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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 38(2)

Castaways: the Leeward Antilles endemic spider genus Papiamenta (Araneae: Pholcidae)

Bernhard A. Huber https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7566-5424 A * , Guanliang Meng https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6488-1527 A , Tim M. Dederichs B , Peter Michalik B , Martin Forman C and Jiří Král C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, LIB, Adenauerallee 127, D-53113 Bonn, Germany. Email: g.meng@leibniz-lib.de

B Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Greifswald, Germany. Email: tim.dederichs@uni-greifswald.de; michalik@uni-greifswald.de

C Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia. Email: formivelkejpan@seznam.cz; spider@natur.cuni.cz

* Correspondence to: b.huber@leibniz-lib.de

Handling Editor: Prashant Sharma

Invertebrate Systematics 38, IS23052 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS23052
Submitted: 17 October 2023  Accepted: 15 January 2024  Published: 15 February 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.

Abstract

Ninetinae is a group of small to tiny short-legged spiders largely restricted to arid habitats. Among daddy-long-legs spiders (Pholcidae) this is by far the least diverse subfamily but this may partly be a result of inadequate collecting, poor representation in collections or scientific neglect. We build on a large recent collection of the ninetine genus Papiamenta Huber, 2000 from the Leeward Antilles and use cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) sequences, extensive scanning electron microscopy data, transmission electron microscopy data and karyotyping to analyse this geographically isolated and poorly known island genus. COI sequences support the split between the two morphologically distinct species on Curaçao but genetic distances between these are surprisingly low (7.4–9.8%; mean 8.6%). The type species P. levii (Gertsch, 1982) may include more than one species but COI and morphology suggest conflicting clade limits. A third species, P. bonay Huber sp. nov. is newly described from Bonaire. Our data on sperm ultrastructure and karyology are puzzling as these suggest different phylogenetic affinities of Papiamenta to other genera. Males transfer sperm as individual sperm (cleistosperm), agreeing with the putative closest relatives as suggested by molecular data, the North American genera Pholcophora and Tolteca. The sex chromosome system (X1X2X3Y) of P. levii, however, is as in the South American Ninetinae genera Gertschiola and Nerudia but different from the putative closest relatives.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7A6A2E84-3A61-4637-AF6F-0E31A9FA79A8

Keywords: COI barcodes, karyotype, new species, Ninetinae, sensilla, sex chromosome, sperm ultrastructure, taxonomy.

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