Lithobius (Ezembius) potanini Sseliwanoff, 1881

Dyachkov, Yurii V., Farzalieva, Gyulli Sh. & Tuf, Ivan H., 2022, An annotated checklist of centipedes (Chilopoda) of Middle Asian countries, part 1. Lithobiomorpha, Zootaxa 5100 (2), pp. 151-188 : 180

Lithobius (Ezembius) potanini Sseliwanoff, 1881

Type locality: [ China, Xinjiang, Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County, Barkul-Tag Mt. Range, on N slope of the Barkul Pass] “Tjan-schan, an dem Nordfusse des Berges Koscheti-Dabak [sic]” ( Sseliwanoff 1881a) and “U severnoy podoshvy gory Koshety-daban [sic]” (see Remarks) ( Sseliwanoff 1881b).

Fig. 6 .

Lithobius potanini Sseliwanoff, 1881a: 16 (13 specimens).

Lithobius potanini — Sseliwanoff, 1881b: 2 (13 specimens: ♂ ♀).

Lithobius potanini — Attems, 1904: 115; Zalesskaja, 1978: 129.

Lithobius (Ezembius) potanini — Eason, 1986b: 59.

Remarks. L. potanini was described by Sseliwanoff in two papers: one is in German (1881a) and another one is in Russian (1881b). Attems (1904) mentioned “Tian-Shan” as the range of the species. Zalesskaja (1978) included this species in the monograph on lithobiomorph centipedes of the USSR and also noted its distribution as “TianShan”. The type locality of the species is “Tjan-schan, an dem Nordfusse des Berges Koscheti-Dabak [sic]” [TianShan, on N slope of Koscheti-Daban Pass]. The correct name of the place is Koscheti-Daban Pass (“Daban” means “mountain pass” in Mongolian: Melkheev 1969), now “Barkul Pass” (ca. N43°18'30.05", E93°40'32.66"), located in Barkul-Tag Mt. Range (eastern Tian-Shan). According to both descriptions by Sseliwanoff and the label from the file cabinet of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg ( Fig. 6 ), the specimens were collected by G. N. Potanin, who visited Barkul during his first expedition to Mongolia (1876–1877): “on 19 May 1877 expedition arrived to Chinese Barkul (Barkel) City at the foothills of Barkul-Tag Mt. Range in the eastern part of Tian-Shan” ( Shilovsky 2004).

A number of Russian outstanding scientists, who also visited Barkul City, mentioned Koscheti-Daban Pass. N. M. Przhevalsky (1948: 65) wrote: “The climb to the pass through the Tian-Shan from the north side extends for about 5 versts... a small idol and fanza are built for relaxation on the highest point of the pass called Koshety-Daban… It offers a great view of the Barkul plain...”. G. E. Grumm-Grzhymaylo (1926: 673) wrote: “Koshety-Daban Pass was made as a road between Barkul and Hamy…”. Barkul is a village and Hami is a city in Xinjiang (NW China).

Thus, this species is known from China not from the Middle Asian counties. L. potanini is formally mentioned for the Chinese chilopod fauna for the first time.

Known from the type locality only.

Figures

FIGURE 6. The label for Lithobius potanini Sseliwanoff, 1881 from the Zoological Institute of the RussianAcademy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg.