Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2023-02-28
Page range: 92-110
Abstract views: 265
PDF downloaded: 36

Three new troglobitic species of Pseudochthonius Balzan, 1892 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from northeastern Brazil

Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Departamento de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG. CEP 37200-900, Brazil.
Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Departamento de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG. CEP 37200-900, Brazil.
Cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion taxonomy Pseudoscorpiones

Abstract

Three new pseudoscorpion species, Pseudochthonius pali sp. nov., Pseudochthonius diamachi sp. nov., and Pseudochthonius koinopoliteia sp. nov., are herein described from caves of Bahia state, Brazil. They can be distinguished from congeners mainly by the absence of eyes or eyespots, chelal and cheliceral dentition, coxal chaetotaxy and body size. Some ecological remarks on each species, possible threats, recommendations for future research and a key to the Pseudochthonius species from Brazil are provided.

References

  1. Alvares, C.A., Stape, J.L., Sentelhas, P.C., Gonçalves, J.L.M. & Sparovek, G. (2013) Köppen’s climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 22 (6), 711–728. https://doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2013/0507

  2. Assis, L.D., Schimonsky, D.M.V. & Bichuette, M.E. (2021) The first troglobitic Pseudochthonius Balzan, 1892 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from the karst area of Serra do Ramalho, Brazil: a threatened species. Subterranean Biology, 40, 109–128. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.40.77451

  3. Auler, A. (2019) Histórico, ocorrência e potencial de cavernas no Brasil. In: Rubbioli, E., Auler, A., Menin, D. & Brandi, R., Cavernas: Atlas do Brasil Subterrâneo. ICMBio, Brasília, pp. 290.

  4. Beier, M. (1969) Ein wahrscheinlich troglobionter Pseudochthonius (Pseudoscorp.) aus Brasilien. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 76 (1) 1–2. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.97044

  5. Beier, M. (1970) Myrmecophile Pseudoskorpione aus Brasilien. Annalen des naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 74, 51–56.

  6. Benavides, L.R., Cosgrove, J.G., Harvey, M.S. & Gonzalo, G. (2019) Phylogenomic interrogation resolves the backbone of the Pseudoscorpiones tree of life. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evo­lution, 139, 106509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.05.023

  7. Chamberlin, J.C. (1929) The genus Pseudochthonius Balzan (Arachnida—Chelonethida). Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France, 54, 173–179.

  8. Chamberlin, J.C. (1931) The arachnid order Chelonethida. Stanford University Publications. Biological Sciences, 7, 1–284.

  9. Ferreira, R.L., Bernard, E., Júnior, F.W.C., Piló, L.B., Calux, A., Souza-Silva, M., Barlow, J., Pompeu, P.S., Cardoso, P., Mammola, S., García, A.M., Jeffery, W.R., Shear, W., Medellín, R.A., Wynne, J.J., Borges, P.A.V., Kamimura, Y., Pipan, T., Hajna, N.Z., Sendra, A., Peck, S., Onac, B.P., Culve, D.C., Hoch, H., Flot, J., Stoch, F., Pavlek, M., Niemiller, M.L., Manchi, S., Deharveng, L., Fenolio, D., Calaforra, J., Yager, J., Griebler, C., Nader, F.H., Humphreys, W.F., Hughes, A.C., Fenton, B., Forti, P., Sauro, F., Veni, G., Frumkin, A., Gavish-Regev, E., Fišer, C., Trontelj, P., Zagmajster, M., Delic, Teo., Galassi, D.M.P,. Vaccarelli, I., Komnenov, M., Gainett, G., Tavares, V.C., Kováč, L., Miller, A.Z., Yoshizawa, K., Di Lorenzo, T., Moldovan, O.T., Sánchez-Fernández, D., Moutaouakil, S., Howarth, F., Bilandžija, H., Dražina, T., Kuharić, N., Butorac, V., Lienhard, C., Cooper, S.J.B., Eme, D., Strauss, A.M., Saccò, M., Zhao, Y., Williams, P., Tian, M., Tanalgo, K., Woo, K., Barjakovic, M., Mccracken, G.F., Simmons, N.B., Racey, P.A., Ford, D., Labegalini, J.A., Colzato, N., Pereira, M.J.R., Aguiar, L.M.S., Moratelli, R., Du Preez, G., Pérez-González, A., Reboleira, A.S.P.S., Gunn, J., Mc Cartney, A., Bobrowiec, P.E.D., Milko, D., Kinuthia, W., Fischer, E., Meierhofer, M.B. & Frick, W.F. (2022) Brazilian cave heritage under siege. Science, 375, 1238–1239. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1973

  10. Cole, M.M. (1960) Cerrado, caatinga and pantanal: the distribution and origin of the savanna vegetation of Brazil. The Geographical Journal, 126 (2), 168–179. https://doi.org/10.2307/1793957

  11. Harms, D. (2018) The origins of diversity in ancient landscapes: deep phylogeographic structuring in a pseudoscorpion (Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Pseudotyrannochthonius) reflects Plio-Pleistocene climate fluctuations. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 273, 112–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2018.01.001

  12. Harvey, M.S. (1988) The systematics and biology of pseudoscorpions & N. W. Heather. Austral­ian Arachnology. Australian Entomological Society, Brisbane, pp. 75–85.

  13. Harvey, M.S. (1992) The phylogeny and classification of the Pseudoscorpionida (Chelicerata: Arachnida). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 6, 1373–1435. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9921373

  14. Harvey, M.S. (2013) Pseudoscorpions of the World. Version 3.0. Western Australian Museum. Perth. Available from: http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues/pseudoscorpions (accessed 26 November 2021)

  15. Hoff, C.C. (1946) Three new species of heterosphyronid pseudoscorpions from Trinidad. American Museum Novitates, 1322, 1–13.

  16. IUCN (2017) Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List categories and criteria. Version 13. Available from: https://iucnredlist.org/resources/redlistguidelines (accessed 26 January 2023)

  17. Mahnert, V. (2001) Cave-dwelling pseudoscorpions (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from Brazil. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 108 (1), 95–148. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.79622

  18. Montesanto, G. (2015) A fast GNU method to draw accurate scientific illustrations for taxonomy. ZooKeys, 515, 191–206. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.515.9459

  19. Muchmore, W.B. (1970) An unusual Pseudochthonius from Brazil (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpionida, Chthoniidae). Entomological News, 81, 221–223.

  20. Schimonsky, D.M.V., Gallão, J.E. & Bichette, M.E. (2022) A new troglobitic Pseudochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae) from Minas Gerais State, south-east Brazil. Arachnology, 19 (1), 38–46. https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2022.19.1.38

  21. Souza, M.F.V.R. & Ferreira, R.L. (2010) Eukoenenia (Palpigradi: Eukoeneniidae) in Brazilian caves with the first troglobiotic palpigrade from South America. Journal of Arachnology, 38, 415–424. https://doi.org/10.1636/Ha09-112.1

  22. Souza-Silva, M., Cerqueira, R.F.V., Pellegrini, T.G. & Ferreira, R.L. (2021) Habitat selection of cave-restricted fauna in a new hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in Neotropics. Biodiversity and Conservation, 30, 4223–4250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02302-8

  23. Vasconcelos, A.C.O. & Ferreira, R.L. (2017) Two new species of cave-dwelling Charinus Simon, 1892 from Brazil (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae). Zootaxa, 4312 (2), 277–292. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4312.2.4

  24. Viana, A.C.M., Souza, M.F.V.R. & Ferreira, R.L. (2018) Spelaeobochicha goliath (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Bochicidae), a new troglobitic pseudoscorpion from Brazil. Zootaxa, 4402 (3), 585–594. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4402.3.11

  25. World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog (2022) World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Available from: http/wac.nmbe.ch (accessed 7 December 2022)

  26. Wynne, J.J., Francis, G.H., Stefan, S. & Brett, G. (2019) Fifty years of cave arthropod sampling: techniques and best practices. International Journal of Speleology, 48, 33–48. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.48.1.2231