Biology:Chaetopelma lymberakisi
| Chaetopelma lymberakisi | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Chaetopelma |
| Species: | C. lymberakisi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chaetopelma lymberakisi (Chatzaki & Komnenov, 2019)
| |
Chaetopelma lymberakisi is a species of tarantula commonly known as the Cretan tarantula. Its native range is restricted to the island of Crete. It was first described in 2019 by Maria Chatzaki and Marjan Komnenov and is named in honor of Petros Lymberakis, curator of vertebrates at the Natural History Museum of Crete.[1] It is the first species of Theraphosidae reported in Greece, and the second reported in Europe after Ischnocolus valentinus.[2][3][4] Despite being the only two species of tarantulas in Europe, Chaetopelma lymberakisi and Ischnocolus valentinus have significantly different characteristics that suggests the lack of a close phylogenetic relation between the two species.[5]
This species can be found in coastal, sandy areas on the coast of its native island, although sightings have been reported in rocky crevices in the Lefka Ori mountains.[6] Its coloration varies from a metallic beige as juveniles to a darker beige as they mature.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Maria Chatzaki and Marjan Komnenov in 2019. C. lymberakisi is distinguishable from other species in the genus by its differing genitalic characteristics and larger size.[1] Geographic distribution also distinguishes the Cretan tarantula since other members of the same genus, like C. olivaceum and C. karlamani, are native only to the countries of the Levant, Egypt, and Cyprus and have no reported observations in Greece.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bern, Natural History Museum. "NMBE - World Spider Catalog" (in en). https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/57184/Chaetopelma_lymberakisi.
- ↑ Zonstein, Sergei L. (2018-12-23). "Complementary data on the genus Ischnocolus (Araneae: Theraphosidae)". Israel Journal of Entomology 48 (1): 105–118. doi:10.5281/zenodo.2525281. https://zenodo.org/records/2525281.
- ↑ "The Natural History of Tarantula Spiders". http://www.thebts.co.uk/old_articles/natural.htm.
- ↑ Bern, Natural History Museum. "NMBE - World Spider Catalog" (in en). https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/37613.
- ↑ Korba, Jan; Opatova, Vera; Calatayud-Mascarell, Arnau; Enguídanos, Alba; Bellvert, Adrià; Adrián, Silvia; Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto; Arnedo, Miquel A (2022-10-07). "Systematics and phylogeography of western Mediterranean tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae)" (in en). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (2): 845–884. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac042. ISSN 0024-4082. https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/196/2/845/6619232.
- ↑ CHATZAKI, MARIA; KOMNENOV, MARJAN (2019-01-11). "Description of a new Chaetopelma (Araneae, Theraphosidae) species from Crete and a re-description of Macrothele cretica Kulczyński, 1903 (Araneae, Macrothelidae)". Zootaxa 4544 (2). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4544.2.7. ISSN 1175-5334. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4544.2.7.
Wikidata ☰ Q60571138 entry
 |  |
