Published February 5, 2026 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Xystodesmus Cook 1895

  • 1. School of Life Sciences, Graduate School, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
  • 2. Department of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Rottenbiller u. 50, H- 1077 Budapest, Hungary & Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, H- 1088 Budapest, Hungary
  • 3. Department of Biology Education, Teachers College, and Institute for Phylogenomics and Evolution, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea & Department of Biomedical Convergence Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea & Department of Advanced Bioconvergence, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea & Institute for Korean Herb-Bio Convergence Promotion, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea & Phylomics Inc., Daegu 41910, Republic of Korea

Description

Genus Xystodesmus Cook, 1895

Takakuwaia Verhoeff, 1936a: 152–153 (with type species T. furculigera Verhoeff, 1936), synonymized by Hoffman (1956: 96).

Cyphonaria Verhoeff, 1936a: 160–161 (with type species Fontaria (Cyphonaria) scabra Verhoeff, 1936, originally as a subgenus), synonymized by Hoffman (1980: 156).

Koreoaria Verhoeff, 1937: 319 (with type species of K. palllida Verhoeff, 1937), synonymized by Korsós & Nakamura (2025: 193).

Phrurodesmus Takakuwa, 1943: 604 (with type species P. gracilipes Takakuwa, 1943), synonymized by Tanabe & Shinohara (1996: 1472).

Nikkonus Chamberlin & Wang, 1953: 9 (with type species N. nikkoensis Chamberlin & Wang, 1953), synonymized by Tanabe & Shinohara (1996: 1472).

Type species

Polydesmus (Fontaria) Martensii Peters, 1864, by original designation.

Diagnosis

A typical xystodesmid which differs from the closely related Riukiaria Attems, 1938 by a smaller body size (usually under 30 mm), brownish or greyish tergites with conspicuous red, orange or yellow paranotal spots, and the gonopod conformation, especially the two well-developed processes (prefemoral and acropodite) with various additional appendages (Korsós & Nakamura 2025).

Species included

The genus includes 20 species: Xystodesmus amoenus (Takakuwa, 1942), X. bazanensis (Takakuwa, 1942) comb. nov., X. bifurcus sp. nov., X. fasciatus Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. gracilipes (Takakuwa, 1943), X. keramae Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. kumamotoensis Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. kumeensis Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. martensii (Peters, 1864), X. nikkoensis (Chamberlin & Wang, 1953), X. pallidus (Verhoeff, 1937), X. parvus Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. rebekae Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. saltuosus (Haga 1968), X. serrulatus (Miyosi, 1952), X. sesokoensis Korsós & Nakamura, 2025, X. shirozui (Takakuwa, 1942), X. tokaiensis Tanabe & Shinohara, 1996, X. variatus (Pocock, 1895), X. yamamiensis Masuda, 2001.

Distribution

The genus Xystodesmus is distributed predominantly on the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and in the northern and central Ryukyu Islands (Kagoshima and Okinawa Prefectures). Two species of Koreoaria (Koreoaria amoena and K. pallida) have recently been allocated to Xystodesmus (Korsós & Nakamura 2025), and with the present paper, three more (Xystodesmus bazanensis comb. nov., X. bifurcus sp. nov., X. shirozui) are confirmed for the Korean Peninsula, increasing the number of species occurring there to five.

Notes

Published as part of Kim, Gyeongmin, Korsós, Zoltán & Hwang, Ui Wook, 2026, The family Xystodesmidae in the Korean Peninsula (Diplopoda: Polydesmida), pp. 70-115 in European Journal of Taxonomy 1039 on pages 73-74, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2026.1039.3181, http://zenodo.org/record/18613088

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Cook
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Polydesmida
Family
Xystodesmidae
Genus
Xystodesmus
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic concept label
Xystodesmus Cook, 1895 sec. Kim, Korsós & Hwang, 2026

References

  • Verhoeff K. W. 1936 a. Uber Diplopoden aus Japan, Gesammelt von Herrn Y. Takakuwa, Transactions of the Sapporo Natural History Society 54: 148-172.
  • Hoffman R. L. 1956. Studies on some oriental xystodesmine millipeds (Polydesmida, Chelodesmidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 58 (2): 95-104.
  • Hoffman R. L. 1980. Classification of the Diplopoda. Museum d'Historie Naturelle, Geneve.
  • Verhoeff K. W. 1937. Zur Kenntnis ostasiatischer Diplopoden. Zoologischer Anzeiger 117 (11 / 12): 309-321.
  • Korsos Z. & Nakamura Y. 2025. Review of the millipede genus Xystodesmus (Diplopoda: Polydesmida), with seven new species from the southwestern part of Japan. ZooKeys 1231: 191-232. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1231.141443
  • Tanabe T. & Shinohara K. 1996. Revision of the millipede genus Xystodesmus, with reference to the status of the tribe Xystodesmini (Diplopoda: Xystodesmidae). Journal of Natural History 30: 1459-1494. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939600770831
  • Chamberlin R. V. & Wang Y. M. 1953. Records of millipeds (Diplopoda) from Japan and other oriental areas, with descriptions of new genera and species. American Museum Novitates 1621: 1-13.
  • Attems C. 1938. Polydesmoidea II. Fam. Leptodesmidae, Platyrhachidae, Oxydesmidae, Gomphodesmidae. Das Tierreich 69: 1-487. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin & Leipzig.
  • Miyosi Y. 1952. Beitrage zur Kenntniss japanischer Myriopoden. 4. Aufsatz: Ueber eine neue Art und eine neue Unterart von Diplopoda. Zoological Magazine 61 (9): 281-282.