Corresponding author: Yuri M. Marusik ( yurmar@mail.ru ) Academic editor: Roman Yakovlev
© 2020 Yuri M. Marusik, Alexander A. Fomichev.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Marusik YM, Fomichev AA (2020) A new genus of Liocranidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Tajikistan. Acta Biologica Sibirica 6: 583-594. https://doi.org/10.3897/abs.6.e59687
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A new genus, Platnick gen. n., with three new species, P. shablyai sp. n. (♂, type species), P. astana sp. n. (♀) and P. sanglok sp. n. (♀), are described from Tajikistan. The male of the type species has a unique pair of longitudinal ventral postgastral scuta. Females have such scuta also, but they are much shorter. The new genus is placed in Liocranidae Simon, 1897. A discussion on the subfamilies of Liocranidae and comments on the family-group names are provided.
Aranei, biodiversity, Central Asia, Dionycha, morphology, Oedignathinae, spider, taxonomy
Liocranidae Simon, 1897 is a relatively small spider family with 290 extant named species belonging to 32 genera distributed worldwide (WSC 2020). This family is poorly delimited, with an unclear number of subfamilies and currently containing genera that have ping-ponged from family to family (cf.
Specimens were photographed using an Olympus Camedia E‐520 camera attached to an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope or to the eye piece of an Olympus BH2 transmission microscope, and a SEM JEOL JSM-5200 scanning electron microscope at the Zoological Museum of University of Turku, Finland. Digital images were prepared using Helicon Focus 7.5.8 and/or Zerene Stacker version 1.04 image stacking software. Illustrations of endogynes and palps were made after clearing them in a 10% KOH aqueous solution and in lactic acid, respectively. Lengths of leg segments were measured on the dorsal side. All measurements are given in millimeters. All types are deposited in the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University (
Leg segments: Fe – femur, Mt – metatarsus, Pt – patella, Ta – tarsus, Ti – tibia.
Spination: d – dorsal, pv – proventral, r – retrolateral, rv – retroventral, v – ventral.
In the current literature, we found five family-group names provided for genera that are currently placed in Liocranidae (WSC 2020): Cybaeodinae Simon, 1893 (WSC 2020), Liocraninae Simon, 1897, Oedignathinae Simon, 1897 (
Cybaeodinae Simon, 1893: 341 (key), 387 (description);
Liocraninae Simon, 1897: 23–24;
Liocranidae Lehtinen, 1967: 312, 340 (raised to family level);
Oedignatheae Simon, 1897: 178 (key), 187 (description) [date of publication 15.II.1897];
Oedignathidae Thorell, 1897: 197 [description is missing, date of publication 2.I.1897].
Sphingiinae Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001: 465 [nomen nudum];
Thamphilinae Thorell, 1897: 230 (based on Thamphilus 1895=Sphingius Thorell, 1890).
Although Oedignathidae Thorell, 1897 has one month priority over Liocraninae Simon, 1897, article 35.5 of the ICZN allows the junior name to remain if it has prevailing usage: “If after 1999 a name in use for a family-group taxon (e.g. for a subfamily) is found to be older than a name in prevailing usage for a taxon at higher rank in the same family-group taxon (e.g. for the family within which the older name is the name of a subfamily) the older name is not to displace the younger name”. Until recently, Oedignatha Thorell, 1881 was considered to belong in Corinnidae and was transferred to Liocranidae by
Comments
The genera currently (WSC 2020) considered in Liocranidae that share characters also found in Oedignatha, such as the epigastric scutum forming a petiolar tube, postgastral scuta connected to book-lung spiracles and males with a large dorsal scutum, are: Koppe Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001; Oedignatha Thorell, 1881; Platnick gen. n., Sesieutes Simon, 1897; Sphingius Thorell, 1890; Sudharmia Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 and Teutamus Thorell, 1890. The characters mentioned above are not known in Liocraninae sensu stricto.
Genera considered by us to belong in Oedignathinae or the Teutamus group (sensu Ramírez, 2014) were until recently placed in Corinnidae and Phrurolithinae (a subfamily of Liocranidae, raised to family level by
Platnick shablyai sp. n. from Tajikistan.
The genus is named after the late Norman I. Platnick (1951–2020) who made unprecedented contributions to arachnology, including creating the World Spider Catalog. The gender is masculine.
The new genus is most similar to the Southeast Asian genera Oedignatha Thorell, 1881, Sesieutes Simon, 1897 and Sphingius Thorell, 1890. The male of the new genus differs from all other Oedignathinae by having a pair of longitudinal (longer than wide) ventral scuta (vs. absent). In addition, the male can be distinguished by having an antero-ventral femoral extension of the palp (vs. lacking) and a helical (screw threading) embolus embedded in a collar (Cl) (vs. filamentous embolus, lacking collar). Females of Platnick gen. n. differ from Oedignatha by lacking a dorsal scutum and having small (smaller than the epigyne) postgastral scuta (vs. scuta larger than the epigyne, transverse and almost touching each other).
Small, body length 2.1 in male and 2.18‒2.35 in females; carapace 0.96 long in male, and 0.86‒1.03 in females. Prosoma uniformly colored, flat, >2 times longer than high, carapace rather flat; carapace length/height ratio >3; carapace covered with fine granulation; fovea short, longitudinal, about as long as AME diameter; margin with small spines. Carapace and sternum fused. Sternum oval, posterior edge truncate, slightly wider than labium; sternum covered with fine pits bearing setae. Female palp with claw. Chelicera covered with small spines anteriorly, basal part extended anteriorly. Labium about 1.5‒1.6 times longer than wide. Maxillae slightly concave, rebordered mesally. Legs uniformly colored, with darker femora and coxae I; femora I‒II and metatarsi IV without spines; tibiae I‒II with 4‒6 pairs of ventral spines; metatarsi I‒II with a pair of spines. Spine locking mechanism barely developed. Metatarsi III‒IV with preening brush on distal half. Leg formula 4123. Leg I (leg I/carapace length) longer in females (2.5‒2.6) than in male (2.3).
Abdomen elongate and flat, 1.5‒2 times longer than wide and >2 times longer than high, uniformly colored. Both sexes with epigastral scutum, in male encircling petiolus, in female scutum encircling ventral and lateral parts. Dorsum of male almost entirely covered with brown scutum; female abdomen pale, covered with small setae, with a pair of sigillae medially. Venter of abdomen in male with epigastric scutum rebordered posteriorly, postgaster with pair of longitudinal scuta tapering posteriorly, length/maximum width is about 2, connected to epigastral scutum near postero-lateral edge of book-lung opercula. Female with a pair of small transverse postgastral scuta attached to epigastral scutum near postero-lateral edge of book-lung opercula. In both sexes, epigastral scuta extend into petiolar tube. Spinnerets not darker than venter.
Male palp: femur 2.3 times longer than wide, with distal ventral extension (Ve), femur slightly shorter than cymbium; patella modified, with retrolateral outgrowth (Po), dorsal length longer than tibia; tibia as long as wide in dorsal view, with short prolateral apophysis (Pa); cymbium oval, about 1.6 times longer than wide; bulb oval, about 1.5 times longer than wide; sperm duct (Sd) long and wide, encircling retrolateral and posterior edge of tegulum, its broad part terminating at about 8:30 o’clock position; tegulum with apophysis (Ta), with claw-like tip directed retrolaterally; conductor small (Cn), weakly sclerotized; embolus (Em) located medially, embedded in tegulum, tegulum forms a collar (Cl) around embolus, embolus with weakly sclerotized helicoid tip.
Epigyne with distinct, or indistinct fovea (Fo), with separate copulatory openings (Co); receptacles (Re) tubular; receptacular glands (Rg) thick, extend anteriorly, close together; fertilization ducts (Fd) located posteriorly.
We were unable to match the species known only from the male with either morphospecies represented by females. All three specimens have different spination and were not collected from the same localities. Therefore, we describe the females as a different species than the male, understanding that in the future, one of the females may be synonymized with the generotype P. shablyai sp. n.
Platnick astana sp. n., P. sanglok sp. n. and P. shablyai sp. n.
All three species were collected in the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan (Figs
Holotype ♂ (
The species is named after the entomologist Vitaliy O. Shablya (Moscow, Russia), who organized the expedition to Tajikistan in which the new species was collected.
Same as for the genus.
Male. Total length 2.1. Prosoma 0.46 high. Carapace: 0.96 long, 0.74 wide, 0.3 high. Prosoma and chelicerae brown. Legs and palps pale yellow with darker coxa and femur I. Abdomen with brownish dorsal scutum almost entirely covering dorsum. Epigastral scutum encircling petiolus. Postgastral scuta as shown in Fig.
Palp as in Figs
Leg measurements: | Leg spination: | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fe | Pt | Ti | Mt | Ta | Total | Fe | Ti | Mt | |||
I | 0.64 | 0.34 | 0.53 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 2.25 | I | - | pv4 rv4 | pv1 rv1 | |
II | 0.57 | 0.33 | 0.46 | 0.34 | 0.34 | 2.04 | II | - | pv4 rv3 | pv1 rv1 | |
III | 0.46 | 0.24 | 0.3 | 0.33 | 0.34 | 1.67 | III | d1 | v1 | pv1 | |
IV | 0.61 | 0.33 | 0.51 | 0.5 | 0.44 | 2.39 | IV | d1 | r1 | - |
Male palp of Platnick shablyai sp. n.: 6–9, 12, 13 – whole palp, 10, 11 – terminal part. 6, 13 – Retrolateral, 7 – prolateral, 8 – dorsal, 9–12 – ventral. Abbreviations: Cl – tegular collar, Cn – conductor, Em – embolus, Pa – prolateral apophysis of tibia, Po – retrolateral outgrowth of patella, Sd – sperm duct, Ta – tegular apophysis, Ve – ventral extension of femur. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (7); 0.05 mm (11); 0.1 mm (12, 13).
The holotype was collected in shiblyak shrubland. Shiblyak is a kind of vegetation similar to those called garrigue (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrigue) or maquis shrubland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquis_shrubland), composed of deciduous xerophilous shrubs and small trees.
Known from the type locality only (Figs
Holotype ♀ (
The species epithet is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.
Female habitus and details: 14, 16, 18, 20 – Platnick sanglok sp. n. 15, 17, 19, 21–25 – P. astana sp. n. 26 – P. shablyai sp. n. 14, 15 – Habitus, dorsal, 16, 17 – ditto, ventral, 18, 19 – ditto, lateral, 20, 21 – female leg I, prolateral, 22 – female maxillae and palps, dorsal, 23, 24 – female chelicera, mesal and anterior, 25 – the fang of the female chelicera, posterior, 26 – leg I Ta of the male. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (14, 15); 0.2 mm (20, 22); 0.05 mm (24, 26); 0.02 mm (25).
The new species differs from those of P. astana sp. n. by the indistinct fovea and unconcealed copulatory openings (Co) (vs. fovea distinct, copulatory openings concealed by hoods), as well as by the copulatory ducts (Cd) directed posteriorly and the short glands of the receptacles (Rg) not extended anteriorly as much as the receptacles (vs. copulatory ducts directed anteriorly, and glands of receptacles located anterior to receptacles). The two species differ by the spination of tibia II: P. sanglok sp. n. has 5 pairs of ventral spines, whereas P. astana sp. n. has 4 pairs.
Female. Total length 2.18. Prosoma 0.5 high. Carapace: 1.03 long, 0.81 wide, 0.33 high. Prosoma and chelicerae brown. Legs and palps pale yellow, femora and coxae I darker than other segments. Abdomen and spinnerets white. Postgastral scuta elongate, ovoid, about 4 times longer than wide.
Epigyne as in Figs
Known from the type locality only (Figs
Epigynes: 27, 28 – Platnick astana sp. n.; 29–32 – P. sanglok sp. n.; 33, 34 – collecting localities of Platnick species. 27, 29 – Intact, ventral, 31, 32 – macerated, ventral, 28, 30 – macerated, dorsal. Abbreviations: Ah – anterior hood, Cd – copulatory ducts, Co – copulatory opening, Fd – fertilization duct, Fo – fovea, Re – receptacle, Rg –receptacle gland. P. shablyai sp. n. – circle, P. astana sp. n. – triangle, P. sanglok sp. n. – diamond. Frame on Fig.
Holotype ♀ (
The species epithet is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.
See diagnosis for P. sanglok sp. n.
Female. Total length 2.35. Prosoma 0.43 high. Carapace: 0.86 long, 0.66 wide, 0.3 high. Carapace, maxillae, labium and chelicerae yellow-brown. Sternum dark yellow. Palps and legs light yellow with darker femur and coxa I. Legs III‒IV lighter than others. Abdomen and spinnerets beige. Postgastral scuta elongate, diamond-shaped, about 3 times longer than wide.
Epigyne as in Figs
Known from the type locality only (Figs
We thank Vitaliy O. Shablya (Moscow, Russia), Murod Saidov and Rustam Muratov (both from Dushanbe, Tajikistan) for organizing expeditions to Tajikistan in 2015 and 2019 in which the material treated here was collected. Special thanks to Sergei L. Zonstein (Tel-Aviv, Israel) for great help in collecting. Also, we thank Seppo Koponen and Ilari Sääksjärvi (University of Turku, Finland) for providing museum facilities, Charles Haddad (Bloemfontein, South Africa) and Martin Ramírez (Buenos Aires, Argentina) for consultations regarding the placement of the new genus. Theo Blick (Hummental, Germany) provided us with the dates of Simon’s and Thorell’s publications. An earlier draft of the manuscript was reviewed by Martin Ramírez and Mikhail M. Omelko (Vladivostok, Russia), and Sarah Crews (San Francisco, USA) provided valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript and kindly checked the English of the final draft. We thank the reviewers and the editor for their comments on the manuscript.