''Rhondes sarasini'' is an

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

of jumping spider in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Rhondes ''Rhondes'' is a genus of New Caledonian jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1901. It was briefly considered a synonym of '' Hasarius'', but was revalidated after the results of a 2008 molecular study. It is now grou ...

'' that lives in New Caledonia. First described in 2016 by Barbara Patoleta, only the female has yet to be identified. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was discovered by

Jean Roux Jean Roux (March 1876, Geneva – 1 December 1939) was a Swiss herpetologist. He studied at the University of Geneva, completing his doctoral thesis in 1899. His early research involved studies of protozoa, and following post-doctoral work in ...

and

Karl Friedrich Sarasin Fritz Sarasin, full name Karl Friedrich Sarasin (3 December 1859 – 23 March 1942) was a Swiss naturalist. He was a second cousin of Paul Sarasin.Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2009)''2,400 years of malacology, 6th ed.'', 8 ...

in 1911, and the species name commemorates the latter. It is a small and slender spider, with a wide light brown

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

that is typically long and a thinner

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

, typically long, that has a pattern of light and dark patches. It differs from other members of the genus in its design of the

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

, which has a wide pocket and short copulatory openings.

Taxonomy

''Rhondes sarasini'' was first identified in 2016 by Barbara Patoleta. The female

had been collected in 1911 by

and

, and it is the latter that is commemorated in the species name. The

'' was raised in 1901 by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

for

of jumping spiders in

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. It has been placed in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

''Viciriini'' in the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

''Astioida''. Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to other species found only on the island, including members of the genus '' Penionomus'', and not as closely related to members of the genus ''

Heliophanus ''Heliophanus'' is a genus of the spider family Salticidae (jumping spiders). Most of the almost 170 described species occur in Africa, with many others found in the Palearctic region from Europe to Japan. Species , the World Spider Catal ...

'' and others of the ''

Chrysillini Chrysillini is a tribe of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. In Maddison's 2015 revision of the family, the subfamily Heliophaninae was reclassified as a junior synonym of Chrysillini. Genera * '' Afraflacilla'' * '' Augustaea'' * '' ...

'' tribe, as was originally suggested. The fact that the species on the island are both closely related to each other and genetically distinct from those found off the island is used as evidence of the evolution taking place after the breakup of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

Description

The spider is one of five members of the genus described by Patoleta in 2016. Only the female has been identified. Small and slender, it has a shape that is typical of the genus, with a wide

, thinner

, very large chelicerae and very long

endite The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip, plur ...

s. The cephalothorax is light brown, with a covering of white scales, which measures long and wide. The

is grey-brown and hairy with light and dark patches on top and grey-brown underneath. It typically measures long and wide. The clypeus is very narrow and light brown with long white hairs. The chelicerae, endites and pedipalps are similarly light brown. The front

legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ...

are dark brown, the remainder a lighter brown. The

has short copulatory openings unlike ''

Rhondes atypicus ''Rhondes atypicus'' is an endemic species of jumping spider in the genus '' Rhondes'' that lives in New Caledonia. First described in 2016 by Barbara Patoleta, the species has been found on both Grande Terre and Isle of Pines, living in rain ...

'' but a similarly shallow and wide pocket. This distinguishes it from other species in the genus, such as '' Rhondes flexibilis'', which has a wide pocket.

Distribution and habitat

''Rhondes sarasini'' has only been found in one location, in the forests of Vallie Ngoué towards the south end of Grande Terre, New Caledonia. Despite the existence of similar environments on other islands across the Pacific Ocean, it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island and there is no evidence of the species in any other locale.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q27439976 Spiders of New Caledonia Salticidae Spiders described in 2016