Four new species of whip-spiders discovered in Indonesia

Antara 16 Sep 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has discovered four new species of whip-spiders or tailless whip-scorpions (Amblypygi) in Sangkulirang caves, East Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan`s Muller mountains.

Photo from LIPI Indonesian Cave Life

The finds were made in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and LIPI`s Bogor Botanical Garden, Cahyo Rahmadi, a zoology researcher of LIPI said here Thursday.

Rahmadi on the occasion was accompanied by Dr. Mark S. Harvey of the Western Australian Museum, and Dr J Kojima of Japan.

The new species are of the Charinidae family, Ambiypygi order, and Arachnida class.
The first find is called Sarax yayukae which is dedicated to Dr Yayuk R Suhardjono for her participation in the expeditions in Muller mountains and Sangkulirang caves.

"Sarax yayukae was found in Tumbang Topus cave, in Murung Raya, Central Kalimantan, Bukit Raya-Bukit Baka national park, West Kalimantan, and Marukan island, across Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia," he said.

The second species is called Sarax Cavemicola, characterized by small eyes, pale brown color and long legs. The animals are found in Ambu Abung cave at Baai, East Kutai, and in several caves in Warang, Kelai, Berau district, East Kalimantan Province.

The third is Sarax Mardua found in Mardua cave, East Kutai, and the fourth is Sarax Sangkuliranggenesis discovered in three different locations, namely in Tabalar, Pengadaan, and Dana Tebo, East Kalimantan Province.

New spider species found in Indonesia's Kalimantan
XinhuaNet 17 Sep 10;

JAKARTA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The discovery of four new species of spider in Kalimantan was announced recently, adding to Indonesia's already rich catalog of fauna, local media reported on Friday.

The findings, by Cahyo Rahmadi, a zoology researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and two colleagues, Mark S. Harvey, from the Western Australian Museum, and Jun-ichi Kojima, from Japan's Ibaraki University, were published in Zootaxa, a taxonomy journal.

The four new species of whip spiders, or tailless whip scorpions, known here as kala cemeti, were found in the Sangkulirang caves in East Kalimantan and around Mount Muller in Central Kalimantan. One of the species was named Sarax yayukae, in honor of Yayuk R. Suhardjono, an Indonesian scientist specializing in cave biology who helped the researchers during their work.

Sarax sangkulirangensis was found to be the most widespread of the new species, existing in three regions -- Talabar, Lake Tebo and Pengadan.

Sarax mardua, which was found in Mardua Cave in Pengadan, has a pale-colored body and eyes that are smaller than those of Sarax sangkulirangensis.

The last of the new species, Sarax cavernicola, got its name because it is found only in caves.

It is considered the most unique of the new species because the spine composition on its pincers are all the same length, while other whip spiders have gradually longer spines.

Cahyo warned on Thursday that three of the species endemic to the limestone regions of Sangkulirang were threatened by human activity, including mining and land redevelopment.

See also Pictures: "Bizarre" New Tailless Whip Scorpions Found on National Geographic.