Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2026 | 18(1): 28239–28241
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10102.18.1.28239-28241
#10102 | Received 19 August 2025 | Final received 08 November 2025 |
Finally accepted 29 December 2025
New distribution record of Sonoita lightfooti G.W. Peckham &
E.G. Peckham, 1903 (Araneae:
Salticidae) from Gujarat, India
Subhash I. Parmar 1 , Pranav J. Pandya 2 & Vivek U. Chauhan 3
1,3 Department of Earth and
Environmental Science, Krantiguru Shyamji
Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat
370001, India.
1,2 Department of Zoology, R.R. Lalan College, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India.
1 parmarsubhash329@gmail.com, 2
pranavpandya1@yahoo.com (corresponding author), 3 vvkchauhan00@gmail.com
Editor: John T.D.
Caleb, Saveetha University, Chennai, India. Date of publication: 26 January 2026 (online &
print)
Citation: Parmar, S.I., P.J. Pandya & V.U. Chauhan
(2026). New distribution record of Sonoita lightfooti G.W. Peckham & E.G. Peckham, 1903 (Araneae: Salticidae) from
Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(1): 28239–28241. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10102.18.1.28239-28241
Copyright: © Parmar et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted
use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: The present work does not received any project funding.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to UGC (University Grants Commission) for providing Junior Research Fellowship (Award no.
231610067756) to SIP for the doctoral research. Also, grateful to the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KSKVK University for providing lab facilities under DST-FIST [Pr. No. SR/FST/ES-I/2018/29(C)].
Abstract: The genus Sonoita
Peckham & Peckham, 1903 is recorded in Gujarat State for the first time
with discovery of the species Sonoita lightfooti
G.W. Peckham & E.G. Peckham, 1903 in the Kachchh region. A detailed
diagnosis is provided to distinguish S. lightfooti
from other congeners, supported by comprehensive illustrations of the male
reproductive organ. Furthermore, an updated distribution map is provided.
Keywords: Araneae fauna, arid habitat,
biodiversity, first record, jumping spider, Kachchh, morphology, range
extension, Spartaeini, taxonomy, western India.
The jumping spider family Salticidae
Blackwall, 1841 is the most diverse family comprising
693 genera throughout the world (WSC 2025). In India, it is represented by 327
species across 112 genera (Caleb & Sankaran 2025). The tribe Spartaeini Wanless, 1984 is
mainly distributed in Africa and Asia, with a few representatives found in
Europe and Australasia, consists of 18 genera worldwide (Maddison 2015). The
members of Spartaeini exhibit distinctive behaviours,
including araneophagy (preying on other spiders),
web-building for prey capture, invading the webs of other spiders, and
displaying aggressive mimicry (Su et al. 2007). The Indian Spartaeini
is represented by 10 genera and 17 known species (Maddison 2015; Caleb &
Sankaran 2025; Caleb et al. 2025). Of these, only three genera are known from
Gujarat State: Brettus Thorell,
Cyrba Simon, and Phaeacius
Simon (Yadav et al. 2017). The genus Sonoita Peckham & Peckham,
1903, belonging to subtribe Holcolaetina Simon, 1901,
strictly known from Africa, was recently recorded in India by Caleb et al. (2025).
During recent surveys in arid habitats of the Kachchh District of Gujarat, we
identified a spider specimen belonging to the genus Sonoita, which has
never been documented in Gujarat so far. Therefore, this paper documents the
discovery of the genus and the species Sonoita lightfooti
G.W. Peckham & E.G. Peckham 1903, marking its first record from
Gujarat, India.
Materials and Methods
Study area: The spider collection was conducted near Sanosara Village (23.113°
N, 69.699° E) of Bhuj
Taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat, India (Image 7). The area falls within the
eastern part of Kachchh, which is relatively more elevated and supports a mix
of rocky terrain, grassland patches, and sparse thorn-scrub vegetation. The
region experiences an arid to semi-arid climate with hot summers, mild winters,
and low, irregular rainfall (Rodgers & Panwar 1988).
Methods: The male specimen was hand-collected and
preserved in 70% ethanol during the day and studied under a Zeiss SteREO Discovery.V20 stereomicroscope and microphotographic
images were taken by a Axiocam 208 color digital
camera attached to the stereomicroscope, enabled with the software Zeiss ZEN
3.3. The left palp was removed, studied and photographed by placing it in a
cavity block filled with 70% ethanol, following Parmar & Prajapati (2023).
The species was identified based on illustrations in Caleb et al. (2025) and Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz
(2008). All measurements are in millimeters (mm). Leg measurements are given in
the following order: total (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). The
examined specimen has been deposited in the reference collection of Zoology
Laboratory at Department of Zoology, R.R. Lalan
College, Bhuj-Kachchh, Gujarat, India.
Family Salticidae Blackwall, 1841
Genus Sonoita G.W. Peckham & E.G.
Peckham, 1903
Type species: Sonoita lightfooti
G.W. Peckham & E.G. Peckham, 1903
Sonoita lightfooti G.W. Peckham & E.G. Peckham, 1903
(Image 1–6)
Sonoita lightfootii Peckham & Peckham, 1903: 184, pl. 19, fig.
4
Sonoita lightfooti Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz,
2008: 48, figs 189–194, 213–214
Sonoita cf. lightfooti
Caleb et al., 2025: 79, figs 1A–C, 2A–H, 3A–B
For a complete list of taxonomic references
refer WSC (2025).
Materials examined: RRLC-ZC/SP-09, 28.v.2025, 1 male, India,
Gujarat, Kachchh, Sanosara (23.113° N, 69.699° E),
212 m, from leaf litter in arid habitat, leg. S. Parmar.
Diagnosis: The species is easily distinguished by
following characters: male pedipalp with long, slender embolus, arising at 6
O’clock position, running prolaterally with tip
concealed behind the conductor (Image 4); bulb with a retrolateral
median apophysis; retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA) broad, flattened and spatula-shaped
(Images 5 & 6) (Caleb et al. 2025).
For the detailed diagnosis of female see, Wanless (1985).
Description: Male (Images 1–6), total length 3.13; carapace
length 1.47, width 1.26; abdomen length 1.67, width 1.05. Eye measurements:
anterior median eye (AME) 0.29, anterior
lateral eye (ALE)
0.16, posterior
median eye (PME)
0.12, posterior
lateral eye (PLE)
0.16. Leg measurements: I 3.11 (0.96, 0.53, 0.73, 0.53, 0.36); II 2.75 (0.86,
0.45, 0.58, 0.50, 0.37); III 2.78 (0.94, 0.38, 0.58, 0.53, 0.35); IV 3.64
(1.07, 0.54, 0.76, 0.86, 0.41). Leg formula: 4132. Carapace
pale brown, clothed with pale hairs. Eyes surrounded with dark patches;
all eyes surrounded by white orbital setae. Sternum yellowish-brown and oval;
labium brownish. Chelicerae light brown. Abdomen pale brown, oval-shaped, with pairs
of lateral white setae on posterior half, chevron-shaped brown markings on
posterior part; ventrally brownish with pale brown spots arranged
longitudinally. Spinnerets yellowish brown in color. Leg I bearing
leaf like setae on ventral part of femora, patellae and tibiae; tibial setae
dense and longer than femoral setae; metatarsi and tarsi of leg I clothed with
white setae (Image 3); legs II-IV pale yellowish with annulations and covered
with white hairs. Pedipalp yellowish-brown; cymbium
and tibia covered with white hairs; cymbium apically
covered with black hairs; bulb with a retrolateral
median apophysis (Image 4); long and slender embolus arising at 6 O’clock
position, running prolaterally with tip concealed
behind conductor (Image 4); tibia with broad, flattened and spatula-shaped RTA
(Images 5 & 6).
Natural history: The present collection of S. lightfooti was made in arid thorn-forest habitats, where
the species was observed occupying leaf litter during daylight hours,
indicating diurnal activity and a preference for ground-associated
microhabitats.
Distribution: Parts of Africa (Cape Colony, Ethiopia,
Ivory Coast) and India (WSC 2025).
Distribution in India: Karnataka (Caleb et al. 2025) and Gujarat (new
record) (Image 7).
For
images - - click here for full PDF
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