A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

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  A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation? Abstract Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus , observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus , was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a ...

Spiders from the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve of Souss-Massa region (Morocco), and descriptions of two new species (Arachnida: Araneae: Gnaphosidae, Salticidae)

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Spiders from the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve of Souss-Massa region (Morocco), and descriptions of two new species (Arachnida: Araneae: Gnaphosidae, Salticidae)

Abstract

This study presents a preliminary faunistic survey of spiders from the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in the Souss-Massa region of Morocco covering 39 species across 17 families collected between January 2022 and June 2025. Two species are new to science: Cesonia africana Lecigne #38; Ouakri sp. nov. and Menemerus currens Lecigne sp. nov. Five other species are new records for Morocco, i.e., Nemesia uncinata Bacelar, 1933, Phlegra yaelae Prószyński,1998, Mogrus sahariensis Berland #38; Millot, 1941, Cebrennus laurae Jäger, 2014 and Polenecia producta (Simon, 1873). Several other species, already known from Morocco, are noteworthy taxa, e.g., Aelurillus hirtipes Denis, 1960, Cebrennus rungsi Jäger, 2000, Eresus elhennawyi Řezáč, Vaněk #38; Střeštík, 2023, Oecobius machadoi Wunderlich, 1995, Olios pictus (Simon, 1885) and Steatoda ingeae Van Keer, 2024. The following new synonym is proposed: Zelotes oryx (Simon, 1880) = Zelotes tragicus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) syn. nov. Our findings expand our knowledge of Moroccan spiders and highlight the biodiversity of historically poorly studied habitats, thus warranting further, targeted research.

Ouakri, N., Lecigne, S., Abou Oualid, J., & Dugon, M. (2026). Spiders from the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve of Souss-Massa region (Morocco), and descriptions of two new species (Arachnida: Araneae: Gnaphosidae, Salticidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 1051(1), 1–50. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1051.3261