Sennin shuanglong Yao & Liu, 2023

Yao, Yanbin, Liu, Mingkang, Zhao, Rui, Deng, Zijie & Liu, Keke, 2023, First record of theridiosomatid genus Sennin Suzuki, Hiramatsu & Tatsuta, 2022 from Anhui Province, China, with the description of a new species (Araneae, Theridiosomatidiae), Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 107528-107528 : 107528

Sennin shuanglong Yao & Liu, 2023 sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: FD0ADBD2-F466-5410-B79D-412D4C28B029; Taxon: scientificName: Sennin shuanglong Yao & Liu, sp. n.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Anhui; locality: Tongling City, Yi'an District, Tianmen Town, Shuanglong Cave ; verbatimCoordinates: 30°51'18.65"N, 117°50'52.71"E; georeferenceProtocol: Baidu Map; Event: samplingProtocol: handing; eventDate: 28/06/ 2022 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 4; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 8DBABF2F-D78A-509E-93C0-91F9985E8D5E; Taxon: scientificName: Sennin shuanglong Yao & Liu, sp. n.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Anhui; locality: Tongling City, Yi'an District, Tianmen Town, Shuanglong Cave ; verbatimCoordinates: 30°51'18.65"N, 117°50'52.71"E; georeferenceProtocol: Baidu Map; Event: samplingProtocol: handing; eventDate: 21/12/2022 - 03/02/ 2023 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 14; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: B5DD73C1-24C4-5FF5-B1D9-0B215821DA96; Taxon: scientificName: Sennin shuanglong Yao & Liu, sp. n.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Anhui; locality: Tongling City, Yi'an District, Tianmen Town, Shuanglong Cave ; verbatimCoordinates: 30°51'18.65"N, 117°50'52.71"E; georeferenceProtocol: Baidu Map; Event: samplingProtocol: handing; eventDate: 21/12/2022 - 03/02/2023

Description

Male (Fig. 1 A, B, Fig. 2 , Fig. 4 A-K and Fig. 5 D). Measurements. Body 2.31 long. Carapace oval, with sparse setae on dorsal surface, 0.95 long, 1.07 wide. Eyes: with black annulations; measurements: AME 0.12, ALE 0.11, PME 0.12, PLE 0.10, AME-AME 0.05, AME-ALE 0.04, PME-PME 0.02, PME-PLE 0.08, AME-PME 0.11, AME-PLE 0.18, ALE-ALE 0.31, PLE-PLE 0.38, ALE-PLE, 0.02. Chelicerae stout, with five promarginal teeth, a single retromarginal tooth and 45 small denticles in between the teeth. Endites wider than long. Labium triangular, slightly shorter than endites. Sternum sub-triangular, as long as wide, posterior end blunt. Leg measurements: leg I: 1.23+0.47+1.00+0.64+0.64 = 3.98; leg II: 0.97+0.34+0.77+0.63+0.51 = 3.22; leg III: 0.73+0.27+0.56+0.42+0.36 = 2.34; leg IV: 0.92+0.30+0.58+0.43+0.40 = 2.63. Abdomen ovoid, covered with long and thin setae, 1.21 long, 1.35 wide.

Colouration (Fig. 1 A and B). Carapace black brown. Chelicerae yellow brown. Endites yellow. Labium, anterior part pale, posterior yellow. Sternum yellow, mottled, with abundant black spots. Legs with black brown annulations on femora, tibiae and metatarsi. Abdomen mottled, with a pale ring-shaped band; venter black brown.

Palp (Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 A-K). Cymbium: cymbial apophysis finger-like, slightly shorter than cymbial width in dorsal view; cymbial lamella triangular, with blunt and cone-shaped tip in prolateral view, like a barb in retrolateral view; paracymbium hook-shaped, with needle-like tip in retrolateral view. Median apophysis small hook-shaped, with a broad base, apex curved forward. Conductor translucent, covering complex embolic system. Embolus: embolic division complex, with multiple slender protrusions; embolus embranous, nearly as long as EA3, covered with a membrane, including three apophyses; EA 1 thickest, C-shaped, with broad membranous apex, through EA 2 and EA 3; EA 2 very long, filiform, spiralling around EA 1, with sharp apex; EA 3 flagelliform, lamellar, with two basal apophyses, one clavate, the other tooth-like.

Female (Fig. 1 C, D, Fig. 3 , Fig. 4 L, M and Fig. 5 E). As in male, except as noted. Measurements. Body 2.46 long. Carapace 1.26 long, 1.14 wide. Abdomen 1.77 long, 1.66 wide. Eye size and measurements: AME 0.14, ALE 0.13, PME 0.13, PLE 0.11, AME-AME 0.04, AME-ALE 0.05, PME-PME 0.04, PME-PLE 0.09, AME-PME 0.12, AME-PLE 0.19, ALE-ALE 0.34, PLE-PLE 0.42, ALE-PLE, 0.04. Leg measurements: leg I: 1.25+0.45+0.87+0.72+0.50 = 3.79; leg II: 1.05+0.35+0.73+0.60+0.47 = 3.20; leg III: 0.74+0.33+0.47+0.47+0.34 = 2.35; leg IV: 0.76+0.41+0.65+0.51+0.38 = 2.71.

Colouration (Fig. 1 C and D). Lighter than male. Abdomen lacking ring-like white band, with two pairs of white patches in anterior half part.

Epigyne (Fig. 3 , Fig. 4 L and M). Epigynal plate wider than long, posteriorly with a protruding, long and banana-shaped epigynal scape, convex ventrally. Copulatory opening very small. Copulatory bursae developed, membranous, touching. Copulatory ducts originating from copulatory bursae, extending along the mesial line of the vulva, running posterior-dorsally under spermathecae, bent at an acute angle towards anteromedially, curving backwards at lateral side of spermathecae, spiralling a circle. Spermathecae located medially, moderate tapering in touching part. Fertilisation ducts short, running under copulatory ducts, medially directed.

Diagnosis

Males of this species is similar to that of Sennin tanikawai Suzuki, Hiramatsu & Tatsuta, 2022 in having the finger-like cymbial apophysis in dorsal view and the triangular cymbial lamella in retrolateral view ( Suzuki et al. 2022: 86, figs. 7A and C), but can be distinguished from it by the median apophysis with a thick, strong curved apex (vs. thin, slightly curved in S. tanikawai ) and the paracymbium with a sharp needle-like apex (vs. spine-like in S. tanikawai ). It also resembles S. coddingtoni (Zhu, Zhang & Chen, 2001) in the triangular cymbial lamella, but can be easily separated from it by the large cymbial apophysis (vs. small) ( Chen 2010: 8, fig. 27) (Fig. 2 D, E, Fig. 4 A and B). Females resemble those of S. coddingtoni ( Chen 2010: 7, figs. 19 and 20) and S. tanikawai ( Suzuki et al. 2022: 87, fig. 8) in having the copulatory duct with a coil laterally located, but can be distinguished from it by the very long epigynal scape as same as epigynal length (vs. relative long epigynal scape shorter than epigynal length in S. coddingtoni and S. tanikawai ) and the transversal spermathecae with a tapering tip in touching area (vs. the transversal spermathecae without tapering tip; the sloping spermathecae in S. tanikawai ) (Fig. 3 , Fig. 4 L and M).

Etymology

The specific name is a noun in apposition and refers to the type locality.

Distribution

Known only from the type locality in Anhui Province, China (Fig. 6 ).

Ecology

The new species only inhabits deep within limestone caves (Fig. 5 A). These spiders build vertical circular webs with the junction of the top and sides of the cave (Fig. 5 B and C). Egg sacs (Fig. 5 F) spherical, are suspended with a long vertical line on the roof of the cave near female webs.

Figures

Figure 1. Sennin shuanglong sp. n., habitus of male holotype and female paratype. A, C habitus, dorsal view; B, D same, ventral view. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 2. Sennin shuanglong sp. n., male palp. A palp of holotype, prolateral view; B same, ventral view; C same, anterior view; D same, retrolateral view; E same, dorsal view; F same, superjacent view; G palp of paratype, ventral view, black arrow shows the bifurcate tip of EA 1; H same, anterior-dorsal view; I same, prolateral view; J same, posterior view, black arrow shows the bifurcate tip of EA 1. Abbreviations: C - conductor, CA - cymbial apophysis, CL - cymbial lamella, E - embolus, EA - embolic apophysis, ED - embolic division, MA - median apophysis, PC - paracymbium. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 3. Sennin shuanglong sp. n., epigyne of female paratype. A epigyne, ventral view, black arrow shows a pair of sclerotised extensions on the anterior margin of epigynal plate; B vulva, dorsal view; C epigyne, lateral view; D epigyne, ventral view. Abbreviations: CB - copulatory bursae, CD - copulatory ducts, ES - epigynal scape, FD - fertilisation ducts, S - spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 4. Sennin shuanglong sp. n., male palp and female epigyne, paratype. A palp, retrolateral view; B same, detail of CL, PC and CA, retrolateral view; C same, detail of the apex of CL, retrolateral view; D same, detail of conductor, retrolateral view; E embolic division, ventral view; F same, detail of EA 3, black and white stars show the basal apophyses of EA 3, ventral view; G same, detail of apex of EA 3, black star shows the basal apophysis of EA 3, ventral view; H same, detail of the apex of EA 2, ventral view; I same, posterior-dorsal view; J same, detail of EA 1 and EA 3, black star shows the basal apophysis of EA 3, posterior-dorsal view; K same, detail of EA 1, EA 2 and EA 3, posterior-dorsal view; L epigyne, ventral view; M same, dorsal view. Abbreviations: C - conductor, CA - cymbial apophysis, CB - copulatory bursae, CD - copulatory ducts, CL - cymbial lamella, E - embolus, EA - embolic apophysis, ES - epigynal scape, FD - fertilisation ducts, MA - median apophysis, PC - paracymbium, S - spermatheca.

Figure 5. Sennin shuanglong sp. n. A habitat, aspect of Shuanglong limestone cave; B, C webs; D male; E female; F egg sac.

Figure 6. Records of Sennin shuanglong sp. n. from Anhui Province, China.