Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2025-07-09
Page range: 228-242
Abstract views: 83
PDF downloaded: 3

A small giant in the darkness: A new cave-dwelling Charinus (Amblypygi: Charontidae) from northeast Brazil

Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea; Departamento de Ecologia e Conservação; Universidade Federal de Lavras; Lavras– MG; 37200–000; Brazil
Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea; Departamento de Ecologia e Conservação; Universidade Federal de Lavras; Lavras– MG; 37200–000; Brazil
Amblypygi Whip spider Neotropic Caatinga Cave-dwelling Taxonomy

Abstract

This study presents the description of a new species of the genus Charinus Simon, 1892, the 103rd recorded for the genus and the largest known to date. Discovered in Brejões I Cave, a significant speleological site in northern Brazil, the species is characterized by a well-developed eyes, and a specific pattern of spination on the pedipalps and cheliceral claws. In addition to the species description, we provide an updated dichotomous key for Brazilian species of the genus and a distribution map. The formal naming and description of cave-dwelling species are crucial for assessing biodiversity and guiding conservation strategies. The new species was found exclusively within the cave, and no surveys have been conducted in surrounding areas to evaluate its broader distribution. This highlights the urgent need for expanded sampling efforts and reinforces the importance of protecting Brazil’s speleological heritage, which is under increasing threat and directly affects the preservation of subterranean biodiversity.

 

References

  1. Barbosa, E.P. & Travassos, L.E.P. (2008) Caves, stories, history and popular traditions in the semi-desert (sertão) of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. Acta Carsologica, Postojna, 37 (2–3), 331–338. https://doi.org/10.3986/ac.v37i2-3.155
  2. Berbert-Born, M. & Karmann, I. (2002) Lapa dos Brejões - Vereda Romão Gramacho, Chapada Diamantina, BA - Gigantesca caverna e vale cárstico com rico depósito de fósseis do Quaternário. In: Schobbenhaus, C., Campos, D.A., Queiroz, E.T., Winge, M. & Berbert-Born, M. (Eds.), Sítios Geológicos e Paleontológicos do Brasil. SIGEP, Brasília, pp. 469–479.
  3. Chapin, K.J. & Hebets, E.A. (2016) The behavioral ecology of amblypygids. Journal of Arachnology, 44, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1636/V15-62.1
  4. Culver, D.C. & Pipan, T. (2009) The biology of caves and other subterranean habitats. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 256 pp.
  5. De Souza, P.E., Reis-Venâncio, P.C., Torres, R.A. & Ferreira, R.L. (2024) A new cave-dwelling species of Charinus (Amblypygi: Charinidae) from northern Brazil. Zootaxa, 5399 (4), 418–432. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5399.4.7
  6. Eberhard, S.M., Smith, G.B., Gibian, M.M., Smith, H.M. & Gray, M.R. (2014) Invertebrate cave fauna of Jenolan. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 136, 35–67.
  7. Ferreira, R.L., Bernard, E., Júnior, F.W.C., Piló, L.B., Calux, A., Souza-Silva, M., Barlow, J., Pompeu, P.S., Cardoso, P., Mammola, S., García, A.M., Jeffery, W.R., Shear, W., Medellín, R.A., Wynne, J.J. et al. (2022) Brazilian cave heritage under siege. Science, 375, 1238–1239. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1973
  8. Furtado, C.P.Q., Medeiros, W.E., Borges, S.V., Lopes, J.A.G., Bezerra, F.H.R., Lima-Filho, F.P., Maia, R.P., Bertotti, G., Auler, A.S. & Teixeira, W.L.E. (2022) The influence of subseismic-scale fracture interconnectivity on fluid flow in fracture corridors of the Brejões carbonate karst system, Brazil. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 141, 105689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2022.105689
  9. Giupponi, A.P.L. & Kury, A.B. (2013) Two new species of Heterophrynus Pocock, 1894 from Colombia with distribution notes and a new synonymy (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Phrynidae). Zootaxa, 3647 (2), 329–342. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3647.2.5
  10. Giupponi, A.P.L. & Miranda, G.S. (2016) Eight New Species of Charinus Simon, 1892 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae) Endemic for the Brazilian Amazon, with Notes on Their Conservational Status. PLoS One, 11 (2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148277
  11. Harvey, M.S. & West, P.L.J. (1998) New species of Charon (Amblypygi, Charontidae) from Northern Australia and Christmas Island. The Journal of Arachnology, 26, 273–284.
  12. Mammola, S. (2019) Finding answers in the dark: caves as models in ecology fifty years after Poulson and White. Ecography, 42 (7), 1331–1351. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03905
  13. Miranda, G.S. & Giupponi, A.P.L. (2011) A new synanthropic species of Charinus Simon, 1892 from Brazilian Amazonia and notes on the genus (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae). Zootaxa, 2980 (1), 61–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2980.1.5
  14. Miranda, G.S., Giupponi, A.P.L., Prendini, L. & Scharff, N. (2018) Weygoldtia, a new genus of Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi) with a reappraisal of the genera in the family. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 273, 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2018.02.003
  15. Miranda, G.S., Giupponi, A.P.L., Prendini, L. & Scharff, N. (2021) Systematic revision of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi). European Journal of Taxonomy, 772, 1–409. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.772.1505
  16. Miranda, G.S., Kulkarni, S.S., Tagliatela, J., Baker, C.M., Giupponi, A.P.L., Labarque, F.M., Gavish-Regev, E., Rix, M.G., Carvalho, L.S., Fusari, L.M., Harvey, M.S., Wood, H.M. & Sharma, P.P. (2024) The rediscovery of a relict unlocks the first global phylogeny of whip spiders (Amblypygi). Systematic Biology, 73, 495–505. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syae021
  17. Misi, A. & Veizer, J. (1998) Neoproterozoic carbonate sequences of the Una Group, Irecê Basin, Brazil: chemostratigraphy, age and correlations. Precambrian Research, 89 (1–2), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-9268(97)00073-9
  18. Quintero, D.J. (1981) The amblypygid Phrynus in the Americas (Amblypygi, Phrynidae). The Journal of Arachnology, New York, 9, 117–166.
  19. Souza, S.L.D., Brito, P.C.R. & Silva, R.W.S. (1993) Estratigrafia, sedimentologia e recursos minerais da Formação Salitre na Bacia de Irecê, Bahia. Série Arquivos Abertos 2. Companhia Baiana de Pesquisa Mineral (CBPM), Salvador, 36 pp.
  20. Teruel, R., Armas, L.F. & Rodríguez, T.M. (2009) Nuevos datos sobre la distribución geográfica y ecología de los amblipígidos de Cuba (Arachnida: Ambypygi). Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, 44, 201–211.
  21. Vasconcelos, A.C.O. & Ferreira, R.L. (2017) Two new species of cave-dwelling Charinus Simon, 1892 from Brazil (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae). Zootaxa, 4312 (2), 277–292. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4312.2.4
  22. Vasconcelos, A.C.O., Giupponi, A.P.L. & Ferreira, R.L. (2013) A new species of Charinus Simon, 1892 from northeastern Brazil with comments on the potential distribution of the genus in Central and South Americas (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae). Zootaxa, 3737 (4), 488–500. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3737.4.9
  23. Weygoldt, P. (2000) Whip spiders (Chelicerata: Amblypygi). Their biology, morphology and systematics. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, 164 pp. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004473539

How to Cite

Souza, P.E.D. & Ferreira, R.L. (2025) A small giant in the darkness: A new cave-dwelling Charinus (Amblypygi: Charontidae) from northeast Brazil. Zootaxa, 5660 (2), 228–242. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5660.2.4