Systematic revision of the South American "Nuncia" (Opiliones, Laniatores, Triaenonychidae)

The genus Nuncia has long been the most speciose within the Opiliones family Triaenonychidae, comprising 63 species and subspecies distributed across New Zealand and South America. Recent molecular studies utilizing Sanger sequencing and ultraconserved elements (UCEs) have indicated that this genus is not monophyletic, and true Nuncia are actually confined to New Zealand. Here, the morphology of all South American triaenonychids is re-examined and DNA sequence data compiled from three markers (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) for a large number of triaenonychid species, including specimens from all areas with species currently and formerly classified in Nuncia to reassess their phylogenetic position. Based on our findings we 1) revalidate the genus Chilenuncia (Muñoz-Cuevas, 1971) nom. rest.; 2) describe five new genera: Fresiax gen. nov., Mistralia gen. nov., Laftrachia gen. nov., Lautaria gen. nov., Nerudiella gen. nov.; 3) redescribe five species: Fresiaxspinulosa comb. nov., Mistraliaverrucosa comb. nov., Chilenunciachilensis comb. nov., Chilenunciarostrata comb. nov., Nerudiellaamericana comb. nov.; and 4) describe 22 new species of South American triaenonychids: Fresiaxconica sp. nov., Fresiaxfray sp. nov., Fresiaxmauryi sp. nov., Fresiaxpichicuy sp. nov., Mistraliaramirezi sp. nov., Laftrachiarobin sp. nov., Lautariaceachei sp. nov., Nerudiellacachai sp. nov., Nerudiellacaramavida sp. nov., Nerudiellacautin sp. nov., Nerudiellachoapa sp. nov., Nerudiellacuri sp. nov., Nerudiellagoroi sp. nov., Nerudiellajaimei sp. nov., Nerudiellamalleco sp. nov., Nerudiellapenco sp. nov., Nerudiellapichi sp. nov., Nerudiellaportai sp. nov., Nerudiellaquenes sp. nov., Nerudiellavilches sp. nov., Nerudiellawekufe sp. nov., and Nerudiellazapallar sp. nov. Furthermore, we provide detailed illustrations of all the South American species belonging to these lineages formerly classified in Nuncia.

The newest and the oldest species in the same vial: Description of a new species of Ceratomontia Roewer, 1915 and redescription of Ceratomontia capensis Roewer, 1915 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Triaenonychidae)

Ceratomontia starengai sp. nov. is described from South Africa, based on one specimen found in the type series of Ceratomontia capensis Roewer, 1915, which is redescribed in this work. The presence of this new species represents sympatry of Ceratomontia species, something not uncommon for species of the family Triaenonychidae. Images of the genital morphology, which are crucial to the diagnosis of the group, are included in the descriptions.

Too early for the ferry: The biogeographic history of the Assamiidae of southeast Asia (Chelicerata: Opiliones, Laniatores)

Opiliones (harvestmen) have come to be regarded as an abundant source of model groups for study of historical biogeography, due to their ancient age, poor dispersal capability, and high fidelity to biogeographic terranes. One of the least understood harvestman groups is the Paleotropical Assamiidae, one of the more diverse families of Opiliones. Due to a labyrinthine taxonomy, poorly established generic and subfamilial boundaries, and the lack of taxonomic keys for the group, few efforts have been undertaken to decipher relationships within this arachnid lineage. Neither the monophyly of the family, nor its exact placement in the harvestman phylogeny, have been established. Here, we assessed the internal phylogeny of Assamiidae using a ten-locus Sanger dataset, sampling key lineages putatively ascribed to this family for five of the ten markers. Our analyses recovered Assamiidae as a monophyletic group, in a clade with the primarily Afrotropical Pyramidopidae and the southeast Asian Beloniscidae. Internal relationships of assamiids disfavored the systematic validity of subfamilies, with biogeography reflecting much better phylogenetic structure than the existing higher-level taxonomy. To assess whether the Asian assamiids came to occupy Indo-Pacific terranes via rafting on the Indian subcontinent, we performed divergence dating to infer the age of the family. Our results show that Indo-Pacific clades are ancient, originating well before the Cretaceous and therefore predate a vicariant mechanism commonly encountered for Paleotropical taxa.