Chamberlinius Wang, 1956

Chen, Chao-Chun, Golovatch, Sergei I., Chang, Hsueh-Wen & Chen, Shyh-Hwang, 2011, Revision of the Taiwanese millipede genus Chamberlinius Wang, 1956, with descriptions of two new species and a reclassification of the tribe Chamberlinini (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae, Paradoxosomatinae), ZooKeys 98, pp. 1-27 : 2-3

Genus Chamberlinius Wang, 1956

Chamberlinius Wang 1956: 156, 1957: 103; Jeekel 1968: 73; Jeekel 1971: 219; Hoffman 1973: 377, 1980: 170; Korsós 2004: 22.

Diagnosis

(amended): Large-sized Chamberlinini (25-37 mm long).Paraterga very well-developed, paraterga 2 not lower, but as high as adjacent paraterga. Pleurosternal carinae well-developed. Both a lobe between ♂ coxae 4 and adenostyles missing. A pair of ridge-like spiracles flanking gonopod aperture.

Gonopod coxae long, subcylindrical, setose distodorsally, cannula as usual. Telopodites very slender and long, in situ their distal parts crossing medially. Femorite especially long, longer than acropodite, simple, devoid of outgrowths, apically with a clear cingulum demarcating a mesally directed, elongate postfemoral part; the latter branching near base (just distal to cingulum) into a long, thick and simple solenomere and a shorter to longer, similarly thick solenophore supplied with a dentiform outgrowth at base. Seminal groove running mostly on medial face of femorite to move laterally only towards, and to return back to medial side near, cingulum.

Type species:

Chamberlinius hualienensis Wang, 1956, by original designation.

Remarks.

Hoffman (1973), when outlining the tribe Chamberlinini , included only two genera therein: Chamberlinius and Riukiupeltis Verhoeff, 1939, with three and one species, respectively. They show very well-developed paraterga resembling those of some Xystodesmidae , both a lobe between ♂ coxae 4 and adenostyles missing, and the gonopods being peculiar in the entire terminal half of the telopodite (distal to the cingulum) representing a single element with several subterminal branches, one of which carries the seminal groove.

Such a description of gonopod structure actually means that, unlike many other tribes of Paradoxosomatidae , which have a long and flagelliform solenomere more or less strongly sheathed/protected by a complex, rather membranous solenophore, the solenomere in the Chamberlinini is a thick, strong and long branch accompanied by a similarly thick, strong and long solenophore branch. The above new diagnosis of Chamberlinius emphasizes its peculiar gonopod conformation. Regrettably, the gonopod conformation of Riukiupeltis still remains to be clarified to properly rediagnose this genus ( Jeekel 1968).

Jeekel (1968) included the following species in Chamberlinius : Chamberlinius cristatus (Takakuwa, 1942) from Japan, Chamberlinius pekuensis (Karsch, 1881) from Japan, Korea, continental China and Taiwan, Chamberlinius hualienensis (misspelled as hauliensis) Wang, 1956 and Chamberlinius shengmui Wang, 1957, both latter taxa from Taiwan. Hoffman (1973) later transferred pekuensis into Orthomorphella (see above). As regards Chamberlinius cristatus , originally described as Orthomorpha cristatus Takakuwa, 1942 from near Tokyo, Japan ( Takakuwa 1942), this species badly needs a revision ( Jeekel 1968), but the sketch of its gonopod structure alone, showing a flagelliform solenomere and a complex membranous solenophore, prevents its assignment to Chamberlinini altogether. So Orthomorpha cristatus is here formally ejected from Chamberlinius , but its current generic relationships remain obscure.

As a result, presently only three species can be considered as belonging to this genus ( Hoffman 1973, Korsós 2004). Our contribution puts on record two new congeners from Taiwan and establishes the synonymy of one of the older species, altogether providing a revision of Chamberlinius .

Distribution:

All Chamberlinius species are believed to be native to Taiwan ( Hoffman 1980), but one congener seems to have been introduced to Japan ( Higa and Kishimoto 1986, 1989, Yamaguchi et al. 2000, Niijima and Arimura 2002, Nakamura and Korsós 2010).