Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2020 | 12(11): 16597–16606

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6096.12.11.16597-16606

#6096 | Received 04 May 2020 | Final received 03 August 2020 | Finally accepted 07 August 2020

Preliminary checklist of spider fauna (Araneae: Arachnida) of Chandranath Hill, Goa, India

Rupali Pandit ¹ & Mangirish Dharwadkar ²

¹ Department of Zoology, Goa University, Taleigao, Goa 403602, India.

² O/o The Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife & Eco-tourism (South), Margao, Goa 403601, India.

¹ rupalipandit30@gmail.com, ² spiders.goa@gmail.com (corresponding author)

Editor: John Caleb, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. Date of publication: 26 August 2020 (online & print)

Citation: Pandit, R. & M. Dharwadkar (2020). Preliminary checklist of spider fauna (Araneae: Arachnida) of Chandranath Hill, Goa, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(11): 16597–16606. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6096.12.11.16597-16606

Copyright: © Pandit & Dharwadkar 2020. 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: Self-funded.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Abstract: The present investigation is a very first attempt to generate the checklist of spiders from Chandranath Hill, Paroda, Quepem, Goa. A preliminary study was conducted from June 2018 to March 2020 to document the spider diversity from the region. In all, 125 species of spiders belonging to 102 genera from 19 families were identified. The dominant families were Salticidae followed by Araneidae. Guild structure analysis revealed six feeding guilds, namely, orb weavers, foliage runners, ground runners, stalkers, space-web builders and ambushers. This study has not only highlighted the need for conservation of this ecosystem due to the significant species diversity and endemic species but has also filled the lacuna of spider study in Goa to form the foundation for further investigation. Extensive research on the spiders from Chandranath Hill in the future can certainly expect further new discoveries.

Keywords: Chandreshwar, diversity, guild structure, Salticidae, spiders.

Currently, the world list of spiders comprises over 48,000 species belonging to more than 4,000 genera and 128 families (World Spider Catalog 2020), of which, 1,843 species from 472 genera and 60 families are reported from India (Caleb & Sankaran 2020). In Goa, a total of 11 families belonging to 28 genera and 39 species have been documented till date (Bastawade & Borkar 2008).

The present study aims to generate a primary report documenting the spider diversity of Chandranath Hill, thereby highlighting the ecological aspect of this ecosystem.

Materials and Methods

Study area

The Chandranath Hill (15.213⁰N & 74.037⁰E) situated in Paroda, Quepem Taluka of South Goa District stands at a height of approximately 350m. Commonly known as Chandreshwar, this Hill has an area of approximately 2km². This heavily wooded hill commands a panoramic view and its surroundings are enchanting accompanied with thick vegetation with riparian patches. The speciality of this hill is that it is geographically not connected to the Western Ghats yet it is rich in biodiversity. Despite this, no study on spiders has been carried out in this area till date, thus making it an important reason for conducting this exploration which will in-turn generate primary data with the help of this documentation. The study was conducted for a period of 22 months, from June 2018 till March 2020, covering all the seasons.

Climate and vegetation

The study area being close to the Arabian Sea experiences warm and humid climate for most of the year with atmospheric temperatures ranging from 21°to 36°C. The humidity ranges from 71 to 89%.

Teak is a common occurrence which is found in association with Macaranga peltata (Chandada), Mangifera indica (Wild mango), Garcinia (Kokum). Shrubs like Mussaenda frondosa (Dhobi tree), Ixora coccinea (Jungle geranium) are common along with orchids like Eria and climbers like Begonia spp. Seasonal wild balsams (Impatiens sp.), Sida rhombifolia (Arrow Leaf Sida), Sonerila rheedii (Rheed’s Sonerila) and Melastoma malabathricum (Malabar Melastome) are abundant. As one moves to a higher elevation through dense foliage and small streams of cascading water, breath-taking glimpses of the vegetation and the landscape can be witnessed.

Methods

Spiders were visually searched in their microhabitats such as ground, litter, bushes, flowers, leaves, branches, in cracks and crevices. Webs and web lines were traced to locate the spiders. Logs and stones after being upturned to search for spiders were placed back in their original position. Spiders were photographed in their natural habitat itself as soon as they were sighted using Canon EOS 500D DSLR mounted with 18–55 mm lens attached with Raynox DCR-250 magnifying lens.

Random active search was employed to capture spiders. Whenever possible, the spiders were handpicked. The lid-container method was used to trap the spiders. Vegetation beating was done using a wooden stick with an inverted umbrella placed below the vegetation to collect the spiders that were out of reach. Sweep net method was used to collect spiders that dwell in the foliage. The collected specimens were preserved in 70% alcohol. Spiders were examined under a stereo-zoom microscope (Weswox STM-80) and identified with the help of taxonomic keys and illustrations provided by Gajbe (2007, 2008), Gravely (1921a,b, 1924, 1931) Pocock (1900, 1901), Tikader (1960, 1963, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1982a,b), Tikader & Bal (1981), Tikader & Malhotra (1980), Sethi & Tikader (1988), Proszynski (1992) and other relevant literature. Nomenclature and taxonomy is according to the World Spider Catalog (2020). All the specimens were identified up to family and generic level and some to specific level. Spiders that could not be identified are not included in the checklist.

Results and Discussion

The study at Chandranath Hill, Goa from June 2018 to March 2020 resulted in the documentation of 125 species belonging to 102 genera of 19 families (Table 1).

Spiders from family Salticidae proved to be the most dominant constituting 26.40% of the total species (33). Further, 22.40% of the species (28) belonged to Araneidae making it the second dominant family. The families with least number of species (01) were Cheiracanthiidae, Ctenidae, Gnaphosidae, Hersiliidae, Philodromidae and Scytodidae.

Guild structure

Six feeding guilds, namely, orb weavers, foliage runners, ground runners, stalkers, space-web builders, and ambushers were identified based on the foraging behaviour (Uetz et al. 1999).

The most dominant guild was of the stalkers with 40 species followed by orb weavers (39), ambushers (16), space-web builders (14), ground runners (10) and foliage runners (06).

Vegetation architecture plays a major role in the species composition found within a habitat (Greenstone 1984; Scheidler 1990; Sudhikumar et al. 2005) and vegetation which is structurally more complex can sustain higher abundance and diversity of spiders (Hatley & Macmahon 1980; Sudhikumar et al. 2005). Additionally, good vegetation along with floral diversity houses a number of insect species, this in turn results in hosting a high diversity of spiders as insects happen to be their main prey (Chetia & Kalita 2012).

Table 1. Checklist of spider species recorded at Chandranath Hill, Goa.

Family			Species	Guild
Araneidae	1		Anepsion maritatum (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877)^# (Image 2)	Orb Weavers
	2		Arachnura angura Tikader, 1970^#
	3		Araneus mitificus (Simon, 1886)^#
	4		Araneus viridisomus Gravely, 1921^# (Image 3)
	5		Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841)
	6		Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887^#
	7		Argiope pulchella Thorell, 1881
	8		Chorizopes sp^#
	9		Cyclosa bifida (Doleschall, 1859)^#
	10		Cyclosa spirifera (Simon, 1889)^#
	11		Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka, 1869)
	12		Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857)^#(Image 4)
	13		Eriovixia sp. 1^#
	14		Eriovixia sp. 2^#
	15		Gasteracantha geminata (Fabricius, 1798) (Image 5)
	16		Gasteracantha hasselti C.L.Koch, 1837
	17		Gasteracantha kuhli C.L.Koch, 1837^#
	18		Gea spinipes C.L.Koch, 1843^#(Image 6)
	19		Herennia multipuncta (Doleschall, 1859)
	20		Larinia sp.^#
	21		Neoscona bengalensis Tikader & Bal, 1981
	22		Neoscona mukerjei Tikader, 1980
	23		Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841)^#
	24		Nephila kuhli (Doleschall, 1859)^#
	25		Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793)
	26		Parawixia dehaani (Doleschall, 1859) (Image 7)
	27		Poltys sp.^# (Image 8)
	28		Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857)^#
Cheiracanthiidae*	29		Cheiracanthium sp^#	Foliage runners
Corinnidae*	30		Castianeira zetes Simon, 1897^#	Ground runners
	31		Echinax panache Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 (Image 9)^#
Ctenidae	32		Ctenus sp.	Ground runners
Gnaphosidae	33		Zelotes sp.^#	Ground runners
Hersiliidae	34		Hersilia savignyi Lucas, 1836	Ambushers
Lycosidae	35		Hippasa pisaurina Pocock, 1900^#	Ground runners
	36		Hippasa agelenoides (Simon, 1884)
	37		Hippasa greenalliae (Blackwall, 1867)^#
	38		Pardosa sp.
Oxyopidae*	39		Hamadruas sp.^# (Image 10)	Stalkers
	40		Hamataliwa sp.^#
	41		Oxyopes birmanicus Thorell, 1887^#
	42		Oxyopes shweta Tikader, 1970^#
	43		Oxyopes javanus Thorell, 1887^#
	44		Oxyopes sp.^#
	45		Peucetia viridana (Stoliczka, 1869)^#(Image 11)
Philodromidae*	46		Tibellus elongatus Tikader, 1960^# (Image 12)	Ambushers
Pholcidae	47		Artema atlanta Walckenaer, 1837	Space-web builders
	48		Crossopriza lyoni (Blackwall, 1867)^#
	49		Leptopholcus sp.^#
	50		Pholcus sp.
Pisauridae*	51		Dendrolycosa gitae (Tikader, 1970)^#	Ambushers
	52		Hygropoda sp.^# (Image 13)
	53		Nilus sp.^#
	54		Polyboea sp.^# (Image 14)
Salticidae	55		Asemonea tenuipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869)^# (Image 15)	Stalkers
	56		Bianor sp.^#
	57		Brettus cingulatus Thorell, 1895^# (Image 16)
	58		Bristowia sp.^# (Image 17)
	59		Carrhotus viduus (C.L.Koch, 1846)^#
	60		Chrysilla volupe (Karsch, 1879)^#
	61		Cyrba ocellata (Kroneberg, 1875)^#
	62		Epeus indicus Prószyński, 1992^#(Image 18)
	63		Harmochirus brachiatus (Thorell, 1877)^#
	64		Hasarius adansoni (Audouin, 1826)^#
	65		Hyllus semicupreus (Simon, 1885)^#(Image 19)
	66		Icius vikrambatrai Prajapati, Malamel, Sudhikumar & Sebastian, 2018^#(Image 20)
	67		Indopadilla insularis (Malamel, Sankaran & Sebastian, 2015)^#(Image 21)
	68		Langona sp.^#
	69		Marengo sp.^# (Image 22)
	70		Menemerus bivittatus (Dufour, 1831)^#
	71		Menemerus sp.^#
	72		Myrmaplata plataleoides (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869) (Image 23)
	73		Myrmarachne melanocephala MacLeay, 1839^#
	74		Myrmarachne prava (Karsch, 1880)^#
	75		Phaeacius sp.^#
	76		Phanuelus sp.^#
	77		Phintella vittata (C.L.Koch, 1846)^#
	78		Piranthus sp.^#
	79		Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1826)^#
	8		Plexippus petersi (Karsch, 1878)^#
	81		Plexippus sp.^#
	82		Portia albimana (Simon, 1900)^# (Image 24)
	83		Rhene flavicomans Simon, 1902^#
	84		Stenaelurillus sp^# (Image 25)
	85		Telamonia dimidiata (Simon, 1899)^#(Image 26)
	86		Thiania bhamoensis Thorell, 1887^# (Image 27)
	87		Vailimia sp.^#
Scytodidae*	88	Scytodes sp.^#			Foliage runners
Sparassidae*	89	Heteropoda sp.^#			Foliage runners
	90	Olios milleti (Pocock, 1901)^#
	91	Palystes sp.^# (Image 28)
	92	Pandercetes sp.^#
Tetragnathidae	93	Dolichognatha longiceps (Thorell, 1895)^#			Orb Weavers
	94	Guizygiella sp.^#
	95	Leucauge decorata (Blackwall, 1864)^#
	96	Mesida sp.^#
	97	Opadometa fastigata (Simon, 1877)^#(Image 29)
	98	Tetragnatha mandibulata Walckenaer, 1841
	99	Tetragnatha viridorufa Gravely, 1921^#
	100	Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) (Image 30)^#
	101	Tylorida sp.
Theraphosidae	102	Chilobrachys fimbriatus Pocock, 1899			Ground runners
	103	Thrigmopoeus sp.
Theridiidae*	104	Ariamnes sp.^#			Space-web builders
	105	Argyrodes flavescens O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880^#(Image 31)
	106	Chikunia nigra (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880)^# (Image 32)
	107	Chrysso angula (Tikader, 1970)^# (Image 33)
	108	Chrysso urbasae (Tikader, 1970)^# (Image 34)
	109	Coleosoma blandum O.Pickard-Cambridge, 1882^# (Image 35)
	110	Episinus sp.^#
	111	Meotipa sahyadri Kulkarni, Vartak, Deshpande & Halali, 2017^#
	112	Propostira ranii Bhattacharya, 1935^# (Image 36)
	113	Thwaitesia sp.^#
Thomisidae	114	Amyciaea forticeps (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873)^# (Image 37)			Ambushers
	115	Angaeus sp.^# (Image 38)
	116	Camaricus formosus Thorell, 1887
	117	Massuria sp.^# (Image 39)
	118	Oxytate sp.^# (Image 40)
	119	Stiphropus sp.^#
	120	Strigoplus netravati Tikader, 1963 (Image 41)
	121	Synema revolutum Tang & Li, 2010^#
	122	Thomisus sp.^#
	123	Xysticus sp.^#
Uloboridae*	124	Miagrammopes sp.^# (Image 42)			Orb Weavers
	125	Uloborus sp.^# (Image 43)

^*—Families newly recorded in Goa | ^#—Species newly recorded in Goa

For figures & images - - click here

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