Courtaraneus

Courtaraneus
Conservation status
Data Deficient (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Courtaraneus Framenau, Vink, McQuillan & Simpson, 2022
Species:	C. orientalis
Binomial name
Courtaraneus orientalis (Urquhart, 1887)
Synonyms
Epeira orientalis Neoscona orientalis

Courtaraneus orientalis is a species of Araneidae that is endemic to New Zealand. It is currently the only species in Courtaraneus, which was described in 2022. ^[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described as Epeira orientalis in 1887 by Arthur Urquhart from female and male specimens collected in Te Karaka. ^[2] It was most recently revised in 2022, in which it was moved to the Courtaraneus genus. It is the only member of the genus. ^[1]

Description

The female is recorded at 11.5 mm in length whereas the male is 7.3 mm. This species has complex colour patterns. ^[1]

Distribution

This species is only known from the North Island of New Zealand. ^[1]

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Data Deficient" with the qualifiers of "Data Poor: Size" and "Data Poor: Trend". ^[3]

References

1. Framenau, Volker W.; Vink, Cor J.; McQuillan, Bryce N.; Simpson, Angela H. (2022-04-03). "A new genus for a large, endemic orb-weaving spider (Araneae, Araneidae) from New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 49 (2): 129–142. doi:10.1080/03014223.2021.1951309. ISSN   0301-4223.
2. Urquhart, A.T. (1887). "On new species of Araneida". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 19: 72–118.
3. Sirvid, P. J.; Vink, C. J.; Fitzgerald, B. M.; Wakelin, M. D.; Rolfe, J.; Michel, P. (2020-01-01). "Conservation status of New Zealand Araneae (spiders), 2020" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 34: 1–37.