Andre Wanderley do Prado

Australian salt lakes are distinctive ecosystems that support specialized biota and provide opportunities to study evolutionary and biogeographic processes. Many salt lakes occur along ancient river channels (palaeodrainage systems), which form natural replicates for testing hypotheses of vicariance and dispersal among isolated habitats. We examined the phylogeography and genetic structure of the Australian wolf spider Lycosa salifodina McKay, 1976, a salt lake habitat specialist widespread across south-western Australia. We tested the hypothesis that genetic structure in L. salifodina primarily reflects long-term isolation among palaeodrainage systems, with reduced population structuring in more frequently inundated and interconnected lakes. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial CO1 sequences from 26 specimens (collected 2023–2024) recovered three major clades (A–C) largely corresponding to discrete palaeodrainage systems. Clade A, occurring in north-western palaeodrainages (e.g. Lakes Barlee, Giles and Moore), showed >5% divergence from other clades. Clade B comprised populations from north-eastern inland palaeodrainages (Lakes Raeside, Ballard, Rebecca and Marmion), while Clade C included southern, near-coastal populations spanning multiple palaeodrainage systems. Genetic divergence within clades was low (1–3% pairwise divergence), with no haplotype sharing among localities. Molecular dating suggests that the L. salifodina complex originated approximately 15 million years ago during the Miocene, with divergence among the three major clades occurring within the last 4 million years, coinciding with increased salinization of palaeodrainage systems. Stronger genetic isolation in northern inland populations and weaker structuring in southern coastal lakes support the hypothesis that palaeodrainage history and hydrological connectivity jointly shape diversification in this species.

A new monotypic genus of lycosids Dorrigocosagen. nov. and the type species D. framenauisp. nov. are described from the montane rainforests of eastern Australia. Phylogenetic analysis using nuclear and mitochondrial markers places Dorrigocosa within Venoniinae as a sister lineage to Anomalosa. The genus is distinguished from Venonia and Anomalosa by a set of somatic and genitalic characters, including a distinct colour pattern, the basal segment of the posterior spinnerets not elongated, a male palp with a sclerotized median apophysis and an epigyne with semicircular copulatory ducts. These small spiders are rainforest specialists, constructing silk retreats within decaying logs. Specimens were found exclusively from the highly restricted, isolated rainforests of Dorrigo National Park, New South Wales. Photographic records from the citizen science platform iNaturalist from nearby localities further support a strong association with this threatened habitat.
•New lycosid genus Dorrigocosagen. nov. and its type species D. framenauisp. nov. are described.•Molecular data place Dorrigocosa as sister lineage to Anomalosa within Venoniinae.•The genus is diagnosable by a set of somatic and genitalic traits.•The species is a rainforest specialist.

Gephyrellula Strand, 1932 is a genus of small flat pale spiders from the running crab spider family Philodromidae, which currently includes the type-species Gephyrellula violacea (Mello-Leitão, 1918), and the recently described G. lavidabonita Galvis et al., 2024. The genus has appeared in phylogenetic analyses as a member of the subfamily Philodrominae, but there are conflicting hypotheses regarding its closest relatives. One analysis placed Gephyrellula among the Hawaiian genera Pedinopistha Karsch, 1880 and Pagiopalus Simon, 1900, whereas the other placed it among species of Philodromus Walckenaer, 1826. To further investigate the topic, we conducted new phylogenetic analyses using four molecular markers and including two terminals of Gephyrellula . The resulting trees support the division of the family into two subfamilies Thanatinae and Philodrominae, with Gephyrellula as a member of the latter. Our results place Gephyrellula neither as a member of the Hawaiian clade nor among the genus Philodromus , but instead as a separated lineage. In addition to the phylogenetic analysis, we describe a new species of the genus named Gephyrellula condeuba sp. nov. , and provide new records of G. violacea , expanding the known distribution of the genus.

Ten new species of the orb-weaving spider genus Alpaida O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889 are described from Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro states, Brazil: Alpaida batman sp. nov., A. capixaba sp. nov., A. linhares sp. nov., and A. sooretama sp. nov. come from Sooretama and Linhares (Espírito Santo state), while A. jequitiba sp. nov. from Parque Estadual dos Três Picos (Cachoeiras de Macacu), A. coati sp. nov. and A. serrana sp. nov., both from Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (Teresópolis), A. regua sp. nov. from Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA, Cachoeiras de Macacu), and A. taquara from Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca (PEPB) and Ilha do Fundão (both Rio de Janeiro city), are all from Rio de Janeiro state. Alpaida pretiosa sp. nov. is found in all three states: Sooretama and Linhares (Espírito Santo state), Reserva União (Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro state), and in Viçosa (Minas Gerais state). Additionally, we correct the mismatching of one of our males with females of another species from the literature, and expand the distribution of A. mendensis Baptista, Castanheira & Prado, 2018.

The Western Australian species of the wolf spider (Lycosidae Sundevall, 1833) genus Artoria Thorell, 1877 are revised to include 20 species, 13 of which are new to science: Artoria aculeata sp. nov., A. atrata sp. nov., A. cingulipes Simon, 1909, A. emu sp. nov., A. falcata sp. nov., A. flavimana Simon, 1909, A. impedita (Simon, 1909), A. incrassata sp. nov., A. inversa sp. nov., A. lamellata sp. nov., A. linnaei Framenau, 2008, A. pileata sp. nov., A. pinnata sp. nov., A. plicata sp. nov., A. retorta sp. nov., A. schizocoides Framenau & Hebets, 2007, A. taeniata sp. nov., A. taeniifera Simon, 1909, A. trifida sp. nov., and A. wilkiei Framenau & Baehr, 2018. Thirteen of these species are endemic to the state and of these, three are only known from their type localities. We propose Priority status for the following species in accordance with the Western Australian Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Artoria emu sp. nov., A. falcata sp. nov. and A. plicata sp. nov. (Priority 1), and two further species only known from two localities, A. lamellata sp. nov. (Priority 2) and A. retorta sp. nov. (Priority 1). Most species of Artoria in Western Australia are associated with more humid areas and their distribution patterns suggest that their range might be correlated with specific rainfall regimes. Wet pitfall traps collected 637 samples (= 62.3%) considered in this study and six species were exclusively detected using these traps, including the species here proposed for Priority listing. We therefore argue that wet pitfall traps are an imperative tool for studying the biodiversity of ground-dwelling arthropods as long as vertebrate by-catch can be minimised.

Tibelloides Mello-Leitão, 1939 currently comprises four species of Neotropical grass-dwelling spiders. Herein, we describe and illustrate Tibelloides castelo sp. nov. with few records from Brazil (Minas Gerais, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro), and Tibelloides juatuba sp. nov., with records from Brazil (Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rondônia) and Paraguay (San Pedro). These two new species differ from the previously described ones by having body and legs conspicuously longer and thinner, male pedipalp without retrolateral marginal conductor, and female genitalia with compound copulatory ducts tubular and elongated.

Following the publication of the original article, Prado et al. 2022 [1], authors reported that since the amendments to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) [2] dealing with registration of nomenclatural acts in The Official Registry of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) [3], in article 8 of the online electronic ICZN (https://www.iczn.org/the-code/the-code-online/), new requirements were made for availability of nomenclatural acts published in exclusively electronic journals. Those new demands led to an increasing need for errata and addenda works intended solely to meet these new ICZN´s requirements and avoid the unavailability of proposed nomenclatural acts on legitimate, original taxonomic works (ex. [4, 5]). Relevant questions have been raised about the easiness or the advisability of declaring unavailable or suppress nomenclatural acts of bona fide contemporary works on zoological taxonomy (ex. [6]), on the grounds that those procedures would hamper taxonomical progress and that they are “deeply intrusive into the intellectual freedom of scientific work”. Those questions would be better left to acceptance or not by the scientific community. Anyway, the amendments to article 8 of ICZN are mandatory and should currently be followed by all zoologists proposing nomenclatural changes...