The Synthetonychiidae are a small family of
harvestman
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...
with a handful of species in a single genus. They are
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 Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Description
Species in this family are between one and two millimeters long, with legs up to almost six mm.
[ (2007): Synthetonychiidae. Forster, 1954. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 239ff]
Distribution
All described species occur only on
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
[
]
Relationships
Synthetonychiidae seem to be closely related to the Triaenonychidae from the Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n region.[
]
Name
The name of the type genus is combined from Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''synthetos'' "compounded" and ''onychion'', the diminutive of ''onyx'' "claw".[
]
Species
* '' Synthetonychia oliveae'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia acuta'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia cornua'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia fiordensis'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia glacialis'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia florae'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia hughsoni'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia minuta'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia obtusa'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia oparara'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia proxima'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia ramosa'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia sinuosa'' Forster, 1954
* '' Synthetonychia wairarapae'' Forster, 1954
Footnotes
References
* 's Biology Catalog
Synthetonychidae
ic* (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. ''Harvard University Press''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2713157
Harvestmen
Harvestman families
Monogeneric arthropod families