''Stanwellia tuna'' is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Taxonomy

This species was described as ''Aparua tuna'' in 1968 by

Ray Forster Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand Arachnology, arachnologist and museum director. He was a Fellow of The Entomological Society of New Zealand. Biography Forster was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1922, a ...

from a single male specimen collected on

Ruapuke Island Ruapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It is located to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island. It was named "Bench Island" upon its discovery by Captain James Cook i ...

. It was transferred into the '' Stanwellia'' genus in 1983. The holotype is stored at

Otago Museum Otago (, ; ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government region. Its po ...

Description

The male is recorded at 9.5mm in length. The carapace is yellow, but darker around the eyes. The legs are orange brown. The abdomen is cream with a chevron pattern dorsally.

Distribution

This species is only known from Ruapuke Island, New Zealand.

Conservation status

Under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

, this species is listed as "Naturally Uncommon" with the qualifiers of "Island Endemic" and "One Location".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4178910 Endemic spiders of New Zealand Spiders described in 1968

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

Ruapuke Island