Abstract
The type specimens of Fijicolana tuberculata Roewer, 1963 were re-examined and the male genital morphology is illustrated and described for the first time. Despite the presence of several morphological features that are typical of Samoidae, such as the presence of scopulae on legs III and IV, genital morphology unambiguously indicates that this species belongs to the Zalmoxidae rather than to the Samoidae. Fijicolana Roewer, 1963 is newly synonymized with Zalmoxis Sørensen, 1886. However, the newly implied combination is preoccupied by Z. tuberculatus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1948 thus the replacement name Zalmoxis roeweri nom. nov. is proposed to avoid secondary homonymy. The definition of Z. roeweri nom. nov. is amended, and the morphology of this species is compared with other representatives of Zalmoxidae and Samoidae. We conclude that the presence of scopulae alone is not a sufficiently diagnostic characteristic for Samoidae and, therefore, correctly placing taxa into families within Samooidea + Zalmoxoidea requires additional morphological evidence (e.g. genital morphology). In light of this result, we point out that the "scopulated" Australasian samoids Badessania metatarsalis Roewer, 1949, Sawaiellus berlandi Roewer, 1949 and Parasamoa gressitti Goodnight & Goodnight, 1957 require re-examination in order to detect potential errors in their family placement.
References
Acosta, L.E., Pérez-González, A. & Tourinho, A.L. (2007) Methods and techniques of study: Methods for taxonomic study. In: Machado, G., Pinto-da-Rocha, R. & Giribet, G. (Eds.), Harvestmen: the biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 494–505.
Gainett, G., Sharma, P.P., Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Giribet, G. & Willemart, R.H. (2014) Walk it off: predictive power of appendicular characters toward inference of higher-level relationships in Laniatores (Arachnida: Opiliones). Cladistics 30, 120–138.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cla.12029Giribet, G. & Kury, A.B. (2007) Phylogeny and biogeography. In: Machado, G., Pinto-da-Rocha, R. & Giribet, G. (Eds.), Harvestmen: the biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 62–87.
Goodnight, C.J. & Goodnight, M.L. (1948) New phalangids from the southwest Pacific. American Museum Novitates, 1371, 1–14.
Goodnight, C.J. & Goodnight, M.L. (1957) Opiliones. Insects of Micronesia, 3 (2), 71–83.
Hunt, G.S. (1993) A new cavernicolous harvestman from lava tube caves in tropical Australia (Arachnida: Opiliones: Phalangodidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 33 (1), 217–219.
Koch, L. (1865) Beschreibung neuer Arachniden und Myriopoden. Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 15, 857–892.
Kury, A.B. (2007) Podoctidae Roewer, 1912. In: Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (Eds.), Harvestmen: the biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 221–224.
Kury, A.B. & Pérez-González, A. (2007) Zalmoxidae Sørensen, 1886. In: Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (Eds.), Harvestmen: the biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 243–246.
Pérez-González, A. (2011) New familial assignment for two harvestman species of the infraorder Grassatores (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores). Zootaxa, 2757, 24–28.
Pérez-González, A. & Kury, A.B. (2007) Samoidae Sørensen, 1886. In: Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (Eds.), Harvestmen: the biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 224–226.
Pinto-da-Rocha, R. (1997) Systematic review of the Neotropical family Stygnidae (Opiliones, Laniatores, Gonyleptoidea). Arquivos de Zoologia, 33 (4), 163–342.
http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2176-7793.v33i4p163-342Rambla, M. (1990) Les scopula des Opilions, différences avec les scopula des Araignées (Arachnida, Opiliones, Araneae). In: Célérier, M.L., Heurtault, J. & Rollard, C. (Eds.), Comptes rendus du XIIème Colloque européen d'Arachnologie. Bulletin de la Société européenne d'Arachnologie, 1 (Supplement Volume), 293–298.
Roewer, C.F. (1912) Die Familien der Assamiiden und Phalangodiden der Opiliones-Laniatores (= Assamiden, Dampetriden, Phalangodiden, Epedaniden, Biantiden, Zalmoxiden, Samoiden, Palpipediden anderer Autoren). Archiv für Naturgeschichte, Berlin, Abteilung A, 78 (3), 1–242.
Roewer, C.F. (1926) Opiliones vom Mount Maquiling auf Luzon Philippinen. Philippine Journal of Science, 29 (4), 545–559.
Roewer, C.F. (1927) Weitere Weberknechte I. Abhandlungen herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen, 26 (2), 261–402.
Roewer, C.F. (1949) Über Phalangodiden I. (Subfam. Phalangodinae, Tricommatinae, Samoinae.) Weitere Weberknechte XIII. Senckenbergiana, 30 (1/3), 11–61.
Roewer, C.F. (1963) Über einige Arachniden (Opiliones und Araneae) der orientalischen und australischen Region. Senckenbergiana Biologica, 44, 223–230.
Sharma, P.P. (2012) New Australasian Zalmoxidae (Opiliones: Laniatores) and a new case of male polymorphism in Opiliones. Zootaxa, 3236, 1–35.
Sharma, P.P. & Giribet, G. (2011) The evolutionary and biogeographic history of the armoured harvestmen—Laniatores phylogeny based on ten molecular markers, with the description of two new families of Opiliones (Arachnida). Invertebrate Systematics, 25, 106–142.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/IS11002Sharma, P.P. & Giribet, G. (2012) Out of the Neotropics: Late Cretaceous colonization of Australasia by American arthropods. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B: Biological Sciences, 279, 3501–3509.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0675Sharma, P.P., Buenavente, P.A.C., Clouse, R.M., Diesmos, A.C. & Giribet, G. (2012) Forgotten gods: Zalmoxidae of the Philippines and Borneo (Opiliones: Laniatores). Zootaxa, 3280, 29–55.
Sharma, P.P., Kury, A.B. & Giribet, G. (2011) The Zalmoxidae (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores) of the Paleotropics: a catalogue of Southeast Asian and Indo-Pacific species. Zootaxa, 2972, 37–58.
Šilhavý, V. (1979) New American representatives of the subfamily Samoinae (Opiliones, Phalangodidae, Arach.). Annotationes zoologicae et botanicae, 130, 1–27.
Sørensen, W.E. (1886) Opiliones. In: Koch, L. & Keyserling, E. von (Eds.), Die Arachniden Australiens nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet, vol. [Theil] 2 [of two volumes & atlas, 1871–1889], fascicle [Lieferung] 33. Bauer & Raspe, Nürnberg, pp. 53–86, pls. 5–6.
Suzuki, S. (1982) Contributions to the taxonomy and zoogeography of the Opiliones of the Philippines, Bismarck and Solomon Islands. With an appendix on some related species from the Moluccas and Sumatra. Steenstrupia, 8 (8), 181–225.
Willemart, R.H., Pérez-González, A., Farine, J.P. & Gnaspini, P. (2010) Sexually dimorphic tegumental gland openings in Laniatores (Arachnida, Opiliones), with new data on 23 species. Journal of Morphology, 271 (6), 641–653.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.10822