Scytodes jimmorrisoni, Iost & Alayón & Rheims, 2025

Iost, Flora M., Alayón, Giraldo & Rheims, Cristina A., 2025, On the Antillean spiders of the genus Scytodes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Scytodidae), Zootaxa 5728 (3), pp. 496-530 : 512

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5728.3.3
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1E8C1A2B-F53A-441B-B7A5-2CBFF05B9215
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17895051
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03DC8794-F64D-3944-DCA1-F0C3FB42FA13
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Scytodes jimmorrisoni
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Scytodes jimmorrisoni sp. nov.

Figs 57–60 View FIGURES 53–60 , 99 View FIGURES 95–105 , 136 View FIGURES 135–138

Type material. Holotype: ♀, PUERTO RICO: Guárnica Municipality: Carenero Barrio, Punta Ballenas , Guánica dry forest, 17.9540ºN, 66.8490ºW, 6 mts., 19–22 July 2011, Team CarBio leg., USNM392951 About USNM GoogleMaps , PR008 ( NMNH). Paratype: 1 ♀, same collection data as for holotype, USNM392870 About USNM ( NMNH) GoogleMaps .

Etymology. The specific name is a patronym honoring the late musician and poet Jim Morrison ( 8 December 1943 – 3 July 1971), lead singer of the American rock band The Doors, known for his distinctive voice, lyrical writing, and influence on rock music and counterculture.

Diagnosis. Females of S. jimmorrisoni sp. nov. resemble those of S. coltrainei sp. nov. (12, 13, 36), S. cubensis ( Figs. 21, 22 View FIGURES 14–22 , 25, 26, 29, 30 View FIGURES 23–30 , 63–70 View FIGURES 61–70 ), and S. joniae sp. nov. ( Figs 77, 78 View FIGURES 71–78 , 95, 96 View FIGURES 95–105 ) by the vulva with S-shaped IS. They are distinguished from the latter species by the IS with a widened base and OS laterad ( Figs 60 View FIGURES 53–60 , 99 View FIGURES 95–105 ) (vs. IS with the same width throughout and OS antero-laterad to anteriad in the other species). Males are unknown.

Description (USNM392951, holotype): prosoma very dark brown, with few pale brown markings; chelicerae pale yellow, legs pale brown with dark brown markings; labium dark brown; endites dark brown; sternum dark brown with pale brown markings; opisthosoma grayish-brown with dark brown linear markings ( Figs 57, 58 View FIGURES 53–60 ). Total length 3.5; prosoma: 1.8 long, 1.4 wide; sternum: 0.95 long, 0.71 wide; labium: 0.24 long, 0.27 wide; eye diameters: PME 0.11, ALE 0.12, PLE 0.12; legs: I: 6.0 (1.2, 0.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.1); II: - (1.5, 0.4, rest of leg absent); III: 3.5 (1.0, 0.3, 0.8, 0.9, 0.5); IV: 4.5 (1.3, 0.3, 1.2, 1.2, 0.5). Female genitalia: positioning ridges triangular, slightly more than twice as wide as long, separated from each other by three times their width ( Fig. 59 View FIGURES 53–60 ); vulva: IS roughly four times longer than OS; OS slightly longer than wide, covered with large pores; PS with medial loop and round tip ( Figs 60 View FIGURES 53–60 , 99 View FIGURES 95–105 ).

Male. Unknown.

Variation. Females (n = 2): total length 3.5–3.6; prosoma length 1.5–1.6.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality in Punta Ballenas, Puerto Rico ( Fig. 136 View FIGURES 135–138 ).