A revision of dragon millipedes IV: the new genus Spinaxytes, with the description of nine new species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae)

• Main Authors: Ruttapon Srisonchai, Henrik Enghoff, Natdanai Likhitrakarn, Somsak Panha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2018-11-01
• Series: ZooKeys
• Online Access: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/29510/

Nine new species constituting the ‘spiny’ group of dragon millipedes are assigned to the new genus Spinaxytes Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, gen. n. Seven new species are described from Thailand: S. biloba Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. and S. palmata Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Surat Thani Province, S. hasta Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Chumphon Province, S. krabiensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. (type species) and S. sutchariti Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Krabi Province, S. uncus Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and S. macaca Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Phang Nga Province; as well as one from Malaysia, S. tortioverpa Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and one from Myanmar, S. efefi Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. The new genus is endemic to South Myanmar, South Thailand, and Malaysia, and all new species are restricted to limestone habitats. All were exclusively found living on humid rock walls and/or inside small caves. Complete illustrations of external morphological characters, an identification key, and a distribution map are provided.