Centipedes (Myriapoda, Chilopoda) of Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles)

Abstract

Centipedes collected during Royal Society surveys of the arthropod fauna of the Aldabra Atoll in 1968–1975 are identified, described, and illustrated to provide the first checklist to the Aldabran centipede fauna, comprising 12 species. These newly include the lithobiomorph <jats:italic>Lamyctes tristani</jats:italic> (Pocock, 1893), the scolopendromorphs <jats:italic>Scolopendra morsitans</jats:italic>Linnaeus 1758, Cryptops cf. japonicus Takakuwa, 1934, <jats:italic>Cryptops mauritianus</jats:italic> Verhoeff, 1939, and <jats:italic>Cryptops nigropictus</jats:italic> Takakuwa, 1936, and the geophilomorphs Ityphilus cf. taeniaformis (Lawrence, 1960), <jats:italic>Mecistocephalus angusticeps</jats:italic> (Ribaut, 1914), <jats:italic>Mecistocephalus lohmanderi</jats:italic> Verhoeff, 1939, <jats:italic>Orphnaeus dekanius</jats:italic> Verhoeff, 1938, Ribautia cf. paucipes Attems, 1952, and <jats:italic>Tuoba sydneyensis</jats:italic> (Pocock, 1891). The geophilomorph genera <jats:italic>Hovanyx</jats:italic> Lawrence, 1960, <jats:bold>syn. nov.</jats:bold>, and <jats:italic>Mixophilus</jats:italic> Silvestri, 1929, <jats:bold>syn. nov.</jats:bold>, are revised in light of the examined material and hereby designated junior subjective synonyms of <jats:italic>Tuoba</jats:italic> Chamberlin, 1920 with the species <jats:italic>Geophilus lemuricus</jats:italic> Verhoeff, 1939, <jats:bold>syn. nov.</jats:bold>, and <jats:italic>Hovanyx waterloti</jats:italic> Lawrence, 1960, <jats:bold>syn. nov.</jats:bold>, designated as junior subjective synonyms of <jats:italic>T. sydneyensis</jats:italic>. The oryid genus <jats:italic>Nycternyssa</jats:italic> Crabill, 1959, <jats:bold>syn. nov.</jats:bold>, is revised and designated a junior subjective synonym of <jats:italic>Orphnaeus</jats:italic> Meinert, 1870. New data on intraspecific morphological variation are presented for <jats:italic>C. nigropictus</jats:italic>, with the validity of <jats:italic>Cryptops daszaki</jats:italic> Lewis, 2002 being questioned following examination of its type material. The affinities and possible origins of the Aldabran centipede fauna are found to be mainly East African, with several species occurring across other islands in the Western Indian Ocean.