Oonops erinaceus Benoit, 1977, a junior synonym of Triaeris stenaspis Simon, 1892 (Araneae: Oonopidae)

Abstract

recently, the Saint helenian oonopids have been discussed by Sherwood & Fowler (2022) who indicated all but one species was non-endemic. the sole remaining endemic species, Oonops erinaceus Benoit, 1977, was described based on the female and the type material has not been reconsidered in the taxonomic literature since its original description. Sherwood & Fowler (2022) did not make changes to the taxonomy of this species, stating the types had to be examined in order to resolve its systematic placement.In this work, following a visit to the royal Museum for Central Africa (rMCA) by the senior author in early 2023, where the types were examined, we can finally resolve the identity of Oonops erinaceus forty-five years after its original description. Photographs of the habitus and epigyne of the holotype were taken by DS at the rMCA using a leica DMC500 digital camera mounted on a leica Mz16A and stacked using the leica Application Suite (lAS) v. 4.13. Photographs of the rMCA specimens are accessible through the rMCA virtual Collection website (https://virtualcol.africamuseum.be). A non-type from Brazil deposited at the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo (IBSP) was used here for comparison to show a more recently preserved specimen. It is thus now the fact that the Saint helenian oonopidae taxa consist solely of invasive species, this information is important as the synonymy established here will allow for the future removal of O. erinaceus from the International union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list and demonstrates that oonopids should not be considered a priority concern for conservation on the island unless any true endemic (novel) species are discovered in the future.