Nops (spider)

Nops is a genus of medium-sized South American, Central American, and Caribbean spiders in the family Caponiidae, first described by Alexander Macleay in 1839. It has a great richness on the Caribbean islands, and most mainland species are located in high proportion toward the Caribbean coast. It likely has a neotropical distribution, though most species of South America are known only from the coast of Colombia and Venezuela, including the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Trinidad.

Monophyly

Nops have tarsi, as well as two other leg characters often found in nopine genera: a ventral translucent keel on the anterior metatarsi and a translucent membrane between the anterior metatarsi and tarsi. These spiders can be distinguished from similar genera with these modifications by their elongated unpaired claw on the anterior legs, extending dorsally between the paired claws.

Species

it contains thirty-eight species plus one fossil in Dominican amber:

• Nops agnarssoni <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, Brescovit & Alayón, 2015</small> – Puerto Rico
• Nops alexenriquei <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops amazonas <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops anisitsi <small>Strand, 1909</small> – Paraguay
• Nops bahia <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops bellulus <small>Chamberlin, 1916</small> – Peru
• Nops blandus <small>(Bryant, 1942)</small> – Virgin Is. (US and UK)
• Nops branicki <small>(Taczanowski, 1874)</small> – French Guiana
• Nops campeche <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica
• Nops coccineus <small>Simon, 1892</small> – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (St. Vincent)
• Nops enae <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, 2004</small> – Cuba
• Nops ernestoi <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, 2005</small> – Hispaniola (Dominican Rep.)
• Nops farhati <small>Prosen, 1949</small> – Argentina
• Nops finisfurvus <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, Brescovit & Alayón, 2015</small> – Virgin Is. (UK), Puerto Rico (Culebra Is.)
• Nops flutillus <small>Chickering, 1967</small> – Curaçao
• Nops gertschi <small>Chickering, 1967</small> – Hispaniola (Dominican Rep.)
• Nops glaucus <small>Hasselt, 1887</small> – Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire)
• Nops guanabacoae <small>MacLeay, 1839</small> (type) – Cuba, Bahamas
• Nops hispaniola <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, Brescovit & Alayón, 2015</small> – Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Rep.)
• Nops ipojuca <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops itapetinga <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops jaragua <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Dominican Rep.
• Nops largus <small>Chickering, 1967</small> – Panama
• Nops maculatus <small>Simon, 1893</small> – Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana
• Nops mathani <small>Simon, 1893</small> – Brazil
• Nops meridionalis <small>Keyserling, 1891</small> – Brazil
• Nops minas <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops navassa <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Navassa Is. (Haiti or USA)
• Nops nitidus <small>Simon, 1907</small> – Brazil
• Nops pallidus <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Cuba
• Nops pocone <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Brazil
• Nops quito <small>Dupérré, 2014</small> – Ecuador
• Nops siboney <small>Sánchez-Ruiz, 2004</small> – Cuba
• Nops sublaevis <small>Simon, 1893</small> – Venezuela
• Nops tico <small>Sánchez-Ruiz & Brescovit, 2018</small> – Costa Rica, Panama
• Nops toballus <small>Chickering, 1967</small> – Jamaica
• Nops ursumus <small>Chickering, 1967</small> – Panama
• Nops variabilis <small>Keyserling, 1877</small> – Colombia, Venezuela

Image gallery

References