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The systematics of humble-in-appearance brown spiders (“marronoids”), within a larger group of spiders with a modified retrolateral tibial apophysis (the RTA Clade), has long vexed arachnologists. Although not yet fully settled, recent phylogenomics has allowed the delimitation and phylogenetic relationships of families within marronoids to come into focus. Understanding relationships within these families still awaits more comprehensive generic-level sampling, as the majority of described marronoid genera remain unsampled for phylogenomic data. Here we conduct such an analysis in the family Cybaeidae Banks, 1892. We greatly increase generic-level sampling, assembling ultraconserved element (UCE) data for 18 of 22 described cybaeid genera, including all North American genera, and rigorously test family monophyly using a comprehensive outgroup taxon sample. We also conduct analyses of traditional Sanger loci, allowing curation of some previously published data. Our UCE phylogenomic results support the monophyly of recognized cybaeids, with strongly supported internal relationships, and evidence for five primary molecular subclades. We hypothesize potential morphological synapomorphies for most of these subclades, bringing a robust phylogenomic underpinning to cybaeid classification. A new cybaeid genusSiskiyugen. nov.and speciesSiskiyu armillasp. nov.is discovered and described from far northern California and adjacent southern Oregon and a new species in the elusive genusCybaeozyga,C. furtivasp. nov., is described from far northern California.
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This content will become publicly available on November 28, 2026
Integrative phylogenomic and morphological evidence for Pseudothelogorgiidae fam. nov., with a redescription of Pseudothelogorgia hartogi (Octocorallia, Malacalcyonacea)
The octocoral genusPseudothelogorgiavan Ofwegen, 1994 has presented taxonomic challenges since its original description, with its higher-level placement uncertain and obscured by morphological convergence and lack of molecular data. Here, we integrate detailed morphological examination with phylogenomic analyses of newly collected shallow-water specimens from the Gulf of Oman, alongside a redescription of the type material. Our results recoverPseudothelogorgiaas a deeply divergent lineage within Malacalcyonacea, sister to Plexauridae but unrelated to Keroeididae, the family in which it was formerly placed. Distinct morphological characters, together with strong phylogenomic support, warrant the establishment of Pseudothelogorgiidaefam. nov.The shallow-water occurrences documented here extend the known depth range of the genus from mesophotic to shallow reef habitats, indicating ecological plasticity and highlighting the need for targeted exploration of under-surveyed Indian Ocean coral assemblages.
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- PAR ID:
- 10659472
- Publisher / Repository:
- Pensoft
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ZooKeys
- Volume:
- 1261
- ISSN:
- 1313-2989
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 201 to 221
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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