Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 58

The goblin spider genus Opopaea in Australia and the Pacific islands (Araneae: Oonopidae)

Citation

Baehr, B.C., Harvey, M.S., Smith, H.M. & Ott, R. 2013 10 10. The goblin spider genus Opopaea in Australia and the Pacific islands (Araneae: Oonopidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 58: 107–338. https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.58.2013.2013-11

Accepted

4 April 2013

Published online

10 October 2013

Peer reviewed

Yes

DOI

https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.58.2013.2013-11

Keywords

Opopaea, Australia, Pacific islands

Abstract 

The widespread and highly diverse goblin spider genus Opopaea Simon is a pantropical genus with biodiversity hotspots in Africa, Asia and Australia. We revise the Australian and Pacific species of the genus, provide redescriptions of the Australian species O. banksi (Hickman) and the Micronesian species O. foveolata Roewer, and new records of the pantropical O. deserticola Simon and O. concolor (Blackwall), as well as O. apicalis (Simon) which is newly transferred from Epectris, after the new synonymy of Epectris with Opopaea. The following species are provisionally transferred from Epectris to Opopaea, pending investigations into their generic affinities: O. conujaingensis (Xu), new combination from China; and O. mollis (Simon), new combination from Sri Lanka. Most Pacific Islands are inhabited by the four above-mentioned species but the following 15 newly described species are most likely native to the islands: from Fiji (O. fiji), Hawaii (O. hawaii), Palau (O. palau), New Caledonia (O. amieu, O. bicolor, O. burwelli, O. calcaris, O. goloboffi, O. monteithi, O. ndoua, O. platnicki, O. raveni, O. striata, O. touho, O. tuberculata). We treat the Australian Opopaea fauna and recognise 84 species including 71 new and 13 previously described species. The new Australian species include 21 species from New South Wales (O. acuminata, O. addsae, O. bushblitz, O. gerstmeieri, O. lebretoni, O. linea (also occurs in Queensland), O. magna, O. margaretehoffmannae, O. martini, O. michaeli, O. milledgei, O. nitens, O. ottoi, O. plana, O. simplex, O. sturt, O. suelewisae, O. sylvestrella, O. tenuis, O. ursulae, O. yorki); six from Northern Territory (O. ephemera, O. fishriver, O. gilliesi, O. johardingae, O. preecei, O. wongalara); 13 from Queensland (O. ameyi, O. brisbanensis, O. broadwater, O. carnarvon, O. carteri, O. chrisconwayi, O. douglasi, O. lambkinae, O. leichhardti, O. mcleani, O. proserpine, O. stanisici, O. ulrichi); three from South Australia (O. millbrook, O. mundy, O. stevensi); and 28 from Western Australia (O. aculeata, O. aurantiaca, O. billroth, O. callani, O. cowra, O. durranti, O. exoculata, O. flava, O. fragilis, O. framenaui, O. gracilis, O. gracillima, O. harmsi, O. johannae, O. julianneae, O. marangaroo, O. millstream, O. nadineae, O. pallida, O. pannawonica, O. pilbara, O. rixi, O. robusta, O. rugosa, O. subtilis, O. triangularis, O. wheelarra, O. whim). New records are provided for O. sown Baehr. Seven area-based keys to species are provided.