The Tooth Cave spider, formerly ''Neoleptoneta myopica'', now ''Tayshaneta myopica'', is a long

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

in the family Leptonetidae. It is endemic to limestone caves near

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

in the United States and is considered an endangered species.

Taxonomy

The Tooth Cave spider was first described in 1974 by Willis J. Gertsch, as ''Leptoneta myopica''. At the time it was only known from Tooth Cave in

Travis County, Texas Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...

, 15 miles northwest of Austin. The specific name ''myopica'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''myopia'', "nearsighted". In 1977, Paolo Brignoli transferred the species to the genus '' Neoleptoneta''. A 2011

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

study of ''Neoleptoneta'' and other North American genera in the family Leptonetidae showed that ''Neoleptoneta'' was not monophyletic. Several new genera were erected, including '' Tayshaneta'', to which the Tooth Cave spider was transferred, as ''Tayshaneta myopica''.

Description

''Tayshaneta myopica'' is a small spider, about in total body length. Relative to its body, it has long legs: the first leg, the longest, is about , the third leg, the shortest, about . It is generally whitish in color with some yellower parts. It has six eyes, a group of four at the front and two behind. The eyes were initially described as "obsolescent" and without dark pigment. Later it was discovered that the species occurs in a range of forms, from depigmented, blind individuals to darkly pigmented, large-eyed individuals. Little is known of the life history of any of the species in the family Leptonetidae.

Distribution and habitat

In 2012, ''Tayshaneta myopica'' was known from caves in

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...

and Williamson County to the northwest of

. Six locations were given on a distribution map for the species, although precise details of the locations have not been given, partly for conservation reasons. The caves occur in Edward's Plateau, a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(" karst") region of Central Texas. ''Tayshaneta'' spiders appear to spend most of their lives in their web, except for mature males. However, individuals of ''T. myopica'' from four nearby caves (Tooth Cave, Root Cave, Gallifer Cave and Tight Pit) have been shown to have identical mitochondrial and

nuclear DNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. I ...

haplotypes, suggesting that movement between the sites does take place. Individuals were seen suspended beneath low sheet webs, from which they dropped when disturbed.

Conservation

''Tayshaneta myopica'' was listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1988 because of its very limited distribution in an area outside of Austin, Texas, that is rapidly urbanizing. Conservation efforts have been focused on "karst faunal regions".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2218374 Leptonetidae Spiders of the United States Endemic fauna of Texas Cave spiders Endangered fauna of the United States ESA endangered species Taxa named by Willis J. Gertsch Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References