New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Six new species of goblin spiders named after famous goblins and brownies

Date:
June 21, 2018
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
A remarkably high diversity of goblin spiders is reported from the Sri Lankan forests. Nine new species are described in a recent paper, where six are named after goblins and brownies from Enid Blyton's children's books. There are now 45 goblin spider species belonging to 13 genera known to inhabit the island country.
Share:
FULL STORY

Fictional characters originally 'described' by famous English children's writer Enid Blyton have given their names to six new species of minute goblin spiders discovered in the diminishing forests of Sri Lanka.

The goblins Bom, Snooky and Tumpy and the brownies Chippy, Snippy and Tiggy made their way from the pages of: "The Goblins Looking-Glass" (1947), "Billy's Little Boats" (1971) and "The Firework Goblins" (1971) to the scientific literature in a quest to shed light on the remarkable biodiversity of the island country of Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean.

As a result of their own adventure, which included sifting through the leaf litter of the local forests, scientists Prof. Suresh P. Benjamin and Ms. Sasanka Ranasinghe of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka, described a total of nine goblin spider species in six genera as new to science. Two of these genera are reported for the very first time from outside Australia.

Their paper is published in the open access journal Evolutionary Systematics.

With a total of 45 species in 13 genera, the goblin spider fauna in Sri Lanka -- a country taking up merely 65,610 km2 -- is already remarkably abundant. Moreover, apart from their diversity, these spiders amaze with their extreme endemism. While some of the six-eyed goblins can only be found at a few sites, other species can be seen nowhere outside a single forest patch.

"Being short-range endemics with very restricted distributions, these species may prove to be very important when it comes to monitoring the effects of climate change and other threats for the forest habitats in Sri Lanka," explain the researchers.

In European folklore, goblins and brownies are known as closely related small and often mischievous fairy-like creatures, which live in human homes and even do chores while the family is asleep, since they avoid being seen. In exchange, they expect from their 'hosts' to leave food for them.

Similarly, at size of a few millimetres, goblin spiders are extremely tough to notice on the forest floors they call home. Further, taking into consideration the anthropogenic factors affecting their habitat, the arachnids also turn out to be heavily dependent on humans.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. U.G.S.L. Ranasinghe, Suresh P. Benjamin. Taxonomic descriptions of nine new species of the goblin spider genera Cavisternum, Grymeus, Ischnothyreus, Opopaea, Pelicinus and Silhouettella (Araneae, Oonopidae) from Sri Lanka. Evolutionary Systematics, 2018; 2 (1): 65 DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.2.25200

Cite This Page:

Pensoft Publishers. "Six new species of goblin spiders named after famous goblins and brownies." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 June 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621141012.htm>.
Pensoft Publishers. (2018, June 21). Six new species of goblin spiders named after famous goblins and brownies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621141012.htm
Pensoft Publishers. "Six new species of goblin spiders named after famous goblins and brownies." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621141012.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES