The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus)
Abstract The Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 is an iconic Australian species and considered among the most dangerously venomous spiders for humans. Originally described in 1877 from a single specimen collected in “New Holland”, this spider has a complex taxonomic h...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02332-0 |
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| author | Stephanie F. Loria Svea-Celina Frank Nadine Dupérré Helen M. Smith Braxton Jones Bruno A. Buzatto Danilo Harms |
| author_facet | Stephanie F. Loria Svea-Celina Frank Nadine Dupérré Helen M. Smith Braxton Jones Bruno A. Buzatto Danilo Harms |
| author_sort | Stephanie F. Loria |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 is an iconic Australian species and considered among the most dangerously venomous spiders for humans. Originally described in 1877 from a single specimen collected in “New Holland”, this spider has a complex taxonomic history. The most recent morphological revision of funnel-web spiders (Atracidae) lists this species as both widespread and common in the Sydney Basin bioregion and beyond, roughly 250 km from the Newcastle area south to the Illawarra, and extending inland across the Blue Mountains. Morphological variability and venom diversity in this species appear to be unusually high, raising questions about species concepts and diversity in these spiders. In this study, we use a combination of molecular phylogenetics, divergence time analyses and morphology to establish the Sydney funnel-web spider as a complex of three species. The “real” Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus is relatively widespread in the Sydney metropolitan region. A second species, Atrax montanus (Rainbow, 1914), which is revalidated here, overlaps but mainly occurs further south and west, and a third larger species, Atrax christenseni sp. nov., is found in a small area surrounding Newcastle to the north. The revised taxonomy for funnel-web spiders may have practical implications for antivenom production and biochemical studies on spider venoms. Although no human fatalities have occurred since the development of antivenom in the 1980s, antivenom for Sydney funnel-web spiders might be optimized by considering biological differentiation at the species level. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2730-7182 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | BMC Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-fd16971a5a2a4d74b445a86967071fba2025-01-19T12:04:54ZengBMCBMC Ecology and Evolution2730-71822025-01-0125112710.1186/s12862-024-02332-0The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus)Stephanie F. Loria0Svea-Celina Frank1Nadine Dupérré2Helen M. Smith3Braxton Jones4Bruno A. Buzatto5Danilo Harms6Museum of Nature - Hamburg, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeMuseum of Nature - Hamburg, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeMuseum of Nature - Hamburg, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeAustralian MuseumSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of SydneyCollege of Science and Engineering, Flinders UniversityMuseum of Nature - Hamburg, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeAbstract The Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 is an iconic Australian species and considered among the most dangerously venomous spiders for humans. Originally described in 1877 from a single specimen collected in “New Holland”, this spider has a complex taxonomic history. The most recent morphological revision of funnel-web spiders (Atracidae) lists this species as both widespread and common in the Sydney Basin bioregion and beyond, roughly 250 km from the Newcastle area south to the Illawarra, and extending inland across the Blue Mountains. Morphological variability and venom diversity in this species appear to be unusually high, raising questions about species concepts and diversity in these spiders. In this study, we use a combination of molecular phylogenetics, divergence time analyses and morphology to establish the Sydney funnel-web spider as a complex of three species. The “real” Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus is relatively widespread in the Sydney metropolitan region. A second species, Atrax montanus (Rainbow, 1914), which is revalidated here, overlaps but mainly occurs further south and west, and a third larger species, Atrax christenseni sp. nov., is found in a small area surrounding Newcastle to the north. The revised taxonomy for funnel-web spiders may have practical implications for antivenom production and biochemical studies on spider venoms. Although no human fatalities have occurred since the development of antivenom in the 1980s, antivenom for Sydney funnel-web spiders might be optimized by considering biological differentiation at the species level.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02332-0AntivenomsBiodiversityBiogeographyMygalomorph spidersSystematicsTaxonomy |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie F. Loria Svea-Celina Frank Nadine Dupérré Helen M. Smith Braxton Jones Bruno A. Buzatto Danilo Harms The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) BMC Ecology and Evolution Antivenoms Biodiversity Biogeography Mygalomorph spiders Systematics Taxonomy |
| title | The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) |
| title_full | The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) |
| title_fullStr | The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) |
| title_short | The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) |
| title_sort | world s most venomous spider is a species complex systematics of the sydney funnel web spider atracidae atrax robustus |
| topic | Antivenoms Biodiversity Biogeography Mygalomorph spiders Systematics Taxonomy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02332-0 |
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