Research Article |
Corresponding author: Nesrine Akkari ( nes.akkari@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Pavel Stoev
© 2018 Nesrine Akkari, Jean-Paul Mauriès.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Akkari N, Mauriès J-P (2018) A review of the family Trichopolydesmidae in North Africa with a description of a new species from Tunisia. ZooKeys 786: 117-128. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.786.28270
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A new species of the genus Haplocookia Brölemann, 1915 is described from Cap Bon Peninsula in Tunisia (North Africa) and a historical account of the poorly understood genera Haplocookia and Heterocookia Silvestri, 1898 is provided. Comments on the taxonomy of the family Trichopolydesmidae are presented, as well as an identification key to the trichopolydesmid species hitherto known from North Africa and an updated list of the Polydesmida in the region.
Haplocookia , Heterocookia , identification key, North Africa, new species, taxonomy, Tunisia, updated checklist
The order Polydesmida Leach, 1815 is represented in North Africa with five families, nine genera, and 22 species (see list below). Most of these species are endemic, marginally studied, and the taxonomy of several species and genera remain far from adequate (see
The genus Haplocookia is characterised by a deeply divided gonopod telopodite bearing short and simple processes. It was first established by
The genus Heterocookia was described much earlier, based on a species collected and described from Aϊn Draham Region in northwestern Tunisia by
In this paper, we shed light on this obscure genus, describe a new species from Tunisia, Haplocookia enghoffi sp. n., and we further provide an updated checklist of the polydesmidan fauna of North Africa and an identification key to the species of Haplocookia and Heterocookia in this region.
The material of the new species was collected by NA, stored in 70% ethanol, and deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (
Holotype. Male, Tunisia, Cap Bon peninsula, Nabeul district, Jebel Abderrahman, Tunisia, 28.11.2004, N. Akkari leg. (
Heterocookia novator, 1 male, Tunisia, Gov. Béja, Jebel El Jouza Amdoun, coll. & det. N. Akkari,
A small polydesmidan of the genus Haplocookia, differing from its congeners in the shape of the distal part of the gonopod telopodite having simple curved processes.
The species epithet honours Prof. Henrik Enghoff, a leading expert in myriapod systematics, author of major works on millipede taxonomy, and always a dear friend.
(all measurements in mm). Pale, almost white (Figure
Head occipital furrow not clear; mandibles and gnathochilarium with many small and regularly distributed setae, labrum with three teeth. Antenna (Figure
Collum (Figure
Metaterga (Figure
Paranota (Figure
Legs (Figure
Telson with two transverse rows of tubercles bearing long and strong setae, epiproct almost triangular, with relatively long setae.
Gonopods (Figure
Except for the special structure of the seminal groove (a small bulb-like extension, reminding of genus Polydesmus), the gonopod of Haplocookia enghoffi sp. n. is built in the same way as that of H. mauritanica and H. franzi, with a typically polydesmoid crescent-shaped telopodite arising from a large coxa (Figs
The genus Heterocookia includes two species from Tunisia, viz. H. novator (Figure
Heterocookia novator (Silvestri, 1896) and Heterocookia tunisiaca Ceuca, 1967, habitus. A Heterocookia novator (Tunisia, Gov. Béja, Jebel El Jouza Amdoun, coll. & det. N. Akkari,
North African Trichopolydesmidae, right gonopod in postero-lateral view: A Haplocookia mauritanica Brölemann, 1915 (redrawn after
The taxonomy of the family Trichopolydesmidae has remained controversial.
Almost simultaneously,
Ten years later,
1 | Pale species (Fig. |
Haplocookia 2 |
– | Pigmented species (Fig. |
Heterocookia 4 |
2 | Tibiotarsus with strong subapical or apical indentations (Figs |
3 |
– | Tibiotarsus with a faint subapical projection (Fig. |
Haplocookia enghoffi sp. n. |
3 | Tibiotarsus with apical indentation (Fig. |
Haplocookia mauritanica |
– | Tibiotarsus with subapical marginal indentations; solenomere slender and bent in same plane as tibiotarsus (Fig. |
Haplocookia franzi |
4 | Tibiotarsus with an upturned tip. Accessory process with lateral serrated expansion (Fig. |
Heterocookia novator |
– | Tibiotarsus with cleaver-shaped tip. Accessory process slender, without serrations (Fig. |
Heterocookia tunisiaca |
Family Polydesmidae Leach, 1815
Archipolydesmus chreensis Abrous-Kherbouche & Mauriès, 1996
Archipolydesmus fodili Abrous-Kherbouche & Mauriès, 1996
Archipolydesmus kabylianus Abrous-Kherbouche & Mauriès, 1996
Archipolydesmus maroccanus Attems, 1898
Polydesmus dismilus (Berlese, 1891)
Polydesmus proximus (Latzel, 1884)
Polydesmus superus (Latzel, 1884)
Family Pyrgodesmidae Silvestri, 1896
Rharodesmus cherifiensis Schubart, 1960
Rharodesmus tabarkensis Akkari & Enghoff, 2012
?Tonodesmus bolivari Silvestri, 1923
Family Trichopolydesmidae Verhoeff, 1910
Haplocookia enghoffi sp. n.
Haplocookia franzi Schubart, 1960
Haplocookia mauritanica Brölemann, 1915
Heterocookia novator (Silvestri, 1896)
Heterocookia tunisiaca Ceuca, 1967
Family Xystodesmidae Cook, 1895
?Melaphe blainvillei (Eydoux & Gervais, 1836)
Melaphe mauritanica (Lucas, 1844)
Macellolophus rubromarginatus (Lucas, 1846)
Family Paradoxosomatidae Daday, 1889
Boreviulisoma liouvillei Brölemann, 1928
Eviulisoma abadi Mauriès, 1985
Oranomorpha guerinii (Gervais, 1836)
Stosatea italica (Latzel, 1886)
Many thanks are due to Jean-Jacques Geoffroy for arranging the loan of H. novator and H. tunisiaca to study them in Vienna. NA is grateful to Christine Rollard, Monique Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin and Jean-Jacques Geoffroy for the very pleasant work atmosphere and their encouragements during her visit to