Desis hartmeyeri Simon, 1909, nomen dubium

Baehr, Barbara C., Raven, Robert & Harms, Danilo, 2017, " High Tide or Low Tide ": Desisbobmarleyi sp. n., a new spider from coral reefs in Australia's Sunshine State and its relative from Samoa (Araneae, Desidae, Desis), Evolutionary Systematics 1 (1), pp. 111-120 : 111

Desis hartmeyeri Simon, 1909, nomen dubium Figure 5A, B

165 Desis hartmeyeri Simon, 1909, Südwest-Australien, Albany, 13-22 August 1905, Syntype ( Rack 1961).

Material examined.

JUVENILE FEMALE SYNTYPE (ZMH-A0000100), from Western Australia, Albany, 35°1'S, 117°53'E. 2 JUVENILE FEMALE SYNTYPES (ZMB), ONE JUVENILE SYNTYPE (WAM)

Remarks.

The description of this species was based on juvenile specimens ( Rack 1961; York Main and Harvey 1992) and the four juveniles are deposited at three museums: one in Hamburg, two in Berlin and one in Perth. Simon (1909) did not designate a holotype and all four specimens are treated here as syntypes. The identification of species in morphologically conserved groups of spiders, such as Desidae , inevitably requires adult specimens and D. hartmeyeri cannot be reliably identified based on these specimens and may be synonymous with some of the other Australian species for which adult specimens are available. No additional information on this species - biological, distributional or taxonomic - is available that could elucidate its status. The collection locality is geographically distinct (all other records are from eastern Australia) but many Desis species have wide ranges and the specific habitat is not strongly distinct from any such habitats in south-eastern Australia. The purpose of a species description is to facilitate species identification but this is not possible from the data available and the specific name adds to taxonomic redundancy in this group of spiders. This species is a nomen dubium.