Coryssiphus praeustus Simon, 1903

Figs 1A, 2B–D, 3, 4, 6A, B, 7

Coryssiphus praeusta Simon, 1903a: 31–32 (holotype male: SOUTH AFRICA: “Cap! Africa australis: Prom. Bonae Spei!” (MNHN 18807)); Bosselaers & Jocqué, 2002: 248, fig. 2A.

Coryssiphus praeustus Simon, 1903b: 1035; Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2021: 10, 4 figs.

Additional material examined. SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape: 3♀, East slope of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch, November 1960, leg. N. Leleup (RMCA 131898) ; 1♀, Houtbaai, Tierbos, in litter, December 1960, leg. N. Leleup (RMCA 247653) ; 1♀, same data as previous (RMCA 131872); 1♂, Skeleton Gorge Forest, Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch, 33°35’24’’S, 26°10’48’’E, 200–300 m a.s.l., 26 and 29 October 1985, leg. C.E. Griswold, J. Doyen & T. Meikle Griswold (NMSA 18885) .

Additional data on material only examined from photographs. SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape: 1♂, Cape Town, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, 33°59.216’S, 18°25.742’E, 165 m a.s.l., sifting litter, Afromontane forest, 4 October 2022, leg. C. Haddad, D. Harms, R. Booysen & J. Neethling (NMBA 18841) ; 2♀, Cape Town, Table Mountain, Orange Kloof Nature Reserve, 34°00’00’’, 18°23’42’’E, 125 m a.s.l., sifting leaf litter, mould and rotten wood in Afromontane forest, 18 December 1997, leg. B.L. Fisher (CAS 9033202); 1♀, Table Mountain National Park, Orange Kloof, “site 21”, leaf litter in Afrotemperate forest, 18 November 2008, leg. C. Uys (NCA 2011 /886) .

Diagnosis. Coryssiphus praeustus is close to C. cinerascens but differs from it by the larger body size, the more slender and longer legs, especially the tibiae of the legs and palps (Tables 1, 2), the more elongate cymbium of the male palp, the epigyne which has a bell-shaped instead of trapezoidal central depression (Figs 4C, 6B, 7C) and the ST2 which are oriented longitudinally instead of antero-laterally (Figs 6A, 7E).

Description. Male (holotype unless mentioned otherwise). Somatic morphology as described for the genus. Total l (n = 2) 5.3; carapace l 2.5, w 1.9; sternum l 1.4, w 1.2. Fovea situated 1.8 from front, fovea l 0.3 (Fig. 5A). Eye arrangement: AER w 0.60, PER w 0.76, MOQ frontal end 0.30, posterior end 0.37, longitudinal l 0.39. Legs long and thin (Table 1). Leg spination as in Fig. 2A; ventral side of ti I with 7 vsp, ti II with 6 vsp. Male palp with slender ti and cymbium more than twice as long as diameter of bulbus (Table 2, Figs 3C, 4A, B).

Leg measurements:

fe pa ti mt ta Total

I 2.63 1.21 2.81 2.00 1.18 9.83

II 2.08 0.92 2.08 1.55 0.97 7.60

III 1.74 0.71 1.50 1.32 0.82 6.08

IV 2.45 0.84 2.31 2.13 1.13 8.86

Female (RMCA 131898, unless otherwise mentioned). Somatic morphology as described for the genus. Total l 5.6–6.8 (n = 5), carapace l 2.4, w 2.0; sternum l 1.2, w 1.2. Fovea situated 1.4 from front, fovea l 0.4 (Fig. 7A). Eye arrangement: AER w 0.55, PER w 0.68, MOQ frontal end 0.29, posterior end 0.34, longitudinal l 0.32. Legs long and thin (Table 1). Leg spination as in Fig. 2C, D; ventral side of ti I with 7 vsp, ti II with 6 vsp. Epigyne with bell-shaped central depression and sclerotised lateral rims that diverge in posterior third (Figs 4C, 6B, 7C). Long axis of ST2 oriented in longitudinal (antero-posterior) direction (Figs 6A, 7E).

Leg measurements:

fe pa ti mt ta Total

I 2.05 1.00 1.95 1.39 0.87 7.27

II 1.84 0.92 1.71 1.29 0.87 6.63

III 1.71 0.66 1.42 1.21 0.74 5.73

IV 1.97 1.00 2.18 2.03 0.84 8.02

Distribution. At present only known from the South African Cape Peninsula, but most probably present within a radius of at least 60 km from the latter (C.R. Haddad, pers. comm.).