Species delimitation and taxonomic revision of Oxyopes (Araneae: Oxyopidae) of Taiwan, with description of two new species

Abstract

This study revised the spider genus Oxyopes Latreille, 1804 in Taiwan and delineated the species boundaries based on morphological and molecular characters. A total of seven Oxyopes spiders were recognized, including two newly described species, O. hasta sp. nov. and O. taiwanensis sp. nov. Oxyopes fujianicus Song & Zhu 1993 from Yilan County, Nantou County, and Kaohsuing City, and O. striagatus Song 1999 from New Taipei City, Taichung City, Nantou County, and Kaohsiung City were recorded for the first time in Taiwan. An identification key and a distributional map of Taiwanese Oxyopes species were provided. Partial COI sequences were obtained for molecular phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenies, and DNA barcoding gap analysis supported morphologically defined species. However, molecular species delimitation based on Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), PID (Liberal), and generalized mixed Yule coalescent (GMYC) were incongruent in species assignment. The results showed that the interspecific genetic divergence between O. sertatus and O. taiwanensis was relatively low (1.28 ± 0.43%), and the intraspecific genetic divergence of O. striagatus was relatively high (1.69 ± 0.35%). Ecological data, additional samples and genetic loci are required to further examine the level of reproductive isolation and patterns of population genetic structure in Taiwanese Oxyopes.

Integrative species delimitation and five new species of lynx spiders (Araneae, Oxyopidae) in Taiwan

“…Molecular species delimitation methods and morphological evidence often yield different results [ 13 , 28 , 84 – 86 ]. The definition of a species is a continuing debate due to different species concepts and the continuous nature of speciation [ 27 ].…”

“…The abbreviations followed Lo et al [ 13 ]: AER, anterior eye row; ALE, anterior lateral eye; AME, anterior median eye; AME-I, interdistance between anterior median eyes; AML-I, interdistance between anterior median and lateral eyes; CD: copulatory duct; C: conductor; CO: copulatory opening; E: embolus; FD: fertilization duct; MA, median apophysis; MOA, median ocular area; MOA-AW, anterior width of median ocular area; MOA-L, length of median ocular area; MOA-PW, posterior width of median ocular area; PER, posterior eye row; PLE, posterior lateral eye; PME, posterior median eye; PME-I, interdistance between posterior median eyes; PML-I, interdistance between posterior median and lateral eyes; dRTA: dorsal retrolateral tibial apophysis; vRTA, ventral retrolateral tibial apophysis; S, spermatheca; SE, sclerotized edge.…”

“…The partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 ( COI ) and nuclear histone H3 sequences were amplified using primers, LCO-1490 and CR-2 [ 31 , 32 ] and H3F1 and H3R1 [ 33 ]. The PCR protocol for COI followed Lo et al [ 13 ]. For H3 , PCR thermos-profile was set with an initial denaturing at 95°C for 3 min, followed by 25 cycles of denaturing at 95°C for 30 sec, annealing at 56°C for 45 sec, elongation at 72°C for 45 sec, and 10 cycles with annealing at 50°C, and a final extension at 72°C for 7 min.…”

“…sushilae Tikader, 1965 were documented between 1936 and 2016 [ 10 – 12 ]. Recently, a comprehensive review of the genus Oxyopes in Taiwan was conducted by Lo et al [ 13 ], which described two new species, O . hasta and O .…”

High species diversity of Phintella and Phintella‐like spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Vietnam revealed by DNA‐based species delimitation analyses

“…Species delimitation using a combination of molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological examination has been widely applied to various animal taxa (Derkarabetian & Hedin, 2014 ; Diaz et al., 2015 ; Gonzalez et al., 2014 ; Kergoat et al., 2015 ; Montagna et al., 2016 ; Su et al., 2016 ). Arachnologists are vigorously elucidating the species diversity of spiders and updating the conventional classification using molecular data while taking morphological identification into consideration (Ballarin & Eguchi, 2023 ; Li et al., 2022 ; Lo et al., 2021 ; Macharoenboon et al., 2021 ). Such approaches are practical in solving the taxonomic problems and obscurities in the species recognition and classification of Salticidae, which are primarily due to remarkable sexual dimorphism in adult morphologies (Bopearachchi et al., 2022 ; Kanesharatnam & Benjamin, 2021 ; Phung et al., 2016 ).…”