Maratus sp. A

Otto, Ju. rgen C. & Hill, David E., 2022, Maratus ammophilus, a new peacock spider in the Fimbriatus group from Western Australia (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini), Peckhamia 273 (1), pp. 1-65 : 59

Maratus sp. A "carmel"

designated as "carmel" by Girard et al. 2021

Like the next species ( Maratus sp. B ) we cannot assign a species group name to this spider as we have no type specimen. An exhaustive search through several museums in Australia has led us to conclude that, if a voucher specimen for Maratus sp . A did exist at one time, it has been liquified, presumably in preparation for DNA sequencing. However, we can figure the male of this species as this had been loaned to the senior author ( JO) by Maddie Girard prior to completion of her study . Maratus sp. A and Maratus sp. B , each known from a single locality ( Figure 2 ), are important as they played an important role in the recent DNA study of the genus Maratus (Table 2; Girard et al. 2021). That study reported the collection of 3 males for Maratus sp. A (designated carmel_SA_12C, carmel_SA_23C and carmel_SA_93C) from Spring Hill Salt Flats , South Australia (32.6382°S, 135.8784°E, 1 DEC 2015).

Diagnosis. Maratus sp. A , like other members of the fimbriatus group, displays with elevated and extended legs I. Only the ventral femoral patellar joints of legs I are yellow-green, and there is a dark stripe along the underside of each leg I. This species can be identified by comparison with our photographs of the male ( Figure 47 ).

Figures

Figure 2. Known distribution of species in the fimbriatus group of the genus Maratus. M. fimbriatus was previously divided into two allopatric species groups, one in the interior of New South Wales (described as M. fimbriatus), and the second in the interior of Queensland (described as M. licunxini). New records of this species that have been posted and documented with reliable photographs in iNaturalist by Stuart Harris, Laurence Sanders and Wayne Winnington-Martin are included here. We have examined a specimen in the Australian Museum from the Pilbara (7) that has been identified as M.?fimbriatus and recorded in the Atlas of Living Australia, and have determined that this represents a new, undescribed species with a much smaller fringe around the opisthosoma. In some cases more than one locality is marked by one circle. The known distribution of M. ammophilus is parapatric to the closely-related M. speculifer, with both species found on sands near the Indian Ocean coast of Western Australia. Other members of the group are known only from isolated sites in the interior of South Australia.

Figure 47 (continued on next page). Adult male Maratus sp. A "carmel". 1, Display with elevated legs I.