20th International Congress of Arachnology

137 / 232

Oral presentation
`Opening Pandora´s Box´—morphological
analyses of the male reproductive system
of goblin spiders (Oonopidae) revealed an
extraordinary complexity in sperm structures
Peter Michalik1, Elisabeth Lipke 2
1Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Loitzer Str. 26,
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Germany;
2Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin der
Luftwaffe, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Goblin spiders (Oonopidae) are among the most
species-rich spider families. Despite this diversity, goblin
spiders are understudied in many aspects and their
phylogenetic relationships are not well resolved. As
previously shown for numerous other spider groups, the
male and female reproductive system bears many char-
acters of phylogenetic relevance. Moreover, the diversity
of sperm structures within spiders is astonishingly
diverse and often taxon specific. In the present study,
we analyzed the primary male reproductive system and
spermatozoa of goblin spiders for the first time (Lipke
and Michalik, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 396:1–72). We
investigated 18 species of 13 genera representing the
subfamilies Orchestininae and Oonopinae by means of
light and transmission electron microscopy. We scored
44 characters from the gross morphology of the repro-
ductive system as well as spermatozoa including four
new characters for the male spider reproductive system.
All investigated species transfer sperm as synspermia,
a transfer mode that corroborates with the recently
proposed “Synspermiata” clade unifying all ecribellate
Haplogynae. Furthermore, goblin spiders show by far
the highest diversity of sperm structures in spiders. In
total, we recovered 30 unambiguous synapomorphies
for different oonopid taxa. In a comparison of all other
spider taxa studied to date, we identified the longest
sperm (Neoxyphinus termitophilus) and longest
sperm conjugates (Orchestina). Moreover and most
remarkable is the presence of aflagellate sperm in
Opopaea apicalis, which is the first report of the loss of
a sperm flagellum in tetrapulmonate arachnids. These
findings are of high interest not only because of their
phylogenetic implications, but also with regard to their
contribution to our understanding of postcopulatory
sexual selection in spiders.
Keywords: synspermiata, ultrastructure, reproduction,
spermatozoa, genitalia, systematics
Poster presentation
The endemic New Zealand spider family
Huttoniidae (Araneae)
Peter Michalik1 , Tim M. Dederichs1, Raymond R.
Forster#, Cor J. Vink2
1Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Ernst-Moritz-
Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Germany; 2Canterbury
Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand
#Deceased
The family Huttoniidae is known only from New
Zealand and the only described species is Huttonia
palpimanoides O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879. The
description of this species was based on a single female
specimen collected in the Dunedin area of the South
Island. Huttoniids are a member of the superfam-
ily Palpimanoidea, which also includes the families
Stenochilidae, Palpimanidae, Mecysmaucheniidae and
Archaeidae. The present study is based on material
collected over almost five decades by comprehensive
collecting programs. Our examination of the material
revealed considerable diversity, which is distributed
throughout mainland New Zealand, but appears to
be absent in the outlying Chatham and Subantarctic
Islands. Moreover, the disproportionate number of
immature to mature spiders in Berlese samples suggest
that adult huttoniids live above the forest floor. This is
supported by collecting programs covering a full range
of habitats that clearly indicate that most adult hutto-
niids were found in dried fronds of tree ferns. There are
13 new huttonid species, the majority in the genus Hut-
tonia and possibly two new genera. Most of the species
appear to be locally endemic.
Keywords: taxonomy, systematics, Palpimanoidea,
endemism
136 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 3, July 2, 2016
Cushing