Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2022 | 14(8): 21710–21714
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7964.14.8.21710-21714
#7964 | Received 09 April 2022 | Final
received 12 June 2022 | Finally accepted 04 August 2022
Species diversity and distribution of large centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)
from the biosphere reserve of the western Nghe An
Province, Vietnam
Son X. Le 1 , Thuc
H. Nguyen 2, Thinh T. Do 3 & Binh
T.T. Tran 4
1–3 Institute of Tropical Ecology, Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center, 63
Nguyen Van Huyen Str., Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
4 Hanoi University of Education, 136 Xuan Thuy, Cau
Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
1 VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
1 lesonenv86@yahoo.com (corresponding author), 2 nguyenthucst76@gmail.com,
3 dotatthinh16@gmail.com, 4 binhttt@hnue.edu.vn
Editor: Hui-Qin Ma, Hengshui
University, Hengshui, P.R. of China. Date of publication: 26
August 2022 (online & print)
Citation: Le,
S.X., T.H. Nguyen, T.T. Do & B.T.T. Tran (2022).
Species diversity and
distribution of large centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) from the biosphere reserve of the
western Nghe An Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(8): 21710–21714. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7964.14.8.21710-21714
Copyright: © Le et al. 2022. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium
by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Task 3.3 of
the Project E-1.2 of the
Vietnam – Russia Tropical Center.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: This work was funded by Task 3.3 of the Project E-1.2
of the Vietnam – Russia Tropical Center. Thanks to
the management board of the Pu Mat National Park and Pu Hoat
Natural Reserve for kindly allowing us to conduct field surveys.
Abstract. A total of 12 scolopendromorph species from
five genera and three families were recorded in three different habitats
(wooden forest, mixed timber-bamboo forest, and bamboo forest) and at three
elevation ranges (>1,000 m, 700–1,000 m, and <700 m) from the biosphere
reserve of the western Nghe An Province. Eleven
species were recorded for the first time in the area. Scolopendridae
is the most diverse family with nine species. The number of species was highest
at elevation <700 m (9 species), and lowest at 700–1,000 m (4). By habitat
distribution, the bamboo forest had the lowest number of species (3).
Keywords.
Arthropoda, bioinventory,
biodiversity, pitfall trap, Scolopendridae,
southeastern Asia.
The biosphere reserve west of Nghe An province
contains two protected areas, Pu Mat National Park (= Pu Mat NP) and Pu Hoat Nature Reserve (= Pu Hoat
NR), located in northern part of the Truong Son mountain range. The elevation
of this area ranges 100–2,500 m, and the forested areas are mainly found at
800–1,500 m, and in valleys. The area’s difficult topography has partly helped
to limit deforestation and hunting for rare animals. Located in the tropical
monsoon region, atmospheric circulation in this area is influenced by the
Truong Son mountain range, and by westerly winds (Laotian wind) that create
harsh, dry, hot weather in the summer (Vietnam Administration of Forestry
2013). These conditions have allowed high biodiversity in the area, with many
endemic and rare species.
Although biodiversity surveys have been conducted in the area, studies
of centipedes are limited. Tran et al. (2013) compiled a list of centipedes in
Vietnam and reported the occurrence of several species in the eastern region of
Nghe An (Vinh City), including Rhysida
nuda, Scolopendra
dehaani and Scolopendra
morsitans. Only Vu et al. (2020) recorded Otostigmus aculeatus in Pu Mat NP.
In order to facilitate further studies in the future, this article
provides a list of species belonging to the large centipede order Scolopendromorpha, along with assessments of the diversity
and distribution of species recorded in the biosphere reserve west of Nghe An.
Materials and Methods
A total of 71 specimens of Scolopendromorpha
were collected in 2018–2020 in Pu Mat NP and Pu Hoat
NR. The specimens were collected in three different habitats: woody forest
(WF), mixed wood-bamboo forest (WBF), bamboo forest (BF), and at three
elevation ranges: below 700 m, 700–1,000 m and >1,000 m (Vu 2012). All of
these habitats are less affected by humans. The organic surface layer in
habitats is very thick, may be up to 15 cm. In the woody forest habitat, many
trees are over 1 m in diameter.
Specimens were collected by pitfall trapping following the instruction
of Mesibov & Churchill (2003). The traps were
made of a 500 ml plastic cup. A total of 15 traps containing ethanol 75% were
placed in each habitat, and were collected after 7–10 days. Centipedes were
also gathered by leaf-sifting (Górny & Grüm 1993). This method uses a sieve with a diameter of 30
cm and a mesh of 1 cm to remove the upper matter (leaves, twigs). The remaining
matter after falling through the sieve was collected to find animals. Centipedes
were also manually collected by hand sorting and digging. Centipede specimens
were searched directly under decaying vegetation, stumps, rotting trunks, dry
bark, and rocks.
Specimens were identified according to the references of Attems (1930), Bonato et al.
(2011), Schileyko (1992, 1995, 2007, 2020), Siriwut et al. (2016, 2018). Ecological indices including
the number of species, Shanon-Weaver H’, uniformnity J’ were calculated using the software Primer
ver. 7.0 for each habitat type. Similarity index was calculated using the
software R ver. 4.0.4.
All specimens were preserved in 75% ethanol and kept at Vietnam-Russia
Tropical Center (VRTC), Vietnam.
Results
Species
composition and taxon diversity
We recorded 12 species belonging to five genera and three families in
the study area (Table 1). Of these only Otostigmus
aculeatus has been recorded from previous studies (Vu et al. 2020). Thus,
our results contribute 11 new records to the centipede fauna of the biosphere
reserve west of Nghe An. It also increases the total
number of species recorded in Nghe An to 15 species (Tran et al. 2013).
Table 1 shows that BF habitat has the lowest diversity with only three
species (three genera, three families) recorded. The WBF and WF habitats had
the same number of recorded species (seven species, four genera, three
families). Only Scolopocryptops rubiginosus was recorded in all three habitats. Otostigmus multidens,
Otostigmus scaber
and Cryptops doriae
were recorded in two habitats, the rest were only recorded in one habitat.
The distribution of large centipedes according to the altitude shows
they were concentrated mainly below 700 m (nine species, four genera, three
families), followed by >1,000 m (six species, three genera, two families),
with the lowest diversity at 700–1,000 m (four species, three varieties, three
families). Otostigmus scaber
was the only species recorded at all three different altitudes. Scolopocryptops rubiginosus,
Scolopocryptops sp., Scolopendra
subspinipes, Otostigmus
astenus, and Cryptops
doriae were recorded at two different elevations.
Scolopendra dawydoffi
was only recorded above 1,000 m; the other species were only recorded below 700
m. Although there have been initial results on the distribution by altitude in
the study area, the results cannot fully represent the distribution of large
centipedes, because the study area has a very complex terrain making it
difficult to collect samples. Therefore, additional studies are needed.
Taxon
diversity
Of the three families recorded, Scolopendridae
was recorded with the highest species diversity (nine species, accounting for
75% of the total species; three genera, accounting for 60% of the total
genera); Scolopocryptopidae has recorded with only
two species (accounting for 17% of total species) in one genus (20% of total
genera); Cryptopidae was recorded with just one species
(accounting for 8.3%) (Table 2). With this result, it can be seen that the
family Scolopendridae considerably dominates in the
study region. This is similar to the previous studies by Le et al. (2021) at Phia Oac - Phia
Den National Park and Nguyen et al. (2019) at Hoang Lien National Park.
Biological
indices
Table 3 presents the results of the analysis of biological indicators,
in which the H’ index was highest in the WBF habitat (2,148), followed by WF
(1,934) and finally BF (1,673). Therefore, WBF biodiversity was quite good
(2<H’<3) while WF and BF were medium (1<H’<2). For the J’ index, it
shows that WBF and BF were similar with 0.9329 and 0.9335, respectively. And
the J’ index was lowest in WF, with 0.8801. With these values, it was shown
that habitats have large differences in the number of individuals obtained
between species.
According to the results of NMDS analysis, the habitats as well as the
elevations were quite different in species composition recorded in the study
area, as shown by the distance between each other in the Figure 1,2. Along with
that was the close relationship of the species with different habitats and
altitudes, specifically Otostigmus astenus with WF habitat, Rhysida
sp. with WBF habitat and Cryptops doriae with BF habitat (Figure 1). Scolopendra
dawydoffi, Scolopocryptops rubiginosus, Scolopocryptops
sp. closely related to altitudes above 1,000 m, while Rhysida
sp. closely related to altitudes below 700 m, Otostigmus
scaber, Cryptops doriae more closely related to altitude 700–1,000 m.
Discussion
With 12 recorded species, the diversity of large centipedes in the
Biosphere Reserve West of Nghe An is similar to other
regions, such as Hoang Lien, Thuong Tien, Xuan Nha (each with 12 recorded species) (Nguyen et al. 2018,
2019a, b), but is lower than Ta Xua, Phia Oac - Phia
Den with 15 and 18 species, respectively (Tran et al. 2018; Le et al. 2021).
Due to the complicated weather conditions and terrain of the study area, this
study was conducted only at altitudes from 200 to 1,300 m, the species
diversity of that area has not been fully understood. Additional studies are
needed for high mountains (above 1,600 m) and in different seasons.
The results also show that Scolopendridae is
the most common family in Vietnam, with the highest species diversity and
superiority to other families, in which the genus Otostigmus
is still the genus with the highest number of recorded species. This result is
also consistent with the report of Tran et al. (2013) and Vu et al. (2020).
The genus Scolopocryptops was recorded
at altitudes of over 700 m in the study area, specifically, specimens were
collected at altitudes from 900–1,200 m. This complements the identification
that Scolopocryptops species in Vietnam
are temperate species, only recorded in cool climatic regions (Le et al. 2021).
Scolopocryptops sp. has different
characteristics from those known in Vietnam (S. rubiginosus,
S. spinicaudus, and S. melanotoma)
which are quite obvious in the tergites and ultimate legs (Image 1). With these
other diagnosis, it may be a new record for the large centipede fauna in
Vietnam. To be able to confirm this with certainty, further studies are needed.
Scolopendra dawydoffi, was
formerly known as Scolopendra subspinipes cingulatoides (Attem, 1938; Schileyko 2007).
However, Siriwut et al. (2016) combined both
morphological and molecular analysis to confirm that this is an independent
species. In Vietnam, it has been recorded in some areas such as Ha Giang, Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, and Ha Tinh
(Attem 1938; Schileyko
2007).
Table
1. Species composition and distribution of scolopendromorphs
in the biosphere reserve west of Nghe An province.
|
|
WF |
WBF |
BF |
<700 |
700–1,000 |
>1,000 |
|
Family Scolopocryptopidae
Pocock, 1896 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Genus Scolopocryptops
Newport, 1844 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scolopocryptops rubiginosus
L.
Koch, 1878 |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
+ |
+ |
|
Scolopocryptops sp. |
+ |
|
|
|
+ |
+ |
|
Family Scolopendridae
Pocock, 1895 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Genus Scolopendra
Linnaeus, 1758 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scolopendra subspinipes
Leach,
1815 |
+ |
|
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
Scolopendra dawydoffi
Kronmüller, 2012 |
+ |
|
|
|
|
+ |
|
Genus Otostigmus
Porat, 1876 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otostigmus astenus
(Kohlrausch, 1878) |
+ |
|
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
Otostigmus multidens
Schileyko, 1995 |
|
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
|
|
Otostigmus scaber Porat,
1876 |
+ |
+ |
|
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
Otostigmus amballae
Chamberlin,
1913 |
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
|
|
Otostigmus aculeatus Haase, 1887 |
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
|
|
Genus Rhysida
Wood, 1862 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rhysida immarginata
Porat, 1876 |
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
|
|
Rhysida sp. |
|
+ |
|
+ |
|
|
|
Family Cryptopidae
Rausch, 1881 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Genus Cryptops
Leach, 1815 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cryptops doriae
Pocock,
1891 |
+ |
|
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
|
Total number of individuals |
30 |
28 |
13 |
40 |
11 |
20 |
|
Total species |
7 |
7 |
3 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
WF—Wood forest | WBF—Wood-bamboo mixed forest |
BF—Bamboo forest | +—present.
Table
2. Taxon diversity of scolopendromorphs in the
biosphere reserve west of Nghe An province.
|
Taxa |
Genus |
Species |
||
|
Amount |
Ratio |
Amount |
Ratio |
|
|
Scolopendridae |
1 |
20.00 |
9 |
75.00 |
|
Scolopocrypidae |
3 |
60.00 |
2 |
16.67 |
|
Cryptopidae |
1 |
20.00 |
1 |
8.33 |
|
Total |
5 |
100.00 |
12 |
100.00 |
Table
3. Diversity index and uniformity index by habitat in the biosphere reserve
west of Nghe An province.
|
Habitat |
Amount |
Index |
||
|
Species |
Individual |
J’ |
H’ |
|
|
WF |
9 |
29 |
0.8801 |
1.934 |
|
WBF |
10 |
31 |
0.9329 |
2.148 |
|
BF |
6 |
11 |
0.9335 |
1.673 |
WF—Wood forest | WBF—Wood-bamboo mixed forest |
BF—Bamboo forest.
For figures &
image - - click here for full PDF
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