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Charles Darwin Foundation Galapagos Species Checklist


Arachnids

Banana Spider (Heteropoda venatoria Linnaeus); introduced species, Santa Cruz.

Banana Spider (Heteropoda venatoria Linnaeus); introduced species, Santa Cruz.

© F. Bungartz, Charles Darwin Foundation
Licensed under Creative Commons +

Arachnids are invertebrates with eight legs, the front pair of legs in some species is sometimes converted to sensory organs.

Almost all arachnids are terrestrial. However, some inhabit freshwater environments and, with the exception of the pelagic zone, marine environments as well.

Spiders are today the best studied group of the Galapagos Arachnida. At the moment, 149 spider species are known, with 121 likely described as new. The remaining 28 species have yet to be identified to the species level and are probably new to science.
Of the 124 identified species, 64 (almost 50%) are known only from the archipelago and hence may be endemic. 35 species have a New World distribution, 16 are cosmopolitan species, 6 pantropical, and 3 are cosmotropical species.


Author: Léon L. Baert.

Other Contributors: Sandra Abedrabbo, Fabián Bersosa, Ruth Boada, Charlotte Causton, Konjev Desender, Germania Estévez, H. Franz, Lilian Guzmán, Frederik Hendrickx, John M. Heraty, J. Hernández Pacheco, Henri W. Herrera, Bernard Landry, María T. Lasso, Maria Piedad Lincango, Yale Lubin, Jean-Pierre Maelfait, Alejandro Mieles, Renato Oquendo, Stewart B. Peck, W. Reeder, Helmut W. Rogg, Lázaro Roque-Álbelo, H. Schatz, I. Schatz, Bradley J. Sinclair, Michael R. Wilson.

Names of taxa included: 392 total (323 accepted, 48 unidentified taxon, 21 doubtful).

Origin of the taxa included: 5 accidental, 24 questionable accidental, 107 endemic, 2 indigenous, 3 questionable endemic.

Arachnida Species Checklist

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Domain Eukaryota

Kingdom Animalia

Division Arthropoda

Class Arachnida

Order Acarina

Order Actinedida

Order Amblypygi

Order Araneae

Order Astigmata

Order Ixodida

Order Oribatida

Order Parasitiformes

Order Pseudoscorpiones

Order Sarcoptiformes

Order Schizomida

Order Scorpiones

Order Solifugae

Class Diplopoda

Order Polydesmida

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You are welcome to download and use this information acknowledging the origin of the data.
This list should be cited as follows:

Baert, L. L. (2011). CDF Checklist of Galapagos Arachnids - FCD Lista de especies de Aracnidos de Galápagos. In: Bungartz, F., Herrera, H., Jaramillo, P., Tirado, N., Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Ruiz, D., Guézou, A. & Ziemmeck, F. (eds.). Charles Darwin Foundation Galapagos Species Checklist - Lista de Especies de Galápagos de la Fundación Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin Foundation / Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos: http://www.darwinfoundation.org/datazone/checklists/terrestrial-invertebrates/arachnida/ Last updated 13 Apr 2011.