Venomics of the six-eyed sand spider, Sicarius rugosus (Araneae: Sicariidae), from the neotropical dry forest of Costa Rica

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  Venomics of the six-eyed sand spider, Sicarius rugosus (Araneae: Sicariidae), from the neotropical dry forest of Costa Rica Abstract Background Sicarius rugosus , the only member of the genus that inhabits Central America, is phylogenetically related to South American  Sicarius  spiders. These originated from a common ancestor with sister African species. Like  Loxosceles ,  Sicarius  exhibits venom phospholipase D activity due to a group of toxins known collectively as SicTox. Methods A gel-assisted, bottom-up, proteomic analysis was performed to characterize the venom composition of  S. rugosus . Hyaluronidase activity was determined using zymography. Results We identified several SicTox sequences, all classified as β-clade paralogs and sharing unique peptides with proteins from  S. patagonicus ,  S. peruensis,  and other species. Enzymes such as metalloproteinases, including putative astacins, carboxypeptidases, and angiotensin-conv...

Four new species of dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Spelaeochthonius) from caves in South Korea revealed by integrative taxonomy

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Four new species of dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Spelaeochthonius) from caves in South Korea revealed by integrative taxonomy

Abstract

Karst research in Korea is still in its infancy and the invertebrate fauna of subterranean systems across the country is poorly known. One of the very diverse lineages in caves across Korea, the pseudoscorpions, are almost undocumented although they represent stunning examples of cave adaptations and troglomorphism. In this study, we provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for the pseudoscorpion Spelaeochthonius Morikawa, 1954 (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) in South Korea; a genus that exclusively occurs in caves across China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. We report seven species of which four are newly described and illustrated based on molecular, distributional and morphological data: Spelaeochthonius dugigulensis sp. nov., S. geumgulensis sp. nov., S. magwihalmigulensis sp. nov. and S. yamigulensis sp. nov. All species are strongly cave-adapted and known from a single cave or karst system only, emphasizing the need to implement conservation strategies for Korean karst systems and their fauna.

Jeong K, Harms D, Yoo J-s, Kim S (2025) Four new species of dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Spelaeochthonius) from caves in South Korea revealed by integrative taxonomy. PLoS One 20(7): e0325375. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325375