Corresponding author: Boyan Vagalinski (
Academic editor: O. Moldovan
We redescribe the poorly known Chinese millipede
Vagalinski B, Meng K, Bachvarova D, Stoev P (2018) A redescription of the poorly known cave millipede
The eastern Asian julidan family
Summarized distribution map of species of
We here provide an emended description of
Shi-Hua Cave, also known as Qian-Zhen Cave and Shi-Fo Cave, is located on the south bank of Da-Shi River in Fang-Shan Mountain, Fang-Shan World Geological park, approximately 50 km southwest of Beijing. It is the largest limestone cave in northern China, and the one with the richest deposits of secondary carbonate sediments. The cave is locally important in both touristic and scientific aspects. It is part of the Shi-Hua Karst system formed by several caves, namely Ji-Mao, Yin-Hu, Shi-Hua, Qing-Feng and Kong-Shui, connected by an underground river (
Shi-Hua is a multilayer limestone cave consisting of 7 levels interconnected by numerous passages and chambers, measuring a total length of about 5640 m. The cave’s highest point measured from the entrance is 14 m and the lowest is 158 m (
Yun-Shui Cave is also situated in Fang-Shan World Geological park, 75 km from Beijing and some 18 km in a straight line from Shi-Hua Cave. Yun-Shui comprises several halls with a total length of about 610 m. Despite the proximity to Shi-Hua, Yun-Shui, along with the caves San-Qing, Long-Xian-Gong and Xian-Xia, is part of a different karst system – the Tanghsien Karst system located on the northern bank of Ju-Ma River. The two systems – Tanghsien and Shi-Hua – are not connected by underground rivers or terrestrial channels.
The stratum of Yun-Shui was developed from epicontinental sea deposits 1000 MYA, and, similar to Shi-Hua, the cave itself was shaped during the Neogene (
The material was collected in November 2013 by Pavel Stoev, Christo Deltshev and Shuqiang Li. It is deposited in the Myriapod collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia (
Main diagnostic characters of species of
Number of articles of male leg-pair 1 | Claws on male leg-pair 1 | Number of articles of telopodites of male leg-pair 7 | Coxites of male leg-pair 7 | Promerital telopodites | Flagellum apically | Opisthomerite deeply divided into 2 branches | Sources | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5 | absent | 3 | massive, stout | ~ 1/2 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 1 | very short and stout | ~ 1/2 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 3 | rather slender | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 3 | long and slender | ~ 3/4 as long as coxites | non-branched | yes | |
|
5 | absent | 1 | rather slender | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | non-branched | no* |
|
|
6 | absent | 1–2 | long and slender | ~ 3/4 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
7 | absent | 2 | somewhat elongated | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | present | 2 | massive, stout | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
3 | absent | 1 | massive, stout | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | ? | ? |
|
|
5 | absent | 3 | very short and stout | ~ 1/2 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
6 | absent | 2, the 2nd one minute | long and slender | ~ 1/2 as long as coxites | non-branched | yes | |
|
5 | absent | 3 | rather short and stout | almost as long as coxites | ? | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 2 | massive, stout | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 1 | short and stout | ~ 1/4 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 2 | short and stout | ~ 1/4 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 2 | massive, somewhat elongated | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | non-branched | yes | |
|
5 | present | 2 | somewhat elongated | ~ 3/4 as long as coxites | non-branched | yes |
|
|
5 | absent | 1–3 | long and slender | almost as long as coxites | non-branched | yes |
|
|
5 | present | 2, both very large | short and stout | ~ 1/2 as long as coxites | bifurcated | ? |
|
|
5 | absent | 2, the 2nd one minute | somewhat elongated | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | non-branched | no** |
|
|
5 | absent | 2, both very short | massive, rather short | ~ 2/3 as long as coxites | bifurcated | yes |
|
A genus of
3 males, 7 females & 16 juv., China, Beijing, Fangshan Distr., Shi-Hua (Stone Flower/ Stone Buddha) Cave (type locality),
Differs from congeners mostly by the flattened, blade-like, basolateral process on the caudal face of the anterior gonopod, and by the completely pigmentless ocelli.
Measurements: males 49–51 mm in length, 2.5–2.6 mm in height at mid-body, body ring formula 62+(1–2)+T; females 49–60 mm, 2.4–2.8 mm, and (61–67)+(1–2)+T, respectively.
Colouration in life (Fig.
Living specimens of
General morphology: Adults with 25–40 very small and completely pigmentless ocelli arranged in a narrow triangular field; eye rows unclear. Vertigial setae and pits absent; 4 supralabral and 22–28 labral setae. Antennae (Fig.
Collum with ca. 10 shallow striae on each side. Body rings considerably vaulted, this becoming increasingly pronounced towards telson. Prozonites with several shallow, somewhat undulating, transverse striae encircling them (striae being more pronounced dorsally), and dense, short and shallow, longitudinal striation on dorsum near the pro-metazonital suture. Metazonites with rather sparse and shallow (deeper ventrally) longitudinal striae, these disappearing above the ozopore level; without setae on hind margins. Ozopores relatively small, set far behind the pro-metazonital suture, at ca. metazonital mid-length.
Epiproct very short and blunt in both sexes, marginally with one to several setae. Hypoproct broad and short, nearly semi-elliptic, edentate, tightly fitting under the paraprocts; its margin slightly more strongly vaulted in males. Paraprocts with only 2–3 setae each situated near the caudal margins. Walking legs slender; tarsi of mid-body legs 2–2.3 times longer than tibiae, and 3.3–3.7 times longer than the apical claw.
Male sexual characters: Male mandibular stipites enlarged, ventrally incised, forming two nearly equal, subconical lobes. Promentum (
Gonopods (Figs
Anterior gonopod (Figs
Posterior gonopod (Figs
Female sexual characters: Leg-pair 1 somewhat thicker and shorter, leg-pair 2 also shorter, but not thicker than the following legs. Vulva (Fig.
With its light coloration, slender legs and antennae, and pigmentless ocelli
However, the presence of ocelli in
Apart from its troglobiomorphic alterations,
1. Considering the great interspecific variations of the male leg-pair 1 in
2. With the exception of
3. A similar oblong oval shape of the gnathochilarium is also observed in members of
4. The slightly unusual shape of the male leg-pair 2 is too weak for a main generic diagnostic character.
It is also noteworthy that the opisthomerite in
Thus, we here propose a new synonymy:
Of the remaining mongoliulid genera,
In general, the distribution of the main taxonomic characters within
PS is grateful to Shuqiang Li for hosting him at the Institute of Zoology, CAS in November 2013, and for arranging the field trips to the caves Shi-Hua and Yun-Shui. The study is part of the project “Speciation and conservation of cave invertebrate animals”, financially supported by the bilateral exchange program of the Chinese and Bulgarian academies of sciences. The study was partly funded by the University of Shumen, project RD-08-167/09.02.2018.
Part of the results of this study were presented at the 17th International Congress of Myriapodology in Krabi, Thailand, 23–26 July 2017.