Taliniella vinki Rix & Harvey, 2010

Rix, Michael & Harvey, Mark, 2010, The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level, ZooKeys 36 (36), pp. 1-321 : 73-74

Taliniella vinki Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2F2F7C29-9BD8-4B9D-BF8B-F09D57881B46

Figs 129–130

Type material. Holotype male: Mount Thomas Conservation Area , Canterbury, New Zealand, track to summit from Wooded Gully Picnic Area, sifting moss, 43°11'31"S, 172°20'10"E, 3.iv.2006, M. Rix ( MNZ).

Paratypes: 1 male, same data as holotype ( WAM T80032 DNA-MPE).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Cor Vink, of AgResearch (Lincoln Science Centre, New Zealand), for his contributions to New Zealand Arachnology, and his hospitality during field work around Christchurch.

Diagnosis. Males of Taliniella vinki can be distinguished from T. nigra by the presence of a dorsal scute on the male abdomen (Fig. 129A) and the presence of a longer embolus (Fig. 130). Females are unknown.

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.80. Carapace 0.44 long, 0.35 wide. Abdomen 0.59 long, 0.45 wide. Leg I femur 0.27. Cephalothorax, abdomen brown; legs dark tan-yellow. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex, with declining profile in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME 0.6x diameter of ALE; PME separated by their own diameter. Chelicerae each with bulging anterior projection; promargin with two peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.61); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, slightly shrunken, covered with hairlike setae; dorsal scute large, covering most of dorsal surface of abdomen; lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalpal patella with retrolaterally-directed, hooked lRPA bearing dorsal flange, broad, flange-like distal apophysis and ornate, ridged cuticular microstructure; tegulum smooth, with rounded basal embolic bulge, excavate ETR and curved, sclerotised marginal rim; embolus very long (length >> 5× width), coiling 1.5x around margin of tegulum (Fig. 130).

Distribution. Known only from the Mount Thomas Conservation Area, north of Christchurch.

Remarks. Taliniella vinki is an enigmatic species, similar to Taliniella nigra from the North Island. This species was included in the molecular phylogenetic analysis of Rix et al. (2008) as “ Textricella sp. NZ ”, where it was inferred as a basal taxon, sister to all other species now placed in the genera Eterosonycha , Epigastrina , Normplatnicka , Raveniella and Rayforstia (see Fig. 1).