Oroperipatus balzani ( Camerano, 1897 )

1. Oroperipatus balzani ( Camerano, 1897) View in CoL

Synonyms:

Peripatus balzani View in CoL as originally designated ( Camerano 1897: 14)

Peripatus balzani ( Bouvier 1905: 149) View in CoL

Oroperipatus balzani ( Clark 1913: 16) View in CoL

Oroperipatus balzani ( Peck 1975: 347) View in CoL

Oroperipatus balzani ( Sampaio-Costa et al. 2009: 558) View in CoL

Holotype: Not designated.

Type locality: BOLIVIA, Yungas , between Chulumani and Coroico, at 1,600 m a.s.l. ( Camerano 1897).

Distribution: Bolivia ( La Paz Department) and Brazil ( Acre State).

Specimen localization: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. MZT, MHNG ( Sampaio-Costa et al., 2009).

Language of species description: Italian.

Taxonomic characteristics: Females are chocolatebrown dorsally, with light spots over papillae and a darker median longitudinal stripe; legs paler than the back; 26-27 paired legs; outer mandible three-toothed, inner mandible with four large teeth ( Camerano 1897).

Remarks: Described from two specimens ( Camerano 1897), this species requires thorough revision. Initially considered a pair of females by Camerano, they were later identified as two males by Bouvier (1905). Until recently, it was only known from the type locality. However, a recent report documented Oroperipatus balzani from a specimen collected in the State of Acre, Brazil, nearly 1000 km north of the type locality. This specimen is housed at the Museu Nacional de Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ) ( Sampaio-Costa et al., 2009). Nevertheless, we treat this record cautiously due to the commonly accepted restricted distribution of most Onychophora.