, the following has apparently never been recollected (or recorded) in over 100 years, and apparently mentioned only once, in 1938. In his 1903 paper, Brölemann sorted the various new species of Leptodesmus into several species groups, placing carminatus in the “Groupe du Leptodesmus plataleus ” which corresponded to the taxon currently recognized as Chondrodesmus .

Attems (1938) formally made the new combination Chondrodesmus carminatus although with considerable reservation, writing “Die Stellung dieser Art in der Gattung Chondrodesmus ist sehr zweifelhaft, die Gonopoden, die bei den anderen Arten sehr einheitlich sind, weichen bei dieser Art stark vom Typus ab, jedoch ist es schwer, sie zwanglos in einer Gattung unterzubringen.” Lacking personal experience with the situation, Schubart accepted this assignation and did not include carminatus in his 1946 list of Brazilian species of Leptodesmus . Although Brölemann’s perception was reasonable for its time, our better knowledge of chelodesmids associates Chondrodesmus and some closely related taxa in a discrete tribe Chondrodesmini endemic to the northern Andes and Middle America ( Hoffman, 1978). The large gonosternum in Baianassa alone is sufficient reason to exclude it from that tribe.