''Peripatoides'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of velvet worms 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. Velvet worms in this genus are found throughout

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 ...

. Like all velvet worms, these animals are nocturnal predators that spit a sticky slime to trap their prey. Unlike the species in the only other genus of velvet worms found in New Zealand, '' Ooperipatellus'', which lay eggs (that is, are

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 ...

), the species in the genus ''Peripatoides'' are live-bearing (

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

Description

The number of legs in this genus varies among species but is generally stable within species. Most species have 15 pairs of legs, but one species ('' Peripatoides suteri'') has 16 leg pairs instead. Velvet worms in this genus range from 5 mm to 120 mm in length. Velvet worms in this genus exhibit two traits that are especially unusual in the family Peripatopsidae. First, velvet worms in this genus lack crural glands and crural papillae, which are present in most peripatopsid genera. Second, the anal glands in this genus open laterally on the anal segment. In most peripatopsid genera, these glands open between the anus and the genital opening.

Taxonomy

Relying on

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

alone, the

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of the genus ''Peripatoides'' distinguished between three species: '' Peripatoides novaezealandiae'', with 15 pairs of legs and (usually) three distal foot papillae, ''Peripatoides suteri'', with 16 leg pairs and (usually) four distal foot papillae, and '' Peripatoides indigo'', with 15 leg pairs and five distal foot papillae.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis using molecular data, however, has since found ''P. novaezealandiae'' (as traditionally understood based on morphology) to be a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

including several distinct species. This analysis finds both ''P. suteri'' and ''P. indigo'' nested among several other

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s within the ''P. novaezealandiae'' species complex in a

phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...

. In 1998, five reproductively isolated species in northern New Zealand, each with 15 leg pairs, were described using molecular data. These five species, '' P. aurorbis'', '' P. kawekaensis,'' '' P. morgani'', '' P. sympatrica'', and ''P. novaezealandiae'' (sensu stricto, that is, as more narrowly defined), have no morphological characters that distinguish them, but they are genetically differentiated. Some authorities considered ''P. novaezealandiae'' and the cryptic species to be '' nomina dubia'', but later recognized the species as valid when the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

specimens records at

Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand a ...

Museum were linked to the descriptions. In 2024, three additional species in this genus from 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 ...

of New Zealand were described based on molecular evidence ('' P. otepoti'', '' P. taitonga'', and '' P. waikaia''), it is unclear why German authorities consider these three to be ''nomina nuda'' rather than valid species.

Species

The genus ''Peripatoides'' consists of the following species: * '' Peripatoides aurorbis'' Trewick, 1998 * '' Peripatoides indigo'' Ruhberg, 1985 * '' Peripatoides kawekaensis'' Trewick, 1998 * '' Peripatoides morgani'' (Trewick, 1998) * '' Peripatoides novaezealandiae'' s. str. (Hutton, 1876) * '' Peripatoides otepoti'' Trewick, Koot & Morgan-Richards, 2024 * '' Peripatoides suteri'' (Dendy, 1894) * '' Peripatoides sympatrica'' Trewick, 1998 * '' Peripatoides taitonga'' Trewick, Koot & Morgan-Richards, 2024 * '' Peripatoides waikaia'' Trewick, Koot & Morgan-Richards, 2024

Geographic Distribution and Habitat

Natural global range

All species in the genus ''Peripatoides are'' endemic to New Zealand.

Habitat preferences

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 ...

(including species within the genus ''Peripatoides'') are usually found within or beneath rotting logs, though individuals have occasionally been discovered among leaf litter and beneath objects such as stones and rocks and in crevasses. Sufficient moisture is vital for all

as they cannot regulate water loss due to a lack of both a waxy cuticle and tracheal spiracles. In 1989, several thousand of the ''P. otepoti'' were found on a property in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, living in an old kitchen dump among dry tins cans and sheets of roofing iron, and in a separate pile of bricks. The existence of the ''P. otepoti'' in a wide range of elevations forest, scrub and tussock, suggests that prey availability and moisture are more important than vegetation type when determining habitat suitability.

Reproduction

This genus exhibits lecithotrophic

ovoviviparity Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop inside eggs that r ...

; that is, mothers in this genus produce and retain yolky eggs in their uteri. The eggs are fertilized internally, and babies develop inside their mother until large enough to be born, in batches of 4–6, as colourless miniatures of the parents. These live-bearing ''Peripatoides'' have dermal-haemocoelic sperm transfer – which means sperm dissolve holes in the skin of the female to enter the body (haemolymph) anywhere on the body wall of the female. Hutton originally claimed that individuals of ''Peripatoides novaezealandiae'' are

hermaphroditic A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

, possibly due to confusion regarding sperm storage sacs found within the female. This has since been contested, and more recent literature clearly designates individuals of ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex as male or female. Sex can be identified in some morphs as young as two months after birth, but sexual differentiation is complete for all members of the ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex by five months. Juveniles go through three stages: * Stage A: wet and shiny integument (outer tissue). Needle-like spines of sensory papillae exposed. * Stage B: integument becomes more strongly pigmented and loses lustre. Sensory spines still exposed to some extent. This change is up to nine days after birth. * Stage C: integument fully pigmented and has no lustre. Sensory spines no longer exposed, and papillae resemble adult form. Time to reach this stage varies considerably with the location and morph, suggesting possible diagnostic differences between subspecies of the ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex. Peripatids grow by moulting the outer cuticle when it becomes too restrictive.

Diet / Prey / Predators

Diet and foraging

Like others in their family, ''Peripatoides novaezealandiae''-complex is a nocturnal predator. Captive individuals of ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex have been sustained with flies. An abundance of centipedes, ants, mites, and amphipods have been found in logs that also contain ''P. novaezealandiae'', suggesting a possible predator-prey relationship. Peripatids use their oral papillae to shoot out sticky slime which thickens upon contact with the air and covers prey in a strong, net-like structure. They approach and use their jaws to puncture the cuticle of the trapped animal, injecting digestive enzymes and sucking up the liquefied remains.

Other information

Conservation status

''Peripatoides novaezealandiae''-complex is classed as ‘not threatened’ according to the 2018 New Zealand Threat Classification System. In part, this is because the allozymatic species have not all been described and little is known about their distribution.

Scientific notes

, including ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex, are very difficult to rear in captivity. A German study of ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex had some success keeping specimens alive long enough to birth young. There is currently no known way to age individuals of ''P. novaezealandiae''-complex, which makes it very difficult to compare individuals and fully understand their life history.

Cultural connections

The te reo Māori name for velvet worms is ngaokeoke which comes from the word ‘ngaoki’, to crawl. When considering a new roading project, the presence of ''P. otepoti'' in Caversham Valley gave the location high conservation value. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) worked with the Department of Conservation, Dunedin City Council and Otago University to translocate any Peripatus impacted by the project, along with ongoing monitoring, management, and habitat enhancement. The discovery of ngaokeoke (''P. novaezealandiae''-complex) on their farm inspired Taranaki farming couple Damien and Jane Roper to form a partnership with the regional council to legally protect their 2.5 ha of native bush.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2808611 Onychophorans of Australasia Onychophoran genera Taxa named by R. I. Pocock Taxonomy articles created by Polbot