NEW SPECIES OF CHARON (AMBLYPYGI, CHARONTIDAE) FROM NORTHERN AUSTRALIA AND CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan

Three new Amblypygi species of the genus Charon are described from northern Australia and Christmas Island: Charon oenpelli from humid sandstone caves in the Northern Territory, Charon trebax from an epigean locality in north Queensland, and Charon gervaisi from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The paper reviews the status of earlier names attributed to Charon that are now synonymized with the type species C. grayi, arguing that key taxonomic decisions require reassessment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND TAXONOMIC BACKGROUND

METHODS

Specimen repositories and terminology

Morphological examination of genitalia

GENUS OVERVIEW

Charon Karsch diagnosis

Family-level taxonomic remarks

# NEW SPECIES OF CHARON(AMBLYPYGI,CHARONTIDAE)FROM NORTHERN AUSTRALIA AND CHRISTMAS ISLAND Mark S.Harveyl and Paul L.J.West²:Department of Terrestrial Invertebrates,Western Australian Museum,Francis Street,Perth,Western Australia 6000,Australia ABSTRACT.Three new species of the genus Charon Karsch 1879 are described:Charon oenpelli fromhumid sandstone caves in the Northern Territory,Charon trebax from an epigean locality in north Queens-land,and C.gervaisi from Christmas Island,an Australian territory situated in the Indian Ocean.Thestatus of species formerly attributed to the genus and currently synonymized with the type species C.grayi is discussed. The amblypygid genus Charon was firstrecognized by Karsch(1879)who included asingle species from the Philippines,Phrynusgrayi Gervais 1842,the holotype of which islodged in the Museum of Natural History,London(Butler 1873).The meager descrip-tions presented by Gervais(1842,1844)havesince been supplemented by illustrations ofthe chelicera(Butler 1873),pedipalps(Krae-pelin 1895,1899;Quintero 1986;Weygoldt1996)and legs(Kraepelin 1899).Seven fur-ther species have been added to the genus,buttwo of these have been subsequently trans-ferred to other genera:Charon sarawakensisThorell 1888 was included in the newly erect-ed genus Sarax by Simon(1892),along withthe type species S.brachydactylus Simon1892;and Charon cavernicola Thorell 1889,was designated the type species of Stygophry-nus Kraepelin 1895. terer 1895 was described from Brisbane,Queensland.This species is now considered anomen dubium(Harvey 1985),as the type ispresumed lost,the original description is woe-ful,and no further specimens have been col-lected in Brisbane or any other portion ofsoutheastern Queensland(Monteith 1965).Wefeel that its true identity will never be known. Kraepelin(1895,1899)subsequently syn-onymized Charon hoeveni,C.beccarii,C.subterraneus and C.papuanus under the sin-gle name C.grayi,and presented an illustratedredescription based upon 51 specimens from22 different localities ranging from Malaysiato the Solomon Islands,noting significant dif-ferences which he ascribed to intraspecificvariation.As discussed in detail below,wefeel that Kraepelin's decision was flawed andthat many of these names will be shown to bevalid.Kraepelin's polytypic species conceptwas applied to other amblypygid generawhich subsequent authors have rejected as agross over-simplification of species-level tax-onomy in these groups(Gravely 1915;Mul-linex 1975;Quintero 1981). Karsch(1880)interpreted the description ofPhrynus medius(Herbst 1797)(now Damonmedius)by Hoeven(1842)as representing aseparate species,which he named Charonhoeveni Karsch.Hoeven's description is rela-tively good and appears to represent a validspecies of Charon.Thorell(1888)added threefurther species based on material collectedfrom Ambon,Indonesia(C.beccarii Thorell1888 and C.subterraneus Thorell 1888)andNew Guinea(C.papuanus Thorell 1888),which were supplemented by extensive anddetailed descriptions.Charon annulipes Lau- The recent discovery of specimens of Char-on from sandstone caves in the Northern Ter-ritory(Webber 1992)and from epigean local-ities in northern Queensland and ChristmasIsland are the first definitive records of thegenus from Australia.These three species areformally described here. METHODS The specimens examined during the courseof this study are lodged in the following in-stitutions:Natural History Museum,London(BMNH),Museum of Tropical Queensland, 'To whom all correspondence should be addressed.Present address:Halpern Glick &Maunsell PtyLtd,629 Newcastle St,Leederville,Werstern Aus-tralia 6007,Australia Townsville(MTQ),Museum and Art Galleryof the Northern Territory,Darwin(NTM),Queensland Museum,Brisbane(QM),Swed-ish Museum of Natural History,Stockholm(SMNH)and Western Australian Museum,Perth(WAM). Morphological terminology basically fol-lows Quintero(1981)and Weygoldt(1996),except for the pedipalp segments which fol-lo

FAQs

Which new Charon species are described and where were they found?

Charon oenpelli is from humid sandstone caves in the Northern Territory; Charon trebax from an epigean locality in north Queensland; and C. gervaisi from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

How does the paper treat older names previously placed in Charon?

It discusses the status of species formerly attributed to Charon and currently synonymized with the type species C. grayi, arguing that some earlier decisions were flawed and that multiple names may be valid.

What methods and terminology are used to examine the specimens?

Specimens are reported from multiple museums, morphological terminology follows established references with specified pedipalp and leg segment naming conventions, and female genitalia are examined after clearing in 50% lactic acid before microscopic viewing.

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan