Description of the first continental European species of the huntsman spider Cebrennus (Araneae, Sparassidae), confirming the presence of the genus in the region

Because of its wide variety of climates and habitats, the Iberian Peninsula harbors a rich and diverse arachnological fauna, including numerous endemisms. This is especially true for habitats like arid and semiarid areas. Many of them are threatened despite containing interesting –and sometimes uncharacterised– fauna, such as the huntsman spiders in the genus Cebrennus.

Previously known to occur from North Africa to the Middle East, new sightings of these spiders in Europe have drawn attention. Here, we use morphological and molecular data to describe a new species of Cebrennus from specimens collected in eastern Spain. Additionally, we use genetic data to place the new species, Cebrennus herculis sp. n., in a phylogenetic context and speculate on the biogeographic processes that lead to its presence in Europe.

Genetic distances among individuals of C. herculis sp. n. were low for the three molecular markers analysed (COI, 18S and 28S). Our phylogenetic tree recovered the monophyly of the Iberian Cebrennus, and placed them as sister to the only African representative with genetic data available, Cebrennus rungsi. Furthermore, divergence time analysis revealed a Palaeogene-Neogene split between the Iberian lineage and C. rungsi, compatible with an allopatric speciation following one of the ancient connections between Europe and Africa landmasses.

These findings show that habitats such as arid and semiarid areas still hide new and interesting diversity, underscoring the importance of preserving them.