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| Inodesmus jamaicensis Cook, 1896. in Romero-Rincon et Alvear, 2024. Scale bars: 1 mm. Photographs taken by Karolyn Darrow (USNM) and Stephanie Ware (FMNH). |
Abstract
The identity of Inodesmus Cook, 1896 and its single species, Inodesmus jamaicensis Cook, 1896, has been a mystery for decades. This species was described from a Jamaican cave but not only did the repository of the type material remain unknown, but also the types were believed to be lost. Here we redescribe the species and designate a lectotype and a paralectotype from the newly found type material. The genus Agathodesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Australia and New Caledonia is presented as a new junior subjective synonym of Inodesmus. Besides I. jamaicensis, the genus Inodesmus includes 23 species: I. adelphus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. aenigmaticus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. agnus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. anici (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. baccatus (Carl, 1926) comb. nov.; I. bonang (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. bucculentus (Jeekel, 1986) comb. nov.; I. carorum (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. chandleri (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. gayundah (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. hahnensis (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. johnsi (Mesibov, 2009) comb. nov.; I. kerensis (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. kirrama (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. millaa (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. morwellensis (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. parapholeus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. quintanus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. sagma (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. steeli (Silvestri, 1910) comb. nov.; I. summus (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov.; I. urbanus (Romero-Rincon & Douch, 2024) comb. nov.; I. yuccabinensis (Mesibov, 2013) comb. nov. The bizarre disjunct distribution of Inodesmus is briefly discussed.
Myriapoda, Diplopoda, Jamaica, Agathodesmus, synonymy, redescription
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| Inodesmus jamaicensis Cook, 1896. A, B, C. Male lectotype (USNM-ENT01968074). D, E, F. Male (FMNH-INS000001391). A, D. Ventral view. B, E. Dorsal view. C, F. Lateral view. Scale bars: 1 mm. Photographs of figures A-C taken by Karolyn Darrow (USNM). Photographs of figures D-F taken by Stephanie Ware (FMNH). |
JUAN ROMERO-RINCON and SANTIAGO ALVEAR. 2024. On the Identity of the enigmatic Millipede Genus Inodesmus Cook, 1896 (Polydesmida: Haplodesmidae). Zootaxa. 5437(3); 433-440. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5437.3.8 [2024-04-15]
