Peripatopsis capensis

Peripatopsis capensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Onychophora
Family: Peripatopsidae
Genus: Peripatopsis
Species:
P. capensis
Binomial name
Peripatopsis capensis
(Grube, 1866)
Synonyms
  • Peripatus capensis (Grube, 1866)
Illustration of leg anatomy of Peripatopsis capensis, including claws

Peripatopsis capensis is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family.[1] This species has 18 pairs of legs: 17 pregenital leg pairs with claws plus one strongly reduced last pair without claws or spinous pads.[2][3] Females of this species range from 9 mm to 70 mm in length, whereas males range from 6 mm to 54 mm.[4] The native range of this species is limited to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa.[2][5]

Introduced distribution

Outside of its native range in South Africa, this species has also been found on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, thought to be an accidental human-mediated introduction. Santa Cruz Island also has one or more native species of velvet worms in the family Peripatidae.[6]

References

  1. ^ Oliveira, I. S.; Hering, L. & Mayer, G. "Updated Onychophora checklist". Onychophora Website. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b McDonald, Dane E.; Ruhberg, Hilke; Daniels, Savel R. (2012-07-05). "Two new Peripatopsis species (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae) from the Western Cape province, South Africa". Zootaxa. 3380 (1): 55–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3380.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334 – via ResearchGate.
  3. ^ Purcell, W.F. (1899). "On the South African species of Peripatidae in the collection of the South African Museum". Annals of the South African Museum. 1: 331–351 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ^ Monge-Nájera, Julián (1994). "Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora)". Revista de Biología Tropical. 42 (3): 611–622. ISSN 2215-2075.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Espinasa, Luis; Garvey, Radha; Espinasa, Jordi; Fratto, Christina; Taylor, Steven; Toulkeridis, Theofilos; Addison, Aaron (2015-01-21). "Cave dwelling Onychophora from a Lava Tube in the Galapagos". Subterranean Biology. 15: 1–10. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.15.8468.

Further reading


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