5/150: Tiny spiders crawl their way into the record books

Animalia: Arthropoda: Arachnida: Araneae: Anapidae: Comaroma: Comaroma mendocino (Levi, 1957)

Comaroma mendocino is a new representative for Canada of the spider family Anapidae. This small rare spider was first described in 1957 by Herbert Levi from the United States in Casper, Mendocino County, California. It was found in British Columbia, Saturna Island by Claudia and Darren Copley with one female specimen collected in October 2013. Unfortunately, very little is known about the biology of C. medocino. A distinctive feature of this species is the presence of just six eyes. The species is not widespread in the USA and occurs in limited populations. It prefers to dwell in mosses and leaf litter in moist forests of cedar and alder. Like all spiders, this species is essential for the reduction of harmful invertebrates that it eats as prey. It’s possible that C. mendocino has always inhabited the warmer southern parts of British Columbia and more research needs to be done to establish its population range. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID: ARBCM1377-14

nucleotide sequence

AACGTTATATTTTTTATTTGGATCTTGGGCGGCAATAGTTGGGACGGGTATGAGCATGTTAATTCGAATTGAGTTGGGGCAGAGAGGAAGATTATTGGGGGATGATCAATTGTATAATGTGGTTGTTACTGCTCATGCCTTTGTTATGATTTTTTTTATGGTTATACCAATTTTAATTGGGGGGTTTGGGAACTGGTTAGTGCCTTTAATACTAGGGGCTCCTGATATAGCTTTTCCTCGTATAAATAATTTAAGATTTTGACTTCTCCCCCCCTCTTTAGTTATGTTGTTTATCTCTTCTATGGTTGAGATAGGAGTAGGGGCGGGGTGGACTATTTACCCACCTTTGGCGTCTATGGAGGGGCATTCTGGTAGTGCTGTAGATTTTGCTATTTTTTCTTTGCACTTAGCGGGGGCTTCTTCAATTATGGGGGCTATTAATTTTATTACAACTATTTTTAATATGCGTAGTGCAGGAATGAGATTGGAAAAGGTTCCTTTATTTGTGTGGTCCGTTTTGATTACAGCTGTCTTATTGTTATTGTCTTTGCCTGTTTTAGCGGGAGCCATTACAATATTATTGACGGACCGGAATTTTAATACTTCTTTTTTTGACCCTTCAGGGGGAGGGGATCCTATCTTATTTCAGCACTTGTTT

amino acid sequence

TLYFLFGSWAAMVGTGMSMLIRIELGQSGSLLGDDQLYNVVVTAHAFVMIFFMVMPILIGGFGNWLVPLMLGAPDMAFPRMNNLSFWLLPPSLVMLFISSMVEMGVGAGWTIYPPLASMEGHSGSAVDFAIFSLHLAGASSIMGAINFITTIFNMRSAGMSLEKVPLFVWSVLITAVLLLLSLPVLAGAITMLLTDRNFNTSFFDPSGGGDPILFQHLF

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:ACO3175

Title Image: Specimen BIOUG14292-D12 – Saturna Island, British Columbia – 26-Oct-2013
Photo Credit: G. Blagoev, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics