''Zephyrarchaea marae'', the West Gippsland assassin spider, is a

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

in the family

Archaeidae Archaeidae, also known as assassin spiders and pelican spiders, is a spider family with about ninety described species in five genera. It contains small spiders, ranging from long, that prey exclusively on other spiders. They are unusual in that ...

. The species was first described by Michael G. Rix and

Mark Harvey Mark Harvey (born 11 June 1965) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played over 200 games during fourteen seasons with the Essendon Football Club, winning three premierships, and was senior coach of Fremantle from 2007 t ...

in 2012. 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in Australia.

Taxonomy

The species specific name is a

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

in honour of Dr. Māra Blosfeld.

Description

The males are 3.03 mm long, while the females are 3.95 mm long.

Distribution and habitat

The species is known only from temperate rainforest and mesic closed forest habitats

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

and

Strzelecki Ranges The Strzelecki Ranges (pronounced STREHZ leckee) is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The Ranges are named after Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, a Polish explor ...

West Gippsland West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western Port Bay in the west to the Latrobe Valley in the east, and is bounded by the Strzelecki Ranges to the south ...

, south and southeast of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Conservation

The species is found throughout several national parks, and does not require any conservation action.

References

Spiders described in 2012 Archaeidae {{Archaeidae-stub