Revised taxonomic status of some Mexican and Central American tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae), with transfers from Aphonopelma Pocock, 1901, and a new genus from the Pacific lowlands of Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Abstract

The type material of several Central American tarantulas (Theraphosidae; Theraphosinae) were re-examined within a broader revision involving the defunct genus EurypelmaKoch, 1850 and the poorly defined AphonopelmaPocock, 1901. Here, we create the new monotypic genus Sandinistagen. nov. for a revised taxon Sandinista lanceolatum (Simon, 1891) comb. nov., which is a small tarantula from the Pacific lowland dry forests of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was originally described under Eurypelma and later transferred to Aphonopelma without justification. Based on comparison of type specimens against new material, we emphasise its unusual bulb anatomy to rediagnose it as a new genus with suggested close affinity to AphonopelmaPocock, 1901 (sensu stricto), Sphaerobothria Karsch, 1897, and StichoplastorisRudloff, 1997. We also re-examined the type material of Brachypelma fossorium Valerio, 1980, which is here treated as a junior synonym of S. lanceolatum, syn. nov. We also discuss the Mexican/Central American genus Crassicrus Reichling & West, 1999, into which we transfer another former Eurypelma from the Yucatán. This species was later called Aphonopelma stoicum (Chamberlin, 1925), which we revise as Crassicrus stoicumcomb. nov. and contrast against other described congeners. We also re-evaluate two other specimens later determined as Aphonopelma stoicum by Schmidt & Piepho (1997), including the alleged first female for the species, and consider them as mis-identified congeners. Finally, we provide some discussion on Citharacanthus meermani Reichling & West, 2000 from Belize in the context of Crassicrus, due to similar aspects of their male palpal bulb morphology, highlighting potentially informative aspects.