Oroperipatus is a genus of Neotropical velvet worms in the family Peripatidae. Species in this genus are found in South America west of the Andes and in Mexico. This genus is viviparous, with mothers supplying nourishment to their embryos through a placenta.
Description Velvet worms in this genus can have as few as 22 pairs of legs (in O. omeyrus) or as many as 40 leg pairs (in O. bluntschli, O. weyrauchi, and O. tiputini). Species in this genus have from four to seven distal foot papillae, with two or more on the anterior part of the foot and two or more on the posterior part of the foot. This genus also features a nephridial tubercle on the fourth and fifth leg pairs inserted into a complete third spinous pad.
Species The genus contains the following species: Oroperipatus balzani (Camerano, 1897) Oroperipatus belli (Bouvier, 1904) Oroperipatus bimbergi (Fuhrmann, 1913) Oroperipatus bluntschli Fuhrmann, 1915 Oroperipatus cameranoi (Bouvier, 1899) Oroperipatus corradoi (Camerano, 1898) Oroperipatus ecuadorensis (Bouvier, 1902) Oroperipatus eisenii (Wheeler, 1898) Oroperipatus intermedius (Bouvier, 1901) Oroperipatus koepckei Zilch, 1954 Oroperipatus lankesteri (Bouvier, 1899) Oroperipatus multipodes (Fuhrmann, 1913) Oroperipatus omeyrus Marcus, 1952 Oroperipatus peruvianus Brues, 1917 Oroperipatus soratanus (Bouvier, 1901) Oroperipatus tiputini Montalvo-Salazar et al., 2024 Oroperipatus tuberculatus (Bouvier, 1898) Oroperipatus weyrauchi Marcus, 1952
Oroperipatus goudoti (Bouvier, 1899), Oroperipatus quitensis (Schmarda, 1871), and Oroperipatus peruanus (Grube, 1876) are considered nomina dubia by Oliveira et al. 2012.
References