Schaefferia montenegrina Kováč & Mehrafrooz Mayvan, 2025

Kováč, Ľubomír, Karaman, Marko & Mehrafrooz Mayvan, Mahmood, 2025, Convergent evolution underground - two new troglomorphic collembolan species of the genus Schaefferia Absolon, 1900 (Collembola, Poduromorpha, Hypogastruridae) from Iran and Montenegro, Subterranean Biology 54, pp. 1-22 : 1-22

Schaefferia montenegrina Kováč & Mehrafrooz Mayvan sp. nov.

Figs 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , Table 1

Diagnosis.

Eyes absent, PAO small, forming a rosette of 5–6 regular oval vesicles. Ant IV with 7–8 sensilla and simple apical vesicle. Th I with 2 + 2 setae, Abd V without seta p 2. Claw without internal or lateral teeth. Retinaculum with 3–4 teeth, furca well-developed, with 5 dental setae.

Type locality.

Montenegro, Virpazar, Trnovo village, Babatuša Cave, Coordinates: 42 ° 17 ' 56 " N, 19 ° 01 ' 58 " E, cave entrance 357 m a. s. l.

Type material.

Holotype. • Female on slide [BaSc 104 MO], dark zone, collected from surface of water, 06. vi. 2015, leg. Ľ. Kováč. Paratypes. • 1 female on slide [BaCa 105 MO], dark zone, collected from rotten wood, 23. vi. 2011, • 1 female on slide [BaCa 106 MO], dark zone, collected from surface of water, 06. vi. 2015, leg. Ľ. Kováč, and • 1 male on slide [BaCa 107 MO], dark zone, collected from water surface, sinter pool, 23. vi. 2011, leg. Ľ. Kováč. Holotype and one paratype deposited in Natural History Museum of Montenegro in Podgorica, and two paratypes deposited in CoPJSU .

Description.

Body appearance. Length 1.4 mm on average (n = 4, max. length 1.5 mm). Habitus typical of Ceratophysella , body fusiform. Colour live white without traces of pigment, cuticular granulation rather uniform throughout the body, with well-differentiated setae.

Antenna. It is nearly as long as head, with apical bulb (Fig. 9 A – C ). Length of Ant I, II, III, IV in holotype as 0.05, 0.04, 0.04, 0.07 mm, respectively. Ant I with 7 setae; Ant II with 7 dorsal and 6 ventral setae in a single row; Ant III and IV clearly separated, Ant III sensory organ with 2 central short and curved rods flanked by 2 guard sensilla (Fig. 9 B ), small ventrolateral microsensillum in a pit, 10 dorsal and 9 ventral setae; Ant IV with a simple apical bulb, 7–8 cylindrical blunt sensilla ( a, b, c, d, e, f, g and h), subapical ms near base of sensillum a, apical organite os placed between sensilla a and b, and 18 setae around sensilla.

Head. Eyes absent. PAO small but very distinct and located near base of Ant I, about 17 µm in diameter, with 5–6 equal lobes forming a rosette of 5–6 regular oval vesicles (Fig. 9 E ). Labrum typical of the genus with 2 + 2 prelabral setae and 5, 5, 4 labral setae. Labium with all normal papillae (A – E) and 6 proximal setae. Left mandible with 4 teeth and right mandible with 5 teeth.

Abdomen. Ventral tube with 4 + 4 apical setae. Retinaculum with 3–4 teeth (asymmetry). Furca well-developed as in Fig. 11 B , length of manubrium, dens, mucro in holotype as 0.04, 0.04, 0.01 mm respectively; manubrium with 8 setae; dens with 5 setae; mucro about 1 / 3 of dens length, with lateral lamella, mucro + dens slightly longer than inner edge of claw III. Anal spines shorter than claws (45 μm), on papillae (Fig. 12 C ). Ratio anal spines: claw III = 0.9; ratio anal spines: dens = 1.

Legs. Tibiotarsi I – III with acuminate tenent hair. Setal pattern as in Fig. 10 A – C . Leg I – III with 3, 8, 8 setae on coxae, 7, 7, 7 setae on trochanters, 15, 15, 13 setae on femora and 19, 19, 18 setae on tibiotarsi, respectively. Claw slender, 70 μm long in holotype, without internal or lateral teeth; pretarsus with 1 lobe and 2 setae (1 external and 1 internal) (Fig. 10 D – F ). Ratio of claw I length: width = 5.8.

Setal pattern of tergites.

Dorsal setal pattern generally of type II with well-differentiated setae. Setae on head and body finely dentated (Fig. 9 F ). Head. Setal pattern as in Fig. 9 D . Seta a 0 present; d 1 – d 5 (d 2 and d 4 as Mc); sd 1, sd 3 – sd 5; v 1 – v 2 (v 2 as Mc); c 1 – c 5; p 1 – p 3, p 5 (p 3 and p 5 as Mc, p 4 absent); oc 1 and oc 3 (oc 1 and oc 3 as Mc). Thorax. Setal pattern as in Fig. 11 A . Th I with 2 + 2 setae as m 1 and m 4 (m 3 absent). Th II – III with a 1 – a 6; m 1, m 4 and m 6 (m 4 as Mc; m 6 as s), lateral microsensillum present on Th II in front of m 6 (s); p 1 – p 4 (p 4 as s), p 5 – p 6 (p 2, p 5 and p 6 as Mc). Abdomen. Setal pattern as in Fig. 12 A, B . Abd I with 4 + 4 setae between p 5 (s) in rows ‘ a ’ and ‘ m ’: a 1, a 2, a 5 and m 3 (p 2, p 4, p 6 and p 7 as Mc); Abd II with 5 + 5 setae between p 5 (s) in rows ‘ a ’ and ‘ m ’: a 1, a 2, a 4, a 5 and m 3 (p 2, p 4, p 6 and p 7 as Mc); Abd III with 6 + 6 setae between p 5 (s) in rows ‘ a ’ and ‘ m ’: a 1, a 2, a 4, m 3 and m 4 (p 2, p 4, p 6 and p 7 as Mc). Abd IV with 5 + 5 setae between p 5 (s) in rows ‘ a ’ and ‘ m ’: a 1, a 2, a 4, and m 1 (a 5, p 2, p 4 and p 6 as Mc). Abd V with 2 + 2 setae between p 3 (s) on row ‘ a ’: a 1 and a 3 (a 5, p 1 and p 5 as Mc).

Etymology.

The name of the new species is derived from the Montenegro country in Europe, where it was discovered.

Taxonomic remarks.

Similarly to S. montenegrina sp. nov. the following species have reduced number of eyes to 0–1: S. greensladeae sp. nov., S. coeca , S. guerrerense , S. oaxacana , S. profundissima and S. subcoeca . Schaefferia montenegrina sp. nov. differs from S. greensladeae sp. nov. in size and number of PAO lobes: S. montenegrina sp. nov. has a small PAO with 5–6 subequal lobes, while S. greensladeae sp. nov. has large PAO with 7 unequal lobes. Moreover, S. montenegrina sp. nov. is separated from S. guerrerense and S. subcoeca in having a mucro, while mucro is absent in the latter two species. Other differences such as the presence of 2 + 2 setae on Th I, absence of seta p 2 on abd V, number of sensilla on Ant IV, number of dental setae, presence of an internal tooth on unguis and setal pattern of body tergites, also separate the new species from others (see Table 1 ).

Figures

Figure 9. Schaefferia montenegrina sp. nov. A antennal segments I – IV B Ant III sensory organ C blunt sensillum on Ant IV D dorsal side of head, setal pattern E postantennal organ with nearest setae and cuticular granulation F shape of macrosetae. Scale bars: 0.025 mm (A); 0.01 mm (B, C); 0.025 mm (D); 0.02 mm (E – F).

Figure 10. Schaefferia montenegrina sp. nov. A – C setal pattern of legs A leg I B leg II C leg III D – F foot complex of legs D leg I E leg II F leg III. Scale bars: 0.025 mm (A – C); 0.01 mm (D – F).

Figure 11. Schaefferia montenegrina sp. nov. A dorsal side of thorax B furca, setal pattern. Scale bars: 0.05 mm (A); 0.01 mm (B).

Figure 12. Schaefferia montenegrina sp. nov. A Dorsal side of Abd I – III, setal pattern B dorsal side of Abd IV – VI, setal pattern C detail of anal spine, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.05 mm (A, B); 0.01 mm (C).