Neogoveidae

The Neogoveidae are a family of harvestmen with 27 described species in eight genera. However, eight species of '' Huitaca'', 17 species of '' Metagovea'' and 12 species of '' Neogovea'' are currently awaiting description.

Name

The name is a combination of Ancient Greek ''neo'' "new" and Ogoveidae, a previously described family of Cyphophthalmi that is closely related to Neogoveidae.

Description

Neogoveidae are 1 to 4.5 mm long and eyeless. They often exhibit a solea (modified area with a high concentration of sensory setae) on the first pair of tarsi. Their chelicerae are smooth, with a dorsal crest and ventral process, and can be either short and robust or long and antennuate. They possess laterally projecting ozophores, tarsal claws on the second pair of legs with a row of teeth, tarsal claws on the third and fourth pairs of legs often with small pegs, and an inconspicuous or absent opisthosomal median furrow. The adenostyle is variable, and can be lamelliform, fimbriate, or digitiform. They exhibit both the fusion of coxae 2 and 3, and the fusion of sternites 8 and 9 with tergite 9, the latter of which forms a complete ''corona analis'', which is not present in the genus ''Metasiro.'' Exocrine gland pores are located on the sternum in most genera, except ''Canga'' and ''Neogovea'', in which they are absent, and ''Metasiro'', in which they are located on the anal plate. The dorsal scutum is heavily granulated, the metatarsi of the legs are ornamented, and the structure of the spermatopositor is highly variable across genera.

Distribution

Neogoveidae occur in tropical regions between 10° north and 5° south of the equator in both South America and West Africa, with the exception of '' Metasiro'', which is found in southeastern United States.

Current research suggests that the diversity of neotropical Neogovidae is much higher than currently known, as new species were found at virtually every place where samples were taken. Currently, the greatest amount of known Neogoveid diversity is known from Colombia, although it is unknown if this reflects greater ecosystem diversity or greater sampling efforts in that country. It is thought that Neogoveidae possesses a considerably large amount of undescribed diversity compared to most other Cyphophthalmi families.

A recent phylogeographical study of ''Metasiro'' suggests that, as the genus exists at endpoints of large watersheds, mite harvestmen may be able to disperse by utilizing moving bodies of water.

Relationships

Molecular studies suggest that the South American species are paraphyletic, with the North American ''Metasiro'' forming a sister group to all other Neogoveids, '' Canga'' forming a sister group to the African '' Parogovia'', and the rest of the South American genera forming a clade. The family is believed to form a sister group relationship with the West African family Ogoveidae. Together, these 2 families make up the superfamily Ogoveoidea, which is the sister group to Troglosironidae. Troglosironidae and Ogoveoidea together make up the infraorder Sternophthalmi, which is well supported as monophyletic by recent phylogenetic analyses.

The species ''Shearogovea mexasca'' was formerly included in the genus ''Neogovea'', but has since been removed from both the genus and the family, and its taxonomic position within Cyphophthalmi is uncertain. It has been proposed, however, that the species be re-included within Neogoveidae, and that ''Metasiro'' be excluded from the family.

Species

Species:
* '' Brasiliogovea'' Martens, 1969 (Brazil, Colombia)

:* '' Brasiliogovea chiribiqueta'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Colombia: Caquetá Department)
:* '' Brasiliogovea microphaga'' Martens, 1969 (Brazil: Amazonas)

* '' Canga'' DaSilva, Pinto-da-Rocha, Giribet, 2010 (Brazil)

:* '' Canga renatae'' DaSilva, Pinto-da-Rocha, Giribet, 2010 (Pará)

* '' Huitaca'' Shear, 1979 (Colombia)

:* ''Huitaca bitaco'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 ( Valle del Cauca Department)
:* ''Huitaca boyacaensis'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Boyacá Department)
:* '' Huitaca caldas'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Caldas Department)
:* '' Huitaca depressa'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Risaralda Department)
:* '' Huitaca sharkeyi'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Valle del Cauca Department)
:* '' Huitaca tama'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Norte de Santander Department)
:* ''Huitaca ventralis'' Shear, 1979 (Norte de Santander Department)

* '' Metagovea'' Rosas Costa, 1950 (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador)

:* '' Metagovea disparunguis'' Rosas Costa, 1950 (Colombia: Antioquia Department)
:* '' Metagovea ligiae'' Giupponi & Kury, 2015 (Ecuador: Napo Province)
:* '' Metagovea oviformis'' Martins, 1969 (Brazil: Amazonas)
:* '' Metagovea philipi'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1980 (Ecuador: Morona Santiago Province)

* '' Metasiro'' Juberthie, 1960 (USA)

:* '' Metasiro americanus'' (Davis, 1933) (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina)
:* '' Metasiro sassafrasensis'' Clouse & Wheeler, 2014 (South Carolina)
:* '' Metasiro savannahensis'' Clouse & Wheeler, 2014 (South Carolina)

* '' Neogovea'' Hinton, 1938 (Brazil, Colombia, France, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad, Venezuela)

:* '' Neogovea hormigai'' Benavides & Giribet, 2013 (Guyana: Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo)
:* '' Neogovea immsi'' Hinton, 1938 (Brazil: Amapá)
:* '' Neogovea kamakusa'' Shear, 1977 (Guyana: Essequibo Islands-West Demerara)
:* '' Neogovea kartabo'' (Davis, 1937) (Guyana: Cuyuni-Mazaruni)
:* '' Neogovea virginie'' Jocqué & Jocqué, 2011 (France: French Guiana)

* '' Parogovia'' Hansen, 1921 (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sierra Leone)

:* '' Parogovia gabonica'' (Juberthie, 1969) (Gabon: Ogooué-Ivindo Province)
:* '' Parogovia pabsgarnoni'' Legg, 1990 (Sierra Leone: Western Area)
:* '' Parogovia sironoides'' Hansen, 1921 (Equatorial Guinea: Bioko)

* '' Tucanogovea'' Karaman, 2013 (Brazil)

:* '' Tucanogovea schusteri'' Karaman, 2013 (Amazonas)

* ''?Genus enigmaticus'' Martens, 1969 (Brazil: Amazonas/Roraima) — not assigned to a genus yet, because no males are known; possibly ''Neogovea'', or ''Tucanogovea''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3338185

Harvestmen
Harvestman families