Eoperipatus totoro

Eoperipatus totoro
First known specimen of Eoperipatus totoro, Cát Tiên National Park, Vietnam, 24 November 2007
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Onychophora
Class:	Onychophorida
Order:	Euonychophora
Family:	Peripatidae
Genus:	Eoperipatus
Species:	E. totoro
Binomial name
Eoperipatus totoro Oliveira et al., 2013

Eoperipatus totoro is a species of velvet worm belonging to the genus Eoperipatus. The first specimen was caught in Vietnam by P.V. Kvartalnov, E.A. Galoyan and I.V. Palko from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre in November 2007.^[1] This velvet worm was described for the first time in 2010 by Vietnamese researchers Thai Dran Bai and Nguyen Duc Anh.^[2] But formal description was made only in June 2013 by a team led by Georg Mayer and Ivo de Sena Oliveira from the University of Leipzig, Germany. The type specimen was a male caught in 2009 by Peter Geissler from the Alexander Koenig Research Museum. It is so far the only velvet worm described from Vietnam, although at least one other undescribed species lives in the country.^[3]

Before 2013, only three valid species of Eoperipatus were recognised in Southeast Asia, and E. totoro as a distinct species was confirmed using detail data from scanning electron microscopy and molecular analysis (mitochondrial COI and 12S rRNA sequences).

Etymology

The generic name Eoperipatus is derived from a Greek combining form of ēṓs, meaning "early" or "primeval", and peripatos, meaning "walking about". The specific name totoro refers to the Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro. The scientists were reminded specifically of the multiple legged caterpillar-like Catbus in the film when they saw the crawling velvet worm.^[4][5][6]

Description

Unlike other velvet worms, Eoperipatus totoro has uniquely shaped hairs on its body surface. The body length is up to 2.5 inches (6 cm). These worms spend most of their lives inside moist soil, in rotting logs or under rocks. They come out only during rainy season, and therefore, are not easily seen. They can spit out jets of sticky glue, by which they capture small prey for food. They eject a net of glue from two appendages on their back. The glue is composed of a mixture of proteins in which prey can be entangled.^[3] Diagnostic features include distinct types of scales on the ventral side of the body, the inner structure of the circular pits on the male genital pad, and the position and size of the anal gland pads in males.^[6]

References