Peripatus Explained

Peripatus is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatidae family. The name "peripatus" (unitalicised and uncapitalised) is also used to refer to the Onychophora as a whole, although this group comprises many other genera besides Peripatus. The genus Peripatus is found in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. This genus is viviparous, with mothers supplying nourishment to their embryos through a placenta.

Description

Velvet worms in this genus may have as few as 24 or 25 pairs of legs (in P. antiguensis or P. dominicae, respectively)^{[1] [2]} or as many as 36 leg pairs (in P. evelinae).^[3] Males in this genus bear crural tubercles in more than two pregenital leg pairs. The dorsal primary papillae in this genus feature an apical piece that is larger than the basal piece.^[4]

Species

The genus contains the following species:^{[5] [6]}

• Peripatus basilensis Brues, 1935 – Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Republic)
• Peripatus bouvieri Fuhrmann, 1913 – Colombia
• Peripatus brolemanni Bouvier, 1899 – Venezuela
• Peripatus danicus Bouvier, 1900 – Virgin Islands
• Peripatus darlingtoni Brues, 1935 – Hispaniola
• Peripatus dominicae Pollard, 1894 – Dominica
• Peripatus evelinae (Marcus, 1937) – Brazil
• Peripatus haitiensis Brues, 1913 – Hispaniola
• Peripatus heloisae Carvalho, 1941 – Brazil
• Peripatus juanensis Bouvier, 1900 – Puerto Rico
• Peripatus juliformis Guilding, 1826 – Saint Vincent Island
• Peripatus lachauxensis Brues, 1935 – Hispaniola
• Peripatus manni Brues, 1913 – Hispaniola
• Peripatus ruber Fuhrmann, 1913 – Costa Rica
• Peripatus sedgwicki Bouvier, 1899 – Venezuela
• Peripatus swainsonae Cockerell, 1893 – Jamaica

Peripatus antiguensis Bouvier, 1899 and Peripatus bavaysi Bouvier, 1899 are considered nomina dubia by Oliveira et al. 2012.

Former species

• Mongeperipatus solorzanoi Morera-Brenes & Monge-Nájera, 2010, Solórzano's velvet worm – Costa Rica^[7]

External links

• Peripatus. x.

Notes and References

1. Monge-Nájera . Julián . 1994 . Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora) . . en . 42 . 3 . 611–622 . 2215-2075.
2. Read . V. M. St. J. . July 1988 . The Onychophora of Trinidad, Tobago, and the Lesser Antilles . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 93 . 3 . 225–57 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1988.tb01362.x.
3. Froehlich . Claudio G. . 1968-03-01 . On some Brazilian Onychophores . Beiträge zur Neotropischen Fauna . 5 . 3 . 160–171 . 10.1080/01650526809360404 . 1968BeiNF...5..160F . 0005-8130.
4. Oliveira . Ivo de Sena . Franke . Franziska Anni . Hering . Lars . Schaffer . Stefan . Rowell . David M. . Weck-Heimann . Andreas . Monge-Nájera . Julián . Morera-Brenes . Bernal . Mayer . Georg . 2012-12-17 . Unexplored Character Diversity in Onychophora (Velvet Worms): A Comparative Study of Three Peripatid Species . PLOS ONE . en . 7 . 12 . e51220 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0051220 . free . 1932-6203 . 3524137 . 23284667. 2012PLoSO...751220O .
5. Web site: Updated Onychophora Checklist. Onychophora Website. 6 July 2016.
6. Oliveira. Read. Mayer. A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names. ZooKeys. 2012. 211. 1–70. 16 July 2016. 10.3897/zookeys.211.3463. 22930648. 3426840. free. 2012ZooK..211....1O .
7. Barquero-González, Sánchez-Vargas, Morera. 2020. A new giant velvet worm from Costa Rica suggests absence of the genus Peripatus (Onychophora: Peripatidae) in Central America. Revista de Biología Tropical. 68. 300–320. 10.15517/rbt.v68i1.37675. free.