A second species of the genus Vietnamorpha Golovatch, 1984 (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) and notes on the generic relationship

ABSTRACT

A second Vietnamorpha species is described from Pu Mat National Park, north-central Vietnam. The new species is distinguished by the gonopod femorite being erect and cylindrically elongate; and the solenomere being completely sheathed by the solenophore, and being only exposed at the tip. The relationship between Vietnamorpha and several sulciferinine genera was analysed using a combination of a mitochondrial gene (16S rRNA) and two nuclear genes (18S and 28S rRNA). The genus Vietnamorpha is more closely related to the genus Anoplodesmus than to other sulciferinine genera.

www.zobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C8A19CFD-1329-427A-B380-08542BB25718

KEYWORDS:

• Diplopoda
• millipede
• new species
• molecular phylogeny
• Vietnam

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Prof. Hwang U.W. and Dr Jang K.H. from Kyungpook National University (Korea) for helping in the molecular work. Dr Catherine Car (Australia, [email protected]) is acknowledged for kindly checking the English to materially improve the paper. Two reviewers are thanked for their invaluable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) [grant number 106-NN.05-2015.22].