''Ooperipatellus nanus'' is a species of velvet worm in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Peripatopsidae Peripatopsidae or the Southern Velvet Worms are one of two extant families of velvet worm. This family includes more than 140 described species distributed among 41 genera, but some authorities deem only 131 of these species to be valid. The Fre ...

. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and is found in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Hilke Ruhberg in 1985.

Description

''Ooperipatellus nanus'' is a small species of velvet worm that grows to a length of approximately 10 mm. This species is tan or brown in color on its back but yellow on its underside. It is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

and has 13 pairs of legs, which is the minimum number found in the phylum

Onychophora Onychophora (from , , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (for their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, ''Peripatus''), is a phylum of el ...

Distribution

''Ooperipatellus nanus'' has only been found in Southland, in the Takitimu Mountains.

Life cycle

This species produce young by laying eggs from which the young subsequently hatch.

Host species

''Ooperipatellus nanus'' are found mainly in rotting beech logs.

Conservation status

This species has been classified as having the "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" with the qualifier of "One Location" conservation status under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

References

External links

Images of ''O. nanus''.
Onychophorans of Australasia Onychophoran species Animals described in 1985 Worms of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic worms of New Zealand {{Onychophora-stub