Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 26;10(8):e0135243.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135243. eCollection 2015.

A New Dimension in Documenting New Species: High-Detail Imaging for Myriapod Taxonomy and First 3D Cybertype of a New Millipede Species (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae)

Nesrine Akkari  1 , Henrik Enghoff  2 , Brian D Metscher  3
Affiliations

A New Dimension in Documenting New Species: High-Detail Imaging for Myriapod Taxonomy and First 3D Cybertype of a New Millipede Species (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae)

Nesrine Akkari et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

We review the state-of-the-art approaches currently applied in myriapod taxonomy, and we describe, for the first time, a new species of millipede (Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., family Julidae) using high-resolution X-ray microtomography (microCT) as a substantive adjunct to traditional morphological examination. We present 3D models of the holotype and paratype specimens and discuss the potential of this non-destructive technique in documenting new species of millipedes and other organisms. The microCT data have been uploaded to an open repository (Dryad) to serve as the first actual millipede cybertypes to be published.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., male paratype.
Photograph of head and anterior-most rings.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp.
Volume rendering highlighting genitalia and other sexual characters in the cybertypes. (A) Holotype male with highlighted gonopods, first pair of legs and mandibular stipites. (B) Paratype female with highlighted vulvae and eggs. Images not to scale.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., male paratype.
Photographs of dissected gonopods in toto. (A) anterior view; (B) posterior view. Abbreviations. Dg. digit-shaped process; Ms. mesomerite; S. solenomerite; P. promerite; Px. paracoxite.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., male paratype.
Photographs of dissected gonopods showing details. (A) right gonopod, mesal view; (B) left promerite, posterior view; (C) left posterior gonopod, mesal view; (D) left posterior gonopod, posterior view; (E) left posterior gonopod, lateral view. Abbreviations. Dg. digit-shaped process; F. fovea; Lf. lamellar fold of the solenomerite; Mr. mesal ridge; Ms. mesomerite; n. notch; P. promerite; Ps. pointed process of the solenomerite; Px. paracoxite; S. solenomerite; T. rudimentary telopodite.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., male paratype, gonopods details, SEM.
(A) left promerite, posterior view; (B) left posterior gonopods, antero-lateral view; (C) left posterior gonopod, lateral view; (D) left posterior gonopod, meso-apical view. Abbreviations. Bp. blunt process of the solenomerite; Dg. digit-shaped process; F. fovea; g. seminal groove; Lf. lamellar fold of the solenomerite; Mr. mesal ridge; Ms. mesomerite; n. notch; Px. paracoxite; S. solenomerite; Sl. serrated lamella of the solenomerite; T. rudimentary telopodite.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., male paratype, gonopod details, SEM.
(A) right gonopod, mesal view; (B) right gonopod, meso-posterior view; (C) right gonopod, postero-apical view; (D) right gonopod, latero-apical view. Abbreviations. Dg. digit-shaped process; F. fovea; g. seminal groove; Lf. lamellar fold of the solenomerite; Ms. mesomerite; P. promerite; Px. paracoxite; S. solenomerite; Sl. serrated lamella of the solenomerite.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp.
Volume rendering: Amira snapshots enhanced to illustrate the gonopods and left vulva in the cybertypes. (A) Gonopods, anterior view; (B) Gonopods, posterior view; (C) Left gonopod, mesal view; (D) Left vulva, posterior view. Abbreviations. Ap. apodemes; B. bursa; F. fovea; Ms. mesomerite; Op. operculum; P. promerite; Px. paracoxite; S. solenomerite. Images not to scale.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp., female paratype, vulvae details, SEM.
(A) left vulva, posterior view; (B) left vulva, mesal view; (C) left vulva, lateral view; (D) left vulva, anterior view. Abbreviations. B. bursa; C. concavity. Ci. crest of the valve; Op. operculum; Tr. triangular process of the valve.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp.
3D virtual dissection of the holotype depicting the gonopods in situ. (A) Oblique transverse cut at body ring 10, showing attached musculature; (B) Parasagittal cut showing musculature and other anatomical structures. Images not to scale.
Fig 10
Fig 10. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp.
3D virtual dissection of the paratype, depicting vulvae in situ. (A) Horizontal cut; (B) Transverse cut at body ring 3; (C) Parasagittal cut. Images not to scale.
Fig 11
Fig 11. Ommatoiulus avatar n. sp.
Virtual sections of the cybertypes (male and female), selected from the archived image stacks and displayed with unaltered window and level (brightness and contrast) settings. (A) Cybertype male, parasagittal section showing gonopods, musculature and other anatomical structures. (B) Cybertype female, parasagittal cut showing vulvae, eggs, musculature and other anatomical structures. (C) Cybertype male, transverse section showing parts of the gonopods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brewer MS, Swafford L, Spruill CL, Bond JE. Arthropod Phylogenetics in Light of Three Novel Millipede (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) Mitochondrial Genomes with Comments on the Appropriateness of Mitochondrial Genome Sequence Data for Inferring Deep Level Relationships. PLoS ONE. 2014; 8(7): e68005 10.1371/journal.pone.0068005 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brewer MS, Bond JE. Ordinal-Level Phylogenomics of the Arthropod Class Diplopoda (Millipedes) Based on an Analysis of 221 NuclearProtein-Coding Loci Generated Using Next-Generation Sequence Analyses. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8(11): e79935 10.1371/journal.pone.0079935 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fernández R, Laumer CE, Vahtera V, Libro S, Kaluziak S, Sharma PP, et al. Evaluating topological conflict in centipede phylogenetics using transcriptomic datasets. Mol Biol Evol. 2014; 31: 1500–1513. 10.1093/molbev/msu108 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Akkari N, Cheung DKB, Enghoff H, Stoev P. Revolving SEM images visualising 3D taxonomic characters: application to six species of the millipede genus Ommatoiulus Latzel, 1884, with description of seven new species and an interactive key to the Tunisian members of the genus (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae). ZooKeys. 2013; 328:5–45. 10.3897/zookeys.328.5763 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stoev P, Komerički A, Akkari N, Shanlin Liu, Xin Zhou, Weigand AM, et al. Eupolybothrus cavernicolus Komerički & Stoev sp. n. (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha: Lithobiidae): the first eukaryotic species description combining transcriptomic, DNA barcoding and micro-CT imaging data. Biodivers Data J. 2013; 1:e1013 10.3897/BDJ.1.e1013 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types