Peripatoides suteri
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| Peripatoides suteri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Peripatoides suteri feeding, on Mount Taranaki, New Zealand | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Family: | Peripatopsidae |
| Genus: | Peripatoides |
| Species: | P. suteri |
| Binomial name | |
| Peripatoides suteri (Dendy, 1894) | |
Peripatoides suteri is a species of velvet worm in the family Peripatopsidae.[2] Like all other species in the genus Peripatoides, this species is ovoviviparous and endemic to New Zealand.[3][4][5] This species is notable for featuring 16 pairs of legs, unlike all other species of Peripatoides, which have only 15 leg pairs.[6]
This velvet worm was first described in 1894 by the English zoologist Arthur Dendy. He based the original description of this velvet worm on three specimens collected from Stratford on the North Island of New Zealand. He originally described this velvet worm under the name Peripatus novæ-zealandiæ var. suteri, as a variety of Peripatus novæ-zealandiæ with 16 leg pairs, unlike the usual variety with 15 leg pairs.[7] He did not designate any type material explicitly.[6] In 1900, he referred to this velvet worm as a separate species under the name Peripatus suteri.[8] In 1901, the French zoologist Eugène Louis Bouvier placed this species in the genus Peripatoides instead of the genus Peripatus.[9]
Distribution
This species was once thought to have a narrow distribution near the type locality in the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.[5] Specimens assigned to this species, however, have since been found elsewhere on the North Island. Specimens have been found not only around Lake Rotokare and Dawson Falls in the Taranaki region but also as far east as Whakapapa Village and the Central Plateau and as far north as the Coromandel Peninsula and the Waitākere Ranges.[4][10][6]
Phylogeny
A phylogenetic analysis of the genus Peripatoides based on molecular data places all specimens of P. suteri collected from several sites throughout its range in a single clade distinct from all the other clades representing other species in a phylogenetic tree. This analysis also identifies the species P. indigo as the closest relative of P. suteri. The species P. indigo is found on the northwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand.[6]
