Gollumjapyx smeagol
| Gollumjapyx smeagol | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Gollumjapyx | ||||||||||||
| Sendra & Ortuño , 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Gollumjapyx smeagol | ||||||||||||
| Sendra & Ortuño , 2006 |
Gollumjapyx smeagol is a kind of diplura (Diplura), which in 2006 by a Spanish research group of several caves in the province of Castellón in eastern Spain described was. They named the species, which is strictly bound to life in the underground caves and thus troglobionte, and also the species with this newly established genus after the fictional character Gollum , also Smeagol, from thenovelcycle The Lord of the Rings , which is in the cave systems of the Nebelgebirge in the world of novels Middle earth lives.
features
In the first description of Gollumjapyx smeagol , the authors gave characteristics for the genus Gollumjapyx as well as for the specific species.
The elongated and dorso-ventrally flattened body with the unpigmented and thus white cuticle is typical of the species. The legs and chest segments in particular, as well as the last segment of the abdomen, are greatly elongated. The head carries a pair of long antennae , each with 53 to 55 antennae and 13 typically structured Trichobothria and numerous sensillae on the apical antennae. As with all double tails, the mouthparts are in a pocket-like (entognathic) structure and are family-typical. The abdomen consists of 10 segments, the first 7 individual segments bearing simple lateral subcoxal organs as remnants originally on all segments of existing extremities. The Cerci of the last segment are as reformed in all Japygidae to strong, single-term tongs.
The specimens of Gollumjapyx smeagol found reached a body length of 12 to about 23 millimeters, with up to almost 3 millimeters being attributable to the cerci. The antennas were 6.8 to 9 millimeters long and the legs of the third pair of legs were about 4.8 to almost 10 millimeters in length. The last abdominal segment is significantly larger than all other abdominal segments and about 1.6 times longer than it is wide; it carries the powerful cerci that have been transformed into forceps.
distribution
At the time of the first description, Gollumjapyx smeagol was known from six caves that lie along the limestone relief of the "Coastal Ranges" that stretch along the eastern coast of Spain from Oropesa del Mar in the province of Castellón to Montsià in Tarragona . Due to some special paleogeographical and stratigraphic features, a retreat area developed here for numerous species that are considered to be relic species or paleo-endemic species. The northernmost location of the species was in the substrate in a small stalagmite cave of the “Avenc Canals” in the Montsià mountain range and the two southernmost were in two caves, the Avenc d'En Serenge and the “Avenc Mas de la Cova” in near Cabanes
Way of life
Gollumjapyx smeagol lives in underground cave systems and is strictly bound to these habitats ( troglobiont ). The species is endowed with several very obvious troglobiomorphic features, including the unpigmented cuticle , the exceptionally elongated thorax and the elongated appendages, as well as the multiplication of the antenna segments and the endowment of them with numerous sensillae as sensory organs. It is therefore of all known species and mostly hypogean in the humus layer of the soil Japygidae the species with the most pronounced troglobiomorphic characteristics. The habitats where Gollumjapyx smeagol was found are referred to as deep mesovoides substrate and are located in cavities with average expansion and low depth in the limestone of the Lower Cretaceous were rinsed at altitudes between 300 and 500 meters. The soil temperature of these habitats is between 14 ° C and 17 ° C, the substrates and the environment are always moist. It is likely that Gollumjapyx smeagol is a species that can only live in a very narrow temperature and humidity range ( stenothermic and stenohygrob), but is likely also able to survive in mesovoid flat substrate (MSS) . The shallow and deep mesovoid substrate is formed by erosion and fragmentation from a stony base substrate and, like the sand gap system, is characterized by cavities in which numerous organisms can live.
Like other members of the family, Gollumjapyx smeagol is predatory and primarily hunts other small arthropods such as mites , springtails or small beetles . The very sensitive sensillae of the antennae help it to track down and capture them. Intestinal examinations of individual individuals revealed fragments of mites and parts of the ground beetle Microtyphlus aurouxi ( synonym : Speleotyphlus aurouxi ) belonging to the Trechinae .
Systematics
Gollumjapyx smeagol was created in 2006 as a new species of the newly established genus Gollumjapyx by a working group around Alberto Sendra from the Museu Valencià d'Història Natural in Valencia and Vicente. M. Ortuño from the Universidad de Alcalá scientifically described. This description was made on the basis of several individuals from cave systems in the province of Castellón in eastern Spain . They assigned the genus to the family Japygidae within the double tails (Diplura) and delimited them from the controversial genus Burmjapyx Silvestri, 1930 and other related genera on the basis of anatomical features .
The naming of the genus Gollumjapyx and the species Gollumjapyx smeagol took place after the fictional character Gollum , also Smeagol, from the novel cycle The Lord of the Rings , who lives in the cave systems of the Misty Mountains in the fictional world of Middle-earth . The genus name is made up of Gollum and japyx to show that it belongs to the Japygidae. As the species name , smeagol was chosen, the name of Gollum before going into the cave systems.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i A. Sendra, VM Ortuño, A. Moreno, S. Montagud, S. Teruel: Gollumjapyx smeagol gen. N., Sp. n., an enigmatic hypogean japygid (Diplura: Japygidae) from the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Zootaxa 1372, 2006; Pp. 35-52. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.1372.1.4
- ↑ Vicente M. Ortuño, José D. Gilgado, Alberto Jiménez-Valverde, Alberto Sendra, Gonzalo Pérez-Suárez, Juan J. Herrero-Borgoñón: The “Alluvial Mesovoid Shallow Substratum”, a New Subterranean Habitat. PlosOne, October 4, 2013. doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0076311 .
- ↑ A. Sendra, VM Ortuño: A new hypogean species of Iberian Microtyphlus and review of the taxonomic position of Speleotyphlus and Aphaenotyphlus (Carabidae: Trechinae: Anillini). Zootaxa 2862, 2011; Pp. 56-68. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.2862.1.3
literature
- Alberto Sendra, Vicente M. Ortuño, Agustín Moreno, Sergio Montagud, Santiago Teruel: Gollumjapyx smeagol gen. N., Sp. n., an enigmatic hypogean japygid (Diplura: Japygidae) from the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Zootaxa 1372, 2006; Pp. 35-52. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.1372.1.4