Pygmarrhopalites torresi Baquero and Jordana, 2025

3.2.5. Pygmarrhopalites torresi Baquero and Jordana , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ A7BA9A5D-A76F-4FE9-B54B-6F40C53AD445, accessed on 12 February 2025.

Figures 14A–C View Figure 14 , 15A–C View Figure 15 , 16 View Figure 16 and 17A–C View Figure 17 .

Type Locality

Cueva Covadura, municipal district of Sorbas, Almería, Spain.

Type Material

Holotype: female, 30.iii.2000, slide labelled “PBTE-052”, Ruiz Portero leg. Paratypes, all Ruiz Portero leg. unless otherwise stated: Cueva Covadura , PBCO-002, 11, 2 ; PBCO-003, 17, 1 ; PBCO-006, 42, 1 ; PBCO-007, 0, 1 ; PBCO-008, 4, 2 ; PBCO-009, 0, 1 ; Cueva del Tesoro , PBTE-050, 0, 1 ; PBTE-053, 11, 2 ; PBTE-054, 10, 2 ; PBTE-055, 3, 2 ; PBTE-057, 0, 1 ; PBTE-058, 0, 1 ; Sima del Camión , PBCA-008, 0, 1. Many of the specimens, having been collected in traps that were left there for a long time (the specimens remain on the surface of the liquid and spoil), were not in good condition, and many lacked antennae and legs; therefore, the description was based on the observation of many different specimens.

Etymology

The name refers to Angel Torres Palenzuela, speleologist and co-founder of the Espeleo Club Almeria, who has been prospecting the GKS for more than 45 years.

Diagnosis

Species with only one eye, head without spines, Ant IV with five subsegments, three thickened spine-shaped chaetae in the dens (two external: Ie and IIIpe, and one internal: Ii), anal appendage massive, straight, and almost without denticles, and with long dorsal chaetae of the posterior half of the great abdomen.

Description

Body length (holotype): head, 0.35 mm; body, 0.7 mm.

Head ( Figure 14A View Figure 14 ). Eyes 1 + 1, unpigmented. Clypeal area, row a: 4 + 4 and an axial chaeta; row b: 3 + 3 and an axial chaeta; row c: 5 + 5; row d: 6 + 6; row e: 5 + 5; row f: 6 + 6, and there is an additional chaeta between rows e and f. Inter-antennal area, row: 2 + 2; row: 1 + 1 and an axial chaeta; rows A and C: 2 + 2 and an axial chaeta; row B: 1 + 1 and an axial chaeta; row D: 2 + 2 chaeta. Lateral chaetae of rows C and D not spine-like. Labrum: pre-labral/labral chaetotaxy: 6/554; all chaetae smooth; 2 + 2 chaetae near the ventral groove. Maxilla: apical chaeta of the maxillary outer lobe with a short and thin subparallel branch at the base; sublobal plate with three sublobal hairs.

Antenna ( Figure 14B,C View Figure 14 ): I/II/III/IV, 0.040/0.08/0.125/0.150-0.045-0.42 -0.040 -0.102; shorter than the body (ratio 0.6) and ratio Ant/head as 1.78; Ant IV with five subsegments; basal subsegment of Ant IV longer than Ant III. Ant I with seven chaetae, distal one smaller and another one skinny. Ant II with 15 chaetae. Ant III without papilla, 14 chaetae (three on the distal area, next to the sensory organ), the two usual sensory rods, and two shorter thin setae and small blunt curved sensilla. Apical subsegment with knobbed subapical organite; one of the chaetae on this area has a narrowing since terminal half.

Legs ( Figure 15A–C View Figure 15 ): Foreleg precoxae 1, 2, and coxa with 1, 0, 1 chaetae, respectively. Trochanter with three anterior and one posterior chaetae. Femur with 11 chaetae, a 4 turned perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the segment. Tibiotarsus with 44 chaetae: whorl I with 9 chaetae, II– V with 8, 8, 8, and 7 chaetae, respectively; region F with three primary FP (e, ae, pe) and FSa chaetae. Pretarsus with one anterior and one posterior chaetae. Foot complex: claw narrower than in the middle and hind legs, without tunica, with inner tooth, two pairs of lateral teeth, not evident in all specimens (25 and 60% from claw basis) and dorsal tooth; empodium thin, with basal inner tooth, and long apical filament surpassing the tip of the claw. Midleg trochanter with three chaetae and the typical trochanteral organ. Femur with 13 chaetae, p 1 and p 3 similar in length to the other chaetae, but thinner. Tibiotarsus with 44 chaetae: whorl I with 9 chaetae, whorls II– V with 8, 8, 8, and 7 chaetae, respectively; region F with 3 FP chaetae and FSa chaeta. Foot complex: claw wider than foreleg claw, with tunica not evident, inner tooth, two pairs of small lateral teeth (25 and 75% from claw basis), and a dorsal tooth; empodium with corner tooth and a long apical filament surpassing the tip of the claw. Hind leg trochanter with four chaetae and a trochanteral organ. Femur with 12 chaetae, p 1 and p 3 not as microchaetae. Tibiotarsus with 44: whorl I with 9 chaetae, whorls II– V with 8, 8, 8, and 7 chaetae, respectively; region F with 3 FP chaetae and FSa chaeta. Foot complex: claw with tunica not evident, inner tooth, two pairs of small lateral teeth and dorsal tooth; empodium with/without tooth (sometimes more distal), and with a short apical filament but not surpassing the tip of the claw.

Great abdomen ( Figure 16 View Figure 16 ): Th II with a sensillum in row a, and two chaetae in row m. Th III with a sensillum in row a and three chaetae in row m. Abd I row a with five chaetae, row m with four, and three p chaetae, above bothriotrichal complex. Bothriotrichal complex: ABC almost linear; bothriotrichum A with one posterior accessory short chaeta; bothriotrichum B with one posterior accessory short chaeta; bothriotrichum C with associated c 1 and c 2 chaeta. Posterior lateral complex with 3 + 3 some expanded chaetae. Posterior dorsal complex with three rows with 6, 8, and 8 long chaetae each (mean ratio mucro/chaeta 0.36; 0.28–0.41, n = 16). Some of the chaetae under small abdominal are expanded. Sixth abdominal segment: A 0 not bifurcate, and some of the other circumanal chaetae broadened, winged, or serrated; anal appendage simple, straight with small teeth on its final third. Tenaculum with two apical chaetae on the corpus, three teeth, and a basal process on each ramus.

Furca ( Figure 17A,C View Figure 17 ): manubrium with 7 + 7 posterior chaetae; dens (23 chaetae or spine-like chaetae): anterior side with 3, 2, 1, 0, 1 chaetae; Ie, IIIpe (external) and Ii (internal) as massive spines; IIpi and IIIpi as big spine-like chaetae; IIpe moderately spinous. Mucro: both lamellae serrated forming a channel at the end; a little beyond the middle, it undergoes a narrowing, and the lateral denticles become softer, even disappearing, in that area. Dens about 1.3–1.5× as long as mucro.

Remarks

It shares many of the characters of the species described above, including the characteristic shape of the anal appendage, and for this reason, descriptions of the common characters have been omitted. There are four previously described species that share the presence of only one eye, the absence of spine-like chaetae on the posterior head, the absence of papilla on Ant III, and a similar shape of the anal appendage (gutter-like with an apex with 3–4 teeth): P. cantavetulae , P. crepidinis , P. pygmaeus , and P. maestrazgoensis . The first three have different numbers and positions of spines/spine-like on dens: 203 for external/anterior/internal (the new species has 201). P. maestrazgoensis has the dorsal chaetae of great abdominal shorter than the new species, and the chaeta Ie on distal dens provided a long filament.