Abstract
A new species of epigean ricinuleid of the genus Pseudocellus Platnick, 1980 from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico is described. DNA barcoding utilizing mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) and morphology were used for species delimitation. Molecular analyses and species delimitation included four methods: 1) General Mixed Yule Coalescent model (GMYC), 2) Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), 3) Bayesian Poisson Tree Process (bPTP), and 4) Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning (ASAP). All molecular methods and morphology were consistent in delimiting and recognizing the new species described herein. The average interspecific genetic distance (p-distance) among analyzed species of Pseudocellus was 11.6%. The species is described based on adult males and females: Pseudocellus giribeti sp. nov. This is the seventh species described from Chiapas, which holds the highest number of ricinuleids species for the country. The total number of described species of Pseudocellus from Mexico increases to 21, having the highest species diversity of known ricinuleids worldwide.
Highlights
Ricinulei Thorell, 1876 is the second least diverse order of Arachnida Cuvier, 1812, comprising 101 extant and 22 fossil species
The taxonomic science has at least three distinct very important roles in biology: 1) the assignment of individual organisms into pre-existing species categories, 2) the assignment of species to higher categories, and 3) the designation of new species categories to clasify individual specimens that do not fit into an existing species category (Rannala & Yang 2020)
DeSalle et al (2005) mentioned that there are currently two important tasks to which DNA barcodes markers are being deeply applied in modern systematics and taxonomy, first distinguishing between ‘sibling’ species, and second, the use of molecular data to discover underestimated biodiversity
Summary
Ricinulei Thorell, 1876 is the second least diverse order of Arachnida Cuvier, 1812, comprising 101 extant (including the new species described) and 22 fossil species. The order is composed by the Suborders Palaeoricinulei Selden, 1992 and Neoricinulei Selden, 1992, including extinct and living species, respectively (Selden 1992; Harvey 2003). The species of the genus Pseudocellus are distributed mainly in North and Central America, with some species from Caribbean islands (Harvey 2003; Teruel & Armas 2008; Armas & Agreda 2016; Armas 2017; ValdezMondragón & Francke 2011, 2013; Valdez-Mondragón et al 2018, 2020; Valdez-Mondragón & JuárezSánchez 2021)
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