Cybaeodes liocraninus Simon 1913, new combination
Creators: name: Bosselaers, Jan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Liocranidae
Cybaeodes
Cybaeodes liocraninus

description: Cybaeodes liocraninus (Simon, 1913) new combination
Figs. 2 G; 3 C–G; 6 A; 8 E.
Brachyanillus liocraninus Simon, 1913: 378.
Type material. Holotype juvenile, Algeria, " Brachyanillus liocraninus E.S. G tte Misserghin (Oran) R.J." [MNHN 499].
Other material examined. 1 juvenile, Algeria, " Brachyanillus liocraninus E.S. biosp. n° 621. Gr.te Misserghin. Oran. 2 III 13 " [MNHN 621].
Diagnosis. C. liocraninus can be distinguished from other Cybaeodes species by the complete absence of eyes.
Description. Juvenile (holotype). Total length 4.10. Carapace length 1.74, w 1.32, flattened (Figs. 3 D, 6 A), pale yellowish brown. Fovea dark brown, deep, length 0.16, anterior end 1.16 from front end of carapace. No eyes (Fig. 3 C, F). Chilum absent. Chelicerae yellow, with a row of thick, stout hairs along promarginal cheliceral rim. Three teeth along promarginal rim, halfway between fang base and base of paturon, largest tooth in the middle. Two small teeth on retromarginal rim, close to fang base. Sternum yellow, smooth, shieldshaped, length 1.05, w 0.84. No PCT, no ICS (Fig. 3 E), PLB inconspicuous and isolated. Labium as wide as long. Endites subrectangular, frontally rounded, with oblique depression, apical hair tuft and serrula. Abdomen greyish white. ALS subconical, almost contiguous at their bases, with small apical segment. PMS small and slender, not flattened. PLS subconical, separated by slightly less than their length, terminal segment small, conical. Trochanters deeply notched, no rh, feathery hairs present on legs. Legs long, unicolorous yellow, leg formula 4123, leg length I 6.10 II 5.79 III 4.97 IV 7.47. Patellar indentation 2/3 of pa length, mt and ta with erectile bristles, vt preening brush on mt III, ta IV with pl basal spine, ta IV with a row of three do trichobothria in basal half. Tarsal claws with 5–7 teeth and five pairs of tenent hairs (Fig. 3 G). Leg spination (Fig. 2 G) fe: I pl 0-0-1 do 1-1-0; II pl 0-0-1 do 1-1-0; III do 1-3-2; IV do 1-2-2; ti: I plv 1-1-1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1- 1; II plv 0-0-0-1 rlv 1-1-1-1; III pl 1-0-1 do 1-1-0 rl 1-0-1 plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; IV pl 1-0-1 do 1-1-0 rl 1-0-1 plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; mt: I plv 1-0-0 rlv 1-0-0; II plv 1-0-0 rlv 1-0-0; III pl 2-1-1 do 0-1-0 rl 1-1-1 plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-0- 1 vts 1; IV pl 1-1-1 rl 1-1-1 plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1 vts 1; ta: IV pl 1-0-0.
Discussion. Although Simon refers to the type specimen as a female (without any comments about the genital morphology), study of the type specimen as well as an additional specimen from his collection proves that he only saw juveniles. Nevertheless, the species is redescribed here and not treated as a nomen dubium, because the completely anophthalmic specimens clearly belong to a separate species not described elsewhere in Liocranidae, and they present enough distinctive characters to allow attributing newly collected adult specimens to the same species.
Apart from the absence of eyes, which is often considered a typical energy-saving adaptation of cave animals (Barr 1968; Diamond 1996; Bosselaers 1998), the general morphology of C. liocraninus does not justify a place in a separate genus and advocates the inclusion of the species in the genus Cybaeodes (compare Figs. 6 A and B, Figs. 3 C–G with Figs. 4 A–G and 5 A–G, and Fig. 8 E with Figs. 8 F, G). The leg spination of C. liocraninus (compare Fig. 2 G with Figs. 2 H–J) as well as the presence of five pairs of tenent hairs and 5–7 toothed claws on the tarsal tips (compare Fig. 3 G with Figs. 4 F, G and 5 F, G) further confirm this. Platnick & Di Franco (1992) already stated "...we would not be surprised to find that blind, cavernicolous members of Cybaeodes occur in Mediterranean caves" and Ribera (2004: 215) reports that material identified as Brachyanillus liocraninus by Fage (1931: 209) actually belongs to Cybaeodes. Ribera (personal communication) captured several species of blind Cybaeodes, with a somatic morphology indistinguishable from Simon's Brachyanillus, in Spanish caves. Description of these new species is ongoing.
Distribution. Algeria, Spain (Platnick 2009).
description: Published as part of Bosselaers, Jan, 2009, Studies in Liocranidae (Araneae): redescriptions and transfers in Apostenus Westring and Brachyanillus Simon, as well as description of a new genus, pp. 37-55 in Zootaxa 2141 on pages 46-49, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.188586