Maratus nemo, a newly discovered peacock spider named after the animated clownfish Nemo, is a simple arachnid.
Only native to the Australian continent, Maratus nemo is no larger than the size of a long grain of rice – one of the most colorful spider species on Earth, it’s a shame.
As the name “Peacock” suggests, they are also known for putting on a show in hopes of finding a partner.
In a new paper Published in the evolutionary system on Thursday, Researcher Joseph Shubert, described the latest member of the peacock spider group.
“It’s a very vibrant orange face with white stripes on it, which looks like a clownfish, so I thought Nemo would be a really appropriate name for it,” said Schubert, an anthropologist and taxonomist for Music Victoria. In an article published on their website.
It was not easy to find a suitable Nemo name. If not for social media, Schubert might not know that the spider existed.
“He had a plain back, but he has an orange-red face that stood out and I had never seen anything like it before, so I knew it had to be a new one,” said Sheryl Holiday, an ecological field officer for Nature said. Glenelg land trust in Victoria, male Maratus nemo.
The female counterpart, as is common in the animal kingdom, is more subdued with muted orange and gray color.
In fact, many within the Maratus genus have emerged only during that past decade, thanks to advanced mobile technologies – high-resolution smart phone cameras, for example – and a burial community of citizen scientists to share unique samples are keen. in the ground.
Ten years ago, the peacock spider had just 15 different identities; Now, there are at least 92.
“I think peacock spiders capture public attention just because they are really, really cute for spiders,” Shubert said. “They’ve got these massive forward-facing eyes and you can relate to them.”
He is eager to discover more spider spiders, which fall under the jumping spider family Salticidae More than 600 generations – Since habitat destruction of the species is caused by severe wildfires and pesticides.
“Roughly only 30% of Australia’s biodiversity has been formally scientifically documented, so that means we can know before we lose the species that they exist as well,” Schubert said.
“It’s really important that citizen scientists get out there and look for things because scientists can’t see themselves everywhere at once,” he said.
Leave a Reply