Trichopolydesmidae from Cameroon, 2: A species-level reclassification of Afrotropical trichopolydesmids (Diplopoda, Polydesmida), with two new species and two new records from Cameroon, and two new species from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea

Abstract

A revised classification of Afrotropical Trichopolydesmidae is presented. The fauna presently contains as many as 52 species in six recognized genera, with numerous new transfers/combinations involved: Bactrodesmus Cook, 1896 (3 species, including B. grandissp. nov. from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea), Eburodesmus Schubart, 1955 (2 species), Hemisphaeroparia Schubart, 1955 (26 species, including one old species, Polydesmus parvulus Porat, 1894, revised from type material and provisionally assigned to Hemisphaeroparia, as well as two new records and two new species from Cameroon: H. longibrachiatasp. nov. and H. avissp. nov.), Mecistoparia Brolemann, 1926 (3 species), Physetoparia Brolemann, 1920 (12 species, including P. complexasp. nov. from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea), and Sphaeroparia Attems, 1909 (6 species). The hitherto enigmatic genus Bactrodesmus is redefined, but the monotypic Trichozonus Carl, 1905 still remains dubious.

A review of the cavernicolous Trichopolydesmidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida) from the Carpathian-Balkan arch and the Rhodope Mountains, with descriptions of two new genera and three new species

“…The genus Simplogonopus and all Afrotropical trichopolydesmids appear to form one natural group (cf. Golovatch et al 2019 , 2022 ) whose representatives were once assigned to the family Fuhrmannodesmidae .…”