Peripatoides

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Peripatoides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Onychophora
Family: Peripatopsidae
Genus: Peripatoides
Pocock, 1894
Species
See text

Peripatoides novaezealandiae is a species complex of velvet worms in the genus Peripatoides, found throughout New Zealand. Like all velvet worms, these animals are nocturnal predators that spit a sticky slime to trap their prey. Individuals of Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex usually have 15 pairs of legs.[1]

Taxonomy[edit]

The Peripatoides novaezealandiae species complex consists of at least five reproductively isolated species described in 1998, each of which has 15 pairs of legs.[2] These species (P. aurorbis, P. kawekaensis, P. novaezealandiae, P. morgani, and P. sympatrica) have no morphological characters that distinguish them although they are genetically differentiated.[3][2] Peripatoides novaezealandiae and the cryptic species were considered nomina dubia by de Sena Oliveira et al. (2012) because type localities were identified in the species descriptions rather than holotype specimens. In 2014 the New Zealand Department of Conservation recognised these species.[4] de Sena Oliveira (2023) later located the specimens used in the descriptions and as such no longer considered them nomina dubia.[5] Three additional species were described in 2024.[6]

Species[edit]

Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex consists of the following species:[7][6]

Geographic Distribution and Habitat[edit]

Natural global range[edit]

Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex is endemic to New Zealand.[8]

Habitat preferences[edit]

Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex is usually found within or beneath rotting logs,[9][10][11] though individuals have occasionally been discovered among leaf litter and beneath objects such as stones and rocks and in crevasses.[12] Sufficient moisture is vital for all Onychophora as they cannot regulate water loss due to a lack of both a waxy cuticle and tracheal spiracles.[13][8][14]

In 1989, several thousand of the P. novaezealandiae-complex were found on a property in Dunedin, living in an old kitchen dump among dry tins cans and sheets of roofing iron, and in a separate pile of bricks.[15] The existence of the P. novaezealandiae-complex in a wide range of altitudes, forest, scrub and tussock, suggests that prey availability and moisture are more important than vegetation type when determining habitat suitability.[10]

Reproduction[edit]

This genus exhibits lecithotrophic ovoviviparity; that is, mothers in this genus produce and retain yolky eggs in their uteri.[16] The eggs are fertilized internally, and babies develop inside their mother until large enough to be born, in batches of 4–6, as colourless miniatures of the parents.[1] These live-bearing Peripatoides have dermal-haemocoelic sperm transfer – which means sperm dissolve holes in the skin of the female to enter the body (haemolymph) anywhere on the body wall of the female.[11]

Hutton[12] originally claimed that individuals of Peripatoides novaezealandiae are hermaphroditic, possibly due to confusion regarding sperm storage sacs found within the female.[14] This has since been contested,[10] and more recent literature clearly designates individuals of P. novaezealandiae-complex as male or female.[17][11] Sex can be identified in some morphs as young as two months after birth, but sexual differentiation is complete for all members of the P. novaezealandiae-complex by five months.[17]

Juveniles go through three stages:[17]

  • Stage A: wet and shiny integument (outer tissue). Needle-like spines of sensory papillae exposed.
  • Stage B: integument becomes more strongly pigmented and loses lustre. Sensory spines still exposed to some extent. This change is up to nine days after birth.
  • Stage C: integument fully pigmented and has no lustre. Sensory spines no longer exposed, and papillae resemble adult form. Time to reach this stage varies considerably with the location and morph, suggesting possible diagnostic differences between subspecies of the P. novaezealandiae-complex.

Peripatids grow by moulting the outer cuticle when it becomes too restrictive.

Diet / Prey / Predators[edit]

Diet and foraging[edit]

Like others in their family, Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex is a nocturnal predator.[12][14]

Captive individuals of P. novaezealandiae-complex have been sustained with flies.[12] An abundance of centipedes have been found in logs that also contain P. novaezealandiae s. str., suggesting a possible predator-prey relationship.[18]

Peripatids use their oral papillae to shoot out sticky slime which thickens upon contact with the air and covers prey in a strong, net-like structure.[12][14] They approach and use their jaws to puncture the cuticle of the trapped animal, injecting digestive enzymes and sucking up the liquefied remains.[12][14][19]

Other information[edit]

Conservation status[edit]

Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex is classed as ‘not threatened’ according to the 2018 New Zealand Threat Classification System.[20] In part, this is because the allozymatic species have not all been described and little is known about their distribution.[21]

Scientific notes[edit]

Onychophora, including P. novaezealandiae­-complex, are very difficult to rear in captivity.[18] A German study of P. novaezealandiae­-complex had some success keeping specimens alive long enough to birth young.[17]

There is currently no known way to age individuals of P. novaezealandiae­-complex, which makes it very difficult to compare individuals and fully understand their life history.[18]

Cultural connections[edit]

The te reo Māori name for velvet worms is ngaokeoke which comes from the word ‘ngaoki’, to crawl.[22]

When considering a new roading project, the presence of P. novaezealandiae­-complex in Caversham Valley gave the location high conservation value.[4] The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) worked with the Department of Conservation, Dunedin City Council and Otago University to translocate any Peripatus impacted by the project, along with ongoing monitoring, management, and habitat enhancement.[4] The discovery of ngaokeoke (P. novaezealandiae-complex) on their farm inspired Taranaki farming couple Damien and Jane Roper to form a partnership with the regional council to legally protect their 2.5 ha of native bush.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Trewick, Steven (2019). Wild Life New Zealand. New Zealand: Hand-in-Hand Press. ISBN 978-0-473-48320-3.
  2. ^ a b Trewick, Steven A. (1998). "Sympatric cryptic species in New Zealand Onychophora". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 63 (3): 307–329. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1998.tb01520.x. ISSN 0024-4066.
  3. ^ Trewick, S. A. (2000). "Mitochondrial DNA sequences support allozyme evidence for cryptic radiation of New Zealand Peripatoides (Onychophora)". Molecular Ecology. 9 (3): 269–281. Bibcode:2000MolEc...9..269T. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.00873.x. ISSN 1365-294X. PMID 10736025. S2CID 8637591.
  4. ^ a b c New Zealand peripatus/ngaokeoke : current knowledge, conservation and future research needs. New Zealand. Department of Conservation, New Zealand. Department of Conservation, Ōtepoti/Dunedin Office. 2014. ISBN 9780478150094. OCLC 994631114.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ Oliveira, Ivo de Sena (2023-11-16). "An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (1184): 133–260. Bibcode:2023ZooK.1184..133O. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1184.107286. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 10680090. PMID 38023768.
  6. ^ a b Trewick, Steven A.; Koot, Emily M.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2024). "Ngāokeoke Aotearoa: The Peripatoides Onychophora of New Zealand". Insects. 15 (4): 248. doi:10.3390/insects15040248. ISSN 2075-4450. PMC 11050097.
  7. ^ Oliveira, I. S.; Read, V. M. S. J.; Mayer, G. (2012). "A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (211): 1–70. Bibcode:2012ZooK..211....1O. doi:10.3897/zookeys.211.3463. PMC 3426840. PMID 22930648. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b Gleeson, Dianne M. (January 1996). "Onychophora of New Zealand; past, present and future". New Zealand Entomologist. 19 (1): 51–55. doi:10.1080/00779962.1996.9722023.
  9. ^ Trewick, Steven A. (1998). "Sympatric cryptic species in New Zealand Onychophora". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 63 (3): 307–329. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1998.tb01520.x. ISSN 0024-4066.
  10. ^ a b c Trewick, S. A. (January 1999). "Molecular diversity of Dunedin peripatus (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 26 (4): 381–393. doi:10.1080/03014223.1999.9518201.
  11. ^ a b c Tutt, Karen; Daugherty, Charles H.; Gibbs, George W. (2002). "Differential life-history characteristics of male and female Peripatoides novaezealandiae (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae)". Journal of Zoology. 258 (2): 257–267. doi:10.1017/S095283690200136X. ISSN 1469-7998.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Hutton, F.W. (November 1876). "On Peripatus novæ-zealandiæ". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 18 (107): 361–369. doi:10.1080/00222937608682060.
  13. ^ Barclay, S. D.; Rowell, D. M.; Ash, J. E. (April 2000). "Pheromonally mediated colonization patterns in the velvet worm Euperipatoides rowelli (Onychophora)". Journal of Zoology. 250 (4): 437–446. doi:10.1017/s0952836900004027.
  14. ^ a b c d e Hardie, R. (1975). "The riddle of Peripatus". Australian Natural History. 18 (5): 180–185. ISSN 0004-9840.
  15. ^ Harris, A.C. (December 1991). "A large aggregation of Peripatoides novaezealandiae (Hutton, 1876) (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 21 (4): 405–406. doi:10.1080/03036758.1991.10420836.
  16. ^ Mayer, Georg; Franke, Franziska Anni; Treffkorn, Sandra; Gross, Vladimir; de Sena Oliveira, Ivo (2015), Wanninger, Andreas (ed.), "Onychophora", Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 3, Vienna: Springer Vienna, pp. 53–98, doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-1865-8_4, ISBN 978-3-7091-1864-1, retrieved 2023-02-16
  17. ^ a b c d Pripnow, Birgit; Ruhberg, Hilke (31 August 2003). "Peripatopsidae (Onychophora) from New Zealand - observations on selected morphs of the 'Peripatoides novaezealandiae-complex' in culture: morphological and reproductive aspects". African Invertebrates. 44 (1): 103–114. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7666500.
  18. ^ a b c Tutt, Karen (1997). The life history and reproductive cycle of Peripatoides novaezealandiae (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae).
  19. ^ Mayer, Georg; Franke, Franziska Anni; Treffkorn, Sandra; Gross, Vladimir; de Sena Oliveira, Ivo (2015), Wanninger, Andreas (ed.), "Onychophora", Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 3, Vienna: Springer Vienna, pp. 53–98, doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-1865-8_4, ISBN 978-3-7091-1864-1
  20. ^ Trewick, S.; Hitchmough, R.; Rolfe, J.; Stringer, I. (2018). Conservation status of New Zealand Onychophora (‘peripatus’ or velvet worm), 2018 (PDF). New Zealand Department of Conservation.
  21. ^ New Zealand peripatus/ngaokeoke : current knowledge, conservation and future research needs. New Zealand. Department of Conservation, New Zealand. Department of Conservation, Ōtepoti/Dunedin Office. 2014. ISBN 9780478150094. OCLC 994631114.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ Ryan, P. (2007-09-24). "Story: Peripatus". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved March 17, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ Nolly, R. (2022-06-16). "Farming journey leads to learning te reo Maori". Farmers Weekly. Retrieved March 17, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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