Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889

Dupérré, Nadine & Tapia, Elicio, 2021, The endless search for type specimens; illustrations of eleven spider (Araneae Mygalomorphae) species described by Eugène Simon, Zootaxa 4951 (2), pp. 259-282 : 275-279

Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889

Figs 18 A, B , 19 A, B , 20A, B . Map. 1

Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889g: 403 (Description female).

Cyclosternum gaujoni Berland, 1913 b: 83 (Description male).

Type material. ♀. Ceph.th. long. 13,5 mm; lat. 11,2 mm. Abd. long. 17 mm; lat. 10,5 mm. Ecuador mérid.: Loja, Amaluza. Not examined .

Material examined.

1♀. Vial 1. label 1. Museum Paris AR 4640. Cyclosternum gaujoni E.S.

L. Berland det. 1913. Equateur, Casitagua (3600m) G. Rivet 1903.

1♀. Vial 2. Label 1. Museum Paris AR 4641. Cyclosternum gaujoni E.S.

L. Berland det. 1913. Equateur, Riobamba (3600m) Dr. Rivet 1901

Note. In 1889, Simon described C. gaujoni based on a female specimen from Amazula, Loja Province, situated in southern Ecuador (red star, Map. 1 ). Unfortunately, the type specimen was on loan and could not be imaged at this time but two other specimens determined as C. gaujoni by Lucien Berland from Ecuador were located in the collection. In 1913, Berland mentions a list of specimens he identified as Cyclosternum gaujoni including males. Berland does not describe the male formally, no illustrations or characters are mentioned in the text. Berland mentions only the following specimens and localities: Riobamba (1♀), Quito (1♂), El. Vinculo (1♂), Casitagua (1♂ 1♀). In the MNHN collection we were able to locate only one female from Casitagua and one female from Riobamba ( Fig. 18 and Figs 19 , 20 respectively) identified by Berland, we assume that the remaining specimens may also be on loan. Because Berland (1931: 83) presented no text description and no illustration, the male of C. gaujoni should be considered as unknown (contra WSC, 2020). Mapping the distribution of the material identified by Berland from Ecuador, and the type locality, C. gaujoni would be distributed from Northern to Southern Ecuador covering almost completely the Ecuadorian Andes (red dots and red star, Map. 1 ). Knowing the high diversity and presence of shortrange endemic in the Ecuadorian Andes ( Dupérré & Tapia 2020), and the fact that mygalomorphs have low dispersal capabilities ( Janowski-Bell & Horner 1990; Bond et al. 2001; Bond 2004; Hendrixson & Bond 2005, Stockman et al. 2005; Raven 2010; Hedin et al. 2013; Ferretti et al. 2014), it would not be surprising that the specimens identified as C. gaujoni by Berland represent in fact various species. To this day there are no valid illustration of C. gaujoni because the female type was never illustrated. The males from the Northern part of Ecuador were never illustrated, but more importantly they match with the Southern female and long-range distribution is questionable.

The genus Cyclosternum needs a complete and thorough revision, the Ecuadorian species identity and distribution are not well established. For example, Cyclosternum schmardae Ausserer, 1871 was described based on a female specimen from “Cordilleren 4000-5000’ ” ( Ausserer, 1871; page 193). Simon for some reason seemed to think that the type specimen came from Northern Ecuador, Quito and that the species distribution extended until Cuenca, Azuay Province in southern Ecuador (green star, Map 1 .). Simon (1889g; 403) stated: “Décrit de Quito, nous en possedons plusieurs individus de la même localité, .... Los Puentes, Rumipamba aux environ de Quito.... et de Cuenca province de Azuay.” Thereafter, Simon described the male without mentioning the exact locality and only illustrated the tibial mating spur (1892g: 141: fig. 123). Bücherl et al. (1971) illustrated a male from Colombia, clearly stating that they cannot be sure that the species is correct because the male is from Colombia; again they do not mention a precise locality in Colombia. Gerschman & Shiapelli (1973) also presented an illustration of a male and in fact illustrated a male based on a specimen from Paris (NO. 9985) determined by Simon (maybe the male used by Simon for his description and illustration, because of the illustration of the tibial mating spur match), they also illustrated a female MACN (No 6545) without mentioning a country of origin or locality. The illustrations presented by Bücherl et al. (1971) and Gerschman & Shiapelli (1973) differ drastically, the male from Colombia, identified by Bücherl et al. (1971) as C. gaujoni should be considered a doubtful identification, as they clearly stated. In 1996, Pérez-Miles et al. (1996) examined and illustrated a male and female ( Pérez-Miles et al. 1996; 46: fig. 12, 13) of Cyclosternum schmardae from Paris ( MHNP 9885, the same male specimen examined and illustrated by Gerschman & Schiapelli 1973) and stated that the specimens were the types. Those illustrations of C. schmardae do not represent the type specimens of the species, because the species was described by Ausserer. Finally, Gabriel (2016) presented the only valid illustration for the species, the genitalia of type specimen described by Ausserer, “ Cyclosternum schmardae Ausserer, 1871 , NHMV 110 Cordilleren von Ecuador ”. All the male descriptions and illustrations of Cyclosternum schmardae should be considered doubtful.

Finally, in the same paper Simon (1889g) also described Cyclosternum janthinum based on a male from Quito, northern Ecuador. Fortunately, the species was re-illustrated by Pérez-Miles et al. (1996) based on the type deposited in Paris.

Cyclosternum is further confused by three species described with overlapping distribution in Ecuador ( Map 1 ), with the opposite sexes often described by different authors, or not described, from different locality or more than often without clear localities; C. gaujoni (female type described by Simon, male unknown, type locality Loja, south Ecuador), C. schmardae (female type described by Ausserer, male described by Simon without locality, type locality Cordilleren Ecuador) and C. janthinum (male type described by Simon, female unknown, type locality Quito, north Ecuador). To fully resolve the Ecuadorian Cyclosternum puzzle, all type specimens need to be re-illustrated and re-described, fresh specimens of males and females need to be collected at the type localities to establish the correct sexes pairing.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889 female from Casitagua (Berland det. 1913). A. Carapace, dorsal view. B, C. Internal genitalia dorsal view. Scale bars: A: 1.0mm; B: 0.5mm.

FIGURE 19. Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889 female from Riobamba (Berland det. 1913). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, ventral view. Scale bars: 1.0mm.

FIGURE 20. Cyclosternum gaujoni Simon, 1889 female from Riobamba (Berland det. 1913). A, B. Internal genitalia, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.1mm.

MAP. 1. Distribution of Cyclosternum gaujoni (red star, red dots), C. janthium (yellow star) and C. schmardae (green star).