Stenoonops Simon

Platnick N. I. & Dupérré N., 2010, The Goblin Spider Genera Stenoonops And Australoonops (Araneae, Oonopidae), With Notes On Related Taxa, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2010 (340), pp. 1-111 : 7-9

Stenoonops Simon

Stenoonops Simon, 1891: 564 (type species by monotypy Stenoonops scabriculus Simon ).

DIAGNOSIS: Members of this genus can be recognized by their distinctively shaped sternum, with lateral projections (extending between the leg coxae) that are separated by distinct grooves (figs. 18, 55, 370, 415).

DESCRIPTION: Total length of males 1.0– 2.2, of females 1.1–2.6; cephalothorax pale orange, legs and palps yellow, abdomen white. CEPHALOTHORAX: Carapace without any pattern, elongate oval in dorsal view, pars cephalica flat in lateral view, anteriorly narrowed to 0.49 times its maximum width or less, with rounded posterolateral corners; posterolateral edge without pits, posterior margin not bulging below posterior rim, anterolateral corners without extension or projections, posterolateral surface without spikes, sides finely reticulate (figs. 16, 37, 367, 368); thorax without depressions, fovea absent, without radiating rows of pits; lateral margin straight, smooth, without denticles; plumose setae near posterior margin of pars thoracica absent; nonmarginal pars cephalica setae dark, needlelike, scattered; nonmarginal pars thoracica setae dark, needlelike; marginal setae absent. Clypeus margin unmodified, straight in front view (figs. 17, 38, 369), sloping forward in lateral view, low, ALE separated from edge of carapace by less than their radius, median projection absent; setae dark, needlelike. Chilum absent. Eyes six, well developed, ALE largest, oval, PME squared, PLE circular; ALE separated by less than their radius, ALE-PLE separated by less than ALE radius, PME touching throughout most of their length, PLE-PME separated by less than PME radius; posterior eye row usually straight (figs. 15, 16, 36) but sometimes distinctly recurved. Sternum longer than wide, coloration uniform, fused to carapace, median concavity absent, without hair tufts, with radial furrowlike grooves between coxae I– II, II–III, III–IV (figs. 18, 55, 370, 415), furrow smooth, radial furrow opposite coxae III absent; surface finely reticulate, without pits, microsculpture everywhere but middle, sickle-shaped structures absent; anterior margin unmodified, posterior margin extending posteriorly beyond anterior edges of coxae IV as single extension, anterior corners unmodified, lateral margin without infracoxal grooves, distance between coxae II and III greater than distance between coxae I and II, and coxae III and IV, extensions of precoxal triangles absent, lateral margins with three pairs of lateral projections, with posterior hump; setae sparse, dark, spatulate, in group at base of coxae, originating from surface. Chelicerae straight, anterior face unmodified; without teeth on promargin or retromargin; fang without toothlike projections, directed posteriorly; shape normal, without prominent basal process, tip unmodified; setae dark, spatulate, densest medially; paturon inner margin with pairs of smooth, distally enlarged setae (figs. 19, 407), distal region abruptly narrowed, posterior surface unmodified, promargin with row of flattened setae, laminate groove absent. Labium rectangular, not fused to sternum, anterior margin indented at middle, same as sternum in sclerotization, with six or more setae on anterior margin, subdistal portion with unmodified setae. Endites distally not excavated, same as sternum in sclerotization, usually with anterior modifications in males (including loss of serrula, figs. 20–22, 371–373); females with endites unmodified, with serrula in single row (fig. 408); at least two scanned species with anteromedian margin bearing row of flattened setae with tined tips (figs. 56, 57, 409, 410). Female palp without claw or spines; femur at least sometimes with retrolateral platelike smooth areas (fig. 422), patella without prolateral row of ridges; tibia with three trichobothria (figs. 62, 413); tarsus with thickened setae (figs. 59, 60, 411, 412), dorsal surface of tarsus with distal patch of shortened setae (figs. 61, 414). ABDOMEN: Cylindrical, without long posterior extension, rounded posteriorly, interscutal membrane without rows of small sclerotized platelets; dorsum soft portions without color pattern. Supposed book lung covers large, ovoid, without setae, anterolateral edge unmodified. Posterior spiracles connected by groove. Pedicel tube short, unmodified, scuto-pedicel region unmodified, scutum not extending far dorsal of pedicel, plumose hairs absent, matted setae on anterior ventral abdomen in pedicel area absent, cuticular outgrowths near pedicel absent. Dorsal scutum absent. Epigastric scutum weakly sclerotized, not surrounding pedicel, not protruding (figs. 27, 58), small lateral sclerites absent, without anterolateral joints in females. Postepigastric scutum weakly sclerotized, short, only around epigastric furrow, not fused to epigastric scutum, anterior margin unmodified, without posteriorly directed lateral apodemes. Spinneret scutum absent; supraanal scutum absent. Dorsum setae dark, needlelike; epigastric area frontal setae thickened, dark, needlelike; postepigas- tric area setae dark, needlelike; dense patch of setae anterior to spinnerets absent. Colulus absent. Spinnerets scanned only in S. peckorum (both sexes, figs. 23–26, 51–54) and S. pretiosus (female only, fig. 421); ALS with one major ampullate gland spigots and at least one aciniform gland spigot; PMS with one or two spigots; PLS with two to five spigots. LEGS: Femur IV not thickened, same size as femora I–III, femora of scanned species with subdistal constriction bearing transverse dorsal row of setae (figs. 63, 375); patella plus tibia I shorter than carapace, dorsal surface of patellae at least sometimes with row of platelike areas (fig. 64); tibia I unmodified, tibia IV specialized hairs on ventral apex absent, tibia IV ventral scopula absent; metatarsi I and II mesoapical comb absent, metatarsi III and IV weak ventral scopula absent. Leg spines absent. Superior claws with few large, proximally situated teeth on lateral surfaces, numerous tiny, closely packed, distally situated teeth on median surfaces (figs. 35, 376–378, 423–425), inferior claw absent. Trichobothrial bases rounded, hood with few ridges, aperture internal texture not gratelike, hood smooth (fig. 65). Tarsal organ of legs I, II, palp with three sensillae, of legs III, IV with two sensillae, distal margin sometimes internally gratelike (figs. 33, 34, 66–70, 379–383, 426–430). GEN- ITALIA: Male epigastric region with sperm pore not visible; furrow without V- shaped insertions, without setae. Male palp of normal size, not strongly sclerotized, right and left palps symmetrical, embolus light, without prolateral excavation; trochanter of normal size, unmodified; femur two or more times as long as trochanter, without posteriorly round- ed lateral dilation, attaching to patella basally; patella shorter than femur, not enlarged, without prolateral row of ridges, setae unmodified; tibia short, with three dorsal trichobothria (figs. 32, 384), cymbium ovoid in dorsal view, fused with bulb but retaining seam, seam often most conspicuous proximally or distally (figs. 29, 30, 385, 386), not extending beyond distal tip of bulb, plumose setae absent, thickened setae present, with distal patch of shortened setae (figs. 28, 387); bulb 1–1.5 times as long as cymbium, stout, tapering apically; embolus elaborate (fig. 31). Internal female genitalia with anterior and posterior receptacula, anterior receptaculum often with variously shaped, sclerotized anterior projection (figs. 417–420).

MISPLACED SPECIES: Chickering (1969) placed Scaphioides Bryant (1942) as a junior synonym of Stenoonops , but the type species of Scaphioides has neither the distinctive sternal modifications nor the palpal tarsal setae characteristic of true Stenoonops . Eight of the 17 species placed in Stenoonops by Chickering, including the type species of Scaphioides , are united by a distinctive male palpal morphology with a short, wide embolus, and by having the female epigastric and postepigastric scuta more strongly sclerotized than in true Stenoonops . Scaphioides is therefore here removed from the synonymy of Stenoonops and regarded as a valid genus, containing the following species, all transferred from Stenoonops : Scaphioides minuta ( Chamberlin and Ivie, 1935) , new combination, from Florida; Scaphioides reducta Bryant (1942) and Scaphioides nitens ( Bryant, 1942) , new combination, from the Virgin Islands; Scaphioides cletus ( Chickering, 1969) , new combination, and Scaphioides hoffi ( Chickering, 1969) , new combination, from Jamaica; Scaphioides phonetus ( Chickering, 1969) , new combination, and Scaphioides econotus ( Chickering, 1969) , new combination, from Puerto Rico, and Scaphioides halatus ( Chickering, 1969) , new combination, from Antigua.

Stenoonops portoricensis Petrunkevitch (1929) from Puerto Rico and two other species described by Chickering (1969), Stenoonops lucradus and Stenoonops noctucus , both from the Virgin Islands, do not fit the diagnoses given above, and belong neither to Stenoonops nor Scaphioides . There are also two other species currently assigned to Stenoonops that were not considered by Chickering (1969). Stenoonops egenulus Simon (1893b) was based on a female from Venezuela that is now badly faded and worn, but appears to lack the sternal conformation and palpal tarsal setae characteristic of Stenoonops ; it definitely has leg spines on tibiae and metatarsi IV, has very differently constructed genitalia, and thus clearly belongs elsewhere, closer to the other New World taxa currently misplaced in Oonops . More recently, Benoit (1979) described Stenoonops opisthornatus for a female from the Seychelle Islands that appears to have almost nothing in common with true Stenoonops . All these species misplaced in Stenoonops will be covered in future papers by various PBI participants.

DISTRIBUTION: Circum-Caribbean; the new species S. cabo , from Baja California, is the outlier, farthest removed from the Caribbean.