Colossendeis Jarzynsky 1870

Diagnosis. Specimens often large; trunk unsegmented, smooth (very rarely with spines), tubercles or ridges absent; lateral processes usually clearly separated. Abdomen well-developed, usually articulated at base. Ocular tubercle low, rounded or conical, sometimes terminally acute; 2–4 eyes present, or absent. Chelifores absent in adults. Palps and ovigers touching at bases; strigilis tightly curved, terminal claw strong. 4 pairs of legs, large propodal heel spines absent, main claw long or short, genital pores tiny. Sexual dimorphism little understood.

Remarks. Pale areas principally defined by a change of texture of the integument, are present on the dorsal surface of the 2nd coxa of all legs of most species. These areas are comprised of thinner cuticle and are either flat or blister-like (fig. 7B). Provisionally referred to as coxal glands (Staples, 2002: 541), the term coxal pellicula (= filmy protective covering) is now used to avoid implying a function and purpose which has not been established. Similar areas have also been noted in Pentapycnon (Bouvier, 1913) and Pycnogonum (Flynn, 1919). In some instances they resemble large genital pores and probably represent what Stiboy-Risch (1993) described and illustrated as dorsal genital openings in C. glacialis Hodgson, 1907, C. arcuta Stiboy-Risch, 1993 and C. robusta Hoek, 1881. As far as I am aware, the genital pores of all Colossendeis are placed ventrally on the 2nd coxae of some, or all legs. A single gland opening on the outer surface of palp segment 5 and the ecto-posterior surface of oviger segment 4 is present in most species.