James R. Reddell

Spiders and Related Groups

The class Arachnida is second only to the Insecta in number of species and diversity. It is also among the more important groups of invertebrates occurring in caves with 9 of the 11 extant orders containing troglobites. The windscorpions (order Solifugae) do not occur in caves except as accidentals. The whipscorpions (order Uropygi) rarely occur as trogloxenes in tropical caves.

Phylogeographic Structure and Color Pattern Variation among Populations of Plethodon albagula on the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas

Abstract Texas populations of slimy salamanders are isolated from other members of the Plethodon glutinosus complex and are currently placed in the species P. albagula with populations from the Ozark Plateau and Ouachita Mountains of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. We sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial protein-coding gene ND4 for 52 P. albagula from 25 localities in Texas and one locality in Missouri. Bayesian MCMC analysis identified five parapatric lineages of Plethodon in Texas. Several morphologically distinctive populations are phylogenetically embedded within the Texas radiation. Additional studies of the interactions among the lineages identified in this study will be necessary to resolve their taxonomic status.

Redescription of Trithyreus grassii (Arachnida: Schizomida: Schizomidae)

Abstract Trithyreus grassii (Thorell) from Burma is redescribed from the single known specimen, the holotype female. The spermathecae are illustrated for the first time. The genus Trithyreus Kraepelin is rediagnosed and is considered a distinct and separate member of the subfamily Schizominae. The spermathecae of the African Megaschizomus mossambicus (Lawrence) are illustrated for the first time and are compared to those of T. grassii.

Discovery of Endangered Mexican Blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, in Texas: Implications for International Groundwater Management and Evolution of the Regional Karst Aquifer Biota

Paper presented July 15, 2017 at the annual Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Austin, Texas, USA (http://conferences.k-state.edu/JMIH-Austin-2017/). The oral presentation of this content mentioned questions about the taxonomy and phylogenetic position of Prietella lundbergi and the only specimens attributed to P. lundbergi apart from the holotype. Since the presentation, we obtained high resolution CT scans of both the holotype and a specimen (TNHC 25767) from Cueva del Nacimiento del Rio Frio, not far north of the type locality. The anatomy revealed in those CT scans suggests that these specimens represent a single species, and that P. lundbergi is only remotely related to Prietella phreatophila, which would be consistent with results of Wilcox, T.P., F.J. Garcia de Leon, Dean A. Hendrickson, and D.M. Hillis. 2004. “Convergence among Cave Catfishes: Long-Branch Attraction and a Bayesian Relative Rates Test.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 1101–13. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.11.006). Thus, further research is in progress by Hendrickson, Lundberg, Luckenbill and Arce that may result in taxonomic revision removing P. lundbergi from Prietella.