''Rhondes zofiae'' 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. Only the female has been described. First defined in 2016 by Barbara Patoleta, the species is unusually named after her mother. It is small and slender, 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 ...

and 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. ...

that is lighter and patterned with grey-brown patches. It can be distinguished from the related ''

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 ...

'' by the position of its copulatory openings.

Taxonomy

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

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

was named after Patoleta's mother, Zofia Jendrzejewska. This is unusual, as naming species after members of a scientist's family is uncommon, and, when species are named after people, male choices far outnumber female names. 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, and measures long and wide. The clypeus is very narrow with long pale hairs. The

is lighter, almost white, with a pattern of grey-brown patches. It measures long and wide. The chelicerae, legs and pedipalps are also shades of brown. Although 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. ...

has a wide pocket similar to the related ''

'', its copulatory openings are closer together. This also distinguishes it from other species in the genus, such as '' Rhondes flexibilis'', which has a narrow pocket.

Distribution and habitat

''Rhondes zofiae'' was first identified from a female

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 ...

found around Bois du Sud on Grande Terre, New Caledonia. It had been collected in 2004 in a forested area. It is only found in the south of the island. Despite the existence of similar environments on other islands across the Pacific Ocean, there is no evidence of the species in any other locale, and so 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 New Caledonia.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q27439977 Spiders of New Caledonia Salticidae Spiders described in 2016