Corresponding authors: Dinh-Sac Pham (
Academic editor: Dragomir Dimitrov
Zhao Z, Li B, Zhang X, Ballarin F, Pham D-S, Li S (2023)
Upon examination of specimens collected from southern China and northern Vietnam, we suspected that they should belong to a new genus and five undescribed putative species. Therefore, morphological and phylogenetic analyses and comparisons with closely related species were carried out to confirm this. Here we report the results of these analyses, and describe in detail the new species and the genus erected to accommodate them.
All specimens studied in this paper were collected from southern China and northern Vietnam and are deposited in the
The DNA barcodes of the putative new species were obtained to test the species boundaries. A partial fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (
Voucher specimen information.
Species | Voucher code | GenBank accession number | Sequence length | Collection localities |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
621 bp | Guilin, Guangxi, China | ||
|
627 bp | Qingyuan, Guangdong, China | ||
|
1194 bp | Vinh Phuc, Vietnam | ||
|
613 bp | Kaili, Guizhou, China | ||
|
906 bp | Chongzuo, Guangxi, China |
Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using both maximum likelihood (
The five species of the new genus share similar external genital morphology such as a long femur (more than three times longer than patella), a short patella (c. half the length of tibia), a bent tibia, the base of cymbium with one or two hypophyses, a wide embolus having a widest anterior, a large dorsal apophysis of conductor with a jagged margin; an epigyne lacking epigynal teeth, an anterior atrium located over the swell of epigyne and posterior epigynal sclerite between two swells of the epigyne, spermathecae small (shorter than 1/4 the length of copulatory ducts) and located posteriorly, close to each other, which anterior part fist-like.
Our phylogenetic analyses all infer similar tree topologies (Fig.
Phylogenetic trees
Based on these results, taking into account morphological comparisons, phylogenetic analyses, and zoogeographic considerations,
The generic name is derived from the pinyin word “Baiyue”, referring to the Baiyue region where the new genus is distributed. Baiyue, a loose term dating back to the first millennium BC, was used to denote various populations who inhabited southern China and northern Vietnam. The postfix “-rius” refers to the postfix commonly used in the genera of the
The morphological characteristics of
Epigyne and habitus of
Left male palp of
Epigyne and habitus of
Left male palp of
Left male palp of
Medium-sized, total lengths from 8.60 to 11.98. Carapace black turning brown or brown turning yellow-brown, pear-shaped, with longitudinal fovea and darker radial grooves; chelicerae as the same color as the anterior carapace, with three promarginal and two retromarginal teeth; endites and labium dark brown or grey, anteriorly white with black hairs; sternum brown or milk-white, longer than wide. Abdomen yellow-brown, covered with grey hairs, with two pairs of apodemes and four darker chevron-like markings. Spinnerets lighter than sternum in color. Leg formula 4 > 1> 2 > 3. Male palp: femur more than 3 times than patella, patella approx. half of tibia, patellar apophysis thick and enlarged, finger-like, longer than half of tibia and extending over patella, retrolateral tibial apophysis rectangular and lamellar, extending beyond tibia, lateral tibial apophysis of the same shape as patellar apophysis but thinner and shorter, median apophysis spoon-shaped, length of cymbial furrow c. 1/2 length of cymbium, with an enlarged base, the base of cymbium with 1 or 2 hypophyses, embolus widen and slightly elongated, anterior widest, dorsal apophysis of conductor large and in different shapes, in some cases bearing a jagged margin; Female epigyne: epigynal teeth absent, atrium located anteriorly, over the swell of epigyne, internally milk-white, occupying more than or equal to 1/4 of the female epigyne, posterior epigynal sclerite varying in shape and between two swollen parts of epigyne, copulatory ducts beginning at the posterior margin of epigyne, extended anteriorly, copulatory opening located anterolaterally, spermathecae small and located posteriorly, shorter than 1/4 the length of its copulatory ducts, anterior part fist-like, while its base close to each other, fertilization ducts originating from inside of spermathecae.
Guizhou and Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China and Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam (Fig.
The new species is named after the type locality, the Daxi Village; noun in apposition.
Epigyne and habitus of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (Fig.
Localities of
The new species is named after the type locality, the Pindong Village; noun in apposition.
Guangdong Province, China (Fig.
The new species is named after the type locality, the Tam Dao National Park; noun in apposition.
Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam (Fig.
The new species is named after the type locality, the Zhuping Village; noun in apposition.
Guizhou Province, China (Fig.
The new species is named after the type locality, the Zuojiang Overseas Chinese Farm; noun in apposition.
The males of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (Fig.
The manuscript benefited greatly from comments by Dragomir Dimitrov and two anonymous referees. Danni Sherwood and Christopher Glasby checked English. Field work was supported by Huifeng Zhao, Zuwei Zha, and Zhigang Chen. Laboratory assistance was provided by Lili Shao.
No conflict of interest was declared.
No ethical statement was reported.
This study was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC–32170447) and the program of Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2019087).
Conceptualization: ZZ. Data curation: BL, XZ. Funding acquisition: SL, ZZ. Resources: SL, DSP. Software: XZ. Visualization: BL. Writing – original draft: ZZ, BL. Writing – review and editing: ZZ, BL, FB.
Zhe Zhao
Bing Li
Xiaoqing Zhang
Francesco Ballarin
Dinh-Sac Pham
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text or Supplementary Information.
The molecular dataset comprised eight genes of 77 species
GenBank accession numbers