Peripatopsis sedgwicki is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family. Also known as the Tsitsikamma velvet worm, this species has a narrow geographic distribution in South Africa but is especially abundant in the indigenous forest of the Tsitsikamma mountains. Recent phylogenetic analysis using molecular data finds that Peripatopsis sedgwicki as traditionally understood based on morphology (sensu lato) is a species complex that contains four different species: P. sedgwicki s.s. (sensu stricto, that is, as more narrowly defined), P. orientalis, P. collarium, and P. margaritarius.
Discovery This velvet worm was first described under the name Peripatus dewaali by the Dutch zoologist Max Weber in 1898 based on specimens he collected near the town on Knysna in the Western Cape province of South Africa. In 1899, the South African zoologist William F. Purcell provided a more detailed description based on a male and eleven females that he found in 1896 in rotten wood in the forest and under heaps of weeds on farms near the town of Knysna. He named this species Peripatopsis sedgwicki for the British zoologist Adam Sedgwick. Although Peripatopsis sedgwicki is a junior synonym of Peripatus dewaali, authorities favor the name Peripatopsis sedgwicki based on its long usage, deeming Peripatus dewaali to be a nomen oblitum and designating Peripatopsis sedgwicki a nomen protectum.
Taxonomic revision and distribution In 2024, the zoologists Aaron Barnes and Savel R. Daniels conducted a phylogenetic study using molecular data from a large sample of specimens of Peripatopsis sedgwicki (sensu lato). They find that this species complex contains four clades, each representing a different species. Type specimens of each species are deposited in the South African Museum. Each of these species has a different geographic distribution within the range of this species complex in South Africa. The species P. sedgwicki s.s. (that is, as narrowly understood) is endemic to a small area confined to the Afrotemperate forest of the Western Cape province near the original type locality Knysna. Given the absence of any original type material, Barnes and Daniels designate a female specimen as the neotype and three other female specimens as paraneotypes. These specimens were collected from the Diepwalle forest in Knysa. Other specimens in the same clade were collected in three nearby localities (the Homtini River in Rheenendal as well as Harkerville and the Garden of Eden in Plettenberg Bay). The species P. orientalis has the broadest distribution within this species complex, ranging from Nature's Valley to Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province. Barnes and Daniels base the original description of this species on a female holotype and six paratypes (including two males and two females). These specimens were collected in Nature's Valley. The specific name refers to the relatively eastern distribution of this species. The species P. collarium is a point endemic found only in the Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve in the Eastern Cape province. Barnes and Daniels based the original description of this species on a female holotype and two paratypes (one male and one female) found there. The molecular data indicate that this species is most closely related to P. orientalis and that these two species form a sister group for P. sedgwicki s.s. The species P. margaritarius is a point endemic found only in the Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve on a high plateau in the interior of the Eastern Cape province. Barnes and Daniels base the original description of this species on a female holotype and 25 paratypes (including thirteen females and eight males) found there. Phylogenetic analysis of this species complex places this species on the most basal branch of a phylogenetic tree, with the other three species forming a sister group. This species is named in honor of the biologist Margaretha Hofmeyr of the University of the Western Cape.
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