Schismatothele Karsch 1879
Creators: name: Moeller, Wolf
name: Weinmann, Dirk
name: Guadanucci, José Paulo Leite
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Theraphosidae
Schismatothele

description: Genus Schismatothele Karsch, 1879
Schismatothele Karsch, 1879: 544.
Hemiercus Simon, 1903: 929.
Hemiercus – Petrunkevitch 1928: 78. — Roewer 1942: 231. — Bonnet 1957: 2155. — Raven 1985: 153 (synonymy with Holothele, rejected by Rudloff 1997: 12). — Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014: 287 (in part, suggests that Hemiercus kastoni Caporiacco, 1955 may belong to Euthycaelus).
Schismatothele – Roewer 1942: 207. — Bonnet 1958: 3944. — Raven 1985: 158 (synonymized to Holothele). — Rudloff 1997: 12 (removed from the synonymy with Holothele, contra Raven 1985: 158). — Panzera et al. 2011: 130. — Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014: 282. — Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019: 548. — Mori & Bertani 2020: 112, 118 (transferred S. opifex from Psalistops and synonymized E. solitarius to S. lineata).
Type species
Schismatothele lineata Karsch, 1879.
Diagnosis
Males of Schismatothele can be recognized by the combination of the following characters: palpal tibia swollen (except S. quimbaya sp. nov.; Figs 65–66), with several thick spines on the apical third in one row, arranged in one or two groups (Figs 30–31, 38–39, 46–47, 57–57, 72–73) (Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014; Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019) or in a single linear group (Figs 65–66, 80–81); palpal bulb with subtegulum large and totally fused with tegulum; tegulum rounded at the base (Guadanucci 2020); embolus short with an paraembolic apophysis below, except in S. caeri sp. nov., S. hacaritama and S. quimbaya, which has an apical keel instead (Figs 23–26, 59–62) (Valencia-Cuéllar 2019). Females can be recognized by the spermathecae bulky and heavily sclerotized, except in S. weinmanni, which has the ventral receptacle weakly sclerotized with four receptacles divided in dorsal and ventral portions clearly distinguishable (Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014; Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019).
Distribution
Northern Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
Species included
Schismatothele benedettii Panzera, Perdomo & Pérez-Miles, 2011; S. caeri sp. nov.; S. caiquetia sp. nov.; S. hacaritama Valencia-Cuéllar, Perafán & Guadanucci, 2019; S. inflata (Simon, 1889); S. kastoni (Caporiacco, 1955); S. lineata Karsch, 1879; S. merida sp. nov.; S. modesta (Simon, 1889); S. moonenorum sp. nov.; S. olsoni Guadanucci, Perafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2019; S. opifex (Simon, 1889); S. quimbaya sp. nov.; S. timotocuica sp. nov.; S. wayana sp. nov.; S. weinmanni Guadanucci, Perafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2019.
Identification key for species of Schismatothele (except S. kastoni)
Males (males of S. lineata and S. opifex are unknown)
1. Palpal bulb with prolateral keels (Figs 23, 51, 59, 75) ..................................................................... 2
– Palpal bulb without prolateral keels (Figs 33, 41, 67) .................................................................... 10
2. Palpal bulb with paraembolic apophysis (Figs 51, 75) ..................................................................... 3
– Palpal bulb without paraembolic apophysis, retrolateral branch of tibial apophysis twice longer than prolateral branch (Figs 23, 28, 59, 64) .............................................................................................. 8
3. Embolus pointing forward. Palpal tibia without ventral middle concavity (Figs 51, 57, 75, 82) .... 4
– Embolus pointing upward. Paraembolic apophysis discrete with apical serrated keel (see Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014: 284, fig. 5a) .............................................. S. inflata (Simon, 1889)
4. Paraembolic apophysis with same length or longer than embolus, laterally flattened with rounded end (Figs 75, 83)................................................................................................................................ 5
– Paraembolic apophysis shorter than embolus, thin or slightly dorso-ventrally flattened (Fig. 57) .. 7
5. Palpal tibia without medial concavity and one group of spines (Figs 80–81) .................................. 6
– Palpal tibia with medial concavity and two groups of spines (see Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019: 559, fig. 30) ............................................... S. weinmanni Guadanucci, Perafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2019
6. Presence of prolateral and retrolateral paraembolic keels. Absence of apical striae. Palpal tibia with two rows of spines (Figs 75–76, 80–81) ............................................................... S. wayana sp. nov.
– Absence of prolateral and retrolateral paraembolic keels. Presence of apical striae. Palpal tibia with single row of spines (see Panzera et al. 2011: 131, figs 2, 4–5) ......................................................... ......................................................................... S. benedettii Panzera, Perdomo & Pérez-Miles, 2011
7. Short and conical paraembolic apophysis. Presence of ventral retrolateral keel. Presence of retrolateral tegular apophysis (Figs 51–54) ................................................. S. moonenorum sp. nov.
– Paraembolic apophysis dorso-ventrally flattened. Absence of ventral retrolateral keel. Absence of retrolateral tegular apophysis (see Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014: 285, fig. 6a–c) .......................... .................................................................................................................... S. modesta (Simon, 1889)
8. Palpal bulb without prolateral tegular apophysis, tegulum with ventral processes near embolus. Palpal tibia not swollen (Figs 59–60) ............................................................................................... 9
– Palpal bulb with prolateral tegular apophysis, absence of ventral granular process. Palpal tibia swollen (Figs 23–26, 30–31) ..................................................................................... S. caeri sp. nov.
9. Tegulum with ventral granular process near to embolus, retrolateral branch of tibial apophysis digitiform (Figs 59–64) ..................................................................................... S. quimbaya sp. nov.
– Tegulum with ventral spiniform process near to embolus, retrolateral branch of tibial apophysis very widened and flattened distally (see Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019: 555, figs 9–16) ............................. .......................................................... S. hacaritama Valencia-Cuéllar, Perafán & Guadanucci, 2019
10. Tegulum piriformis or subrectangular with slightly pronounced prolateral lobe (Figs 41–44, 67– 70) ....................................................................................................................................................11
– Tegulum globose with prolateral lobe very pronounced near the embolus (Figs 33–36) ................... ............................................................................................................................. S. caiquetia sp. nov.
11. Tegulum without ventral granular process. Retrolateral branch of tibial apophysis digitiform at the apex (Figs 67–71) ........................................................................................................................... 12
– Tegulum with ventral granular process on a bulge. Retrolateral branch of tibial apophysis flat at the apex (Figs 41–45) .................................................................................................. S. merida sp. nov.
12. Tegulum piriformis. Paraembolic apophysis with rounded tip (see Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019: 557, figs 17–20) ................................................ S. olsoni Guadanucci, Perafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2019
– Tegulum subrectangular. Paraembolic apophysis with straight tip, slightly retrolaterally twisted (Figs 67–70) .................................................................................................... S. timotocuica sp. nov.
Females (females of S. hacaritama, S. inflata, S. modesta, S. moonenorum, S. olsoni, S. opifex, S. quimbaya and S. wayana are unknown)
1. Abdomen with striped pattern (Figs 5, 9, 17) ................................................................................... 2
– Abdomen without striped pattern (Figs 1, 13, 15, 21) ...................................................................... 5
2. Ventral receptacle of spermathecae not fused or fused only at the base. Dorsal receptacle not fused, with short lobes (Figs 32, 40, 48, 74) ............................................................................................... 3
– Dorsal and ventral receptacles of spermathecae fused. Dorsal receptacle with long lobes (see Guadanucci & Weinmann 2014: 283, fig. 4a–b) ............................................ S. lineata Karsch, 1879
3. Ventral receptacle fused at the base (Figs 40, 50) ............................................................................ 4
– Ventral receptacle not fused, with digitiform aspect. Dorsal receptacle globose and slightly pointing inwards (Fig. 74) .............................................................................................. S timotocuica sp. nov.
4. Ventral receptacle elongated, large, flattened at apex. Dorsal receptacle digitiform (Fig. 40) ........... ............................................................................................................................. S. caiquetia sp. nov.
– Ventral receptacle digitiform. Dorsal receptacle globose or subrectangular (Fig. 48) ....................... ................................................................................................................................ S. merida sp. nov.
5. Dorsal receptacles hard, heavily sclerotized (Fig. 32) ...................................................................... 6
– Dorsal receptacle soft, without sclerotization (see Valencia-Cuéllar et al. 2019: 560, figs 32–34) ... ........................................................... S. weinmanni Guadanucci, Perafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2019
6. Ventral receptacle of spermathecae digitiform and pointing out (Fig. 32) ....................................... 7
– Ventral receptacle of spermathecae ronded (see Mori & Bertani 2020: 119, fig. 321) ....................... ....................................................................................................................... S. opifex (Simon, 1889)
7. Ventral and dorsal receptacle partially fused, dorsal receptacle flat (see Panzera et al. 2011: 131, fig. 7) ............................................................... S. benedettii Panzera, Perdomo & Pérez-Miles, 2011
– Ventral and dorsal receptacle not fused, dorsal receptacle slightly oval and pointing outward (Fig. 32) ..................................................................................................................... S. caeri sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Moeller, Wolf, Weinmann, Dirk & Guadanucci, José Paulo Leite, 2023, Genus Schismatothele Karsch, 1879 (Araneae, Theraphosidae): taxonomic notes and seven new species description, pp. 78-112 in European Journal of Taxonomy 861 on pages 81-84, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.861.2069, http://zenodo.org/record/7737459