One new genus and nineteen new species of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iran, with other taxonomic considerations

Abstract

<p>One new genus, <em>Zagrotes</em> gen. nov., and 19 new species of ground spiders (Gnaphosidae) are described from Iran: <em>Berinda bifurcata</em> sp. nov. (♂, Bushehr, Khuzestan; southwestern and southern Iran), <em>Berinda hoerwegi</em> sp. nov. (♂♀, Fars, Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan; western and southcentral Iran), <em>Berlandina artaxerxes</em> sp. nov. (♂ Yazd; central Iran), <em>Cryptodrassus iranicus</em> sp. nov. (♂, Kermanshah; western Iran), <em>Drassodes persianus</em> sp. nov. (♀, Kermanshah, Sistan & Baluchistan; western and southeastern Iran), <em>Echemus caspicus</em> sp. nov. (♀, Golestan; northern Iran), <em>Gnaphosa qamsarica</em> sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), <em>Haplodrassus medes</em> sp. nov. (♂, Fars; southcentral Iran), <em>Haplodrassus qashqai</em> sp. nov. (♂♀, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan; southwestern to southern Iran), <em>Marinarozelotes achaemenes</em> sp. nov. (♀, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern Iran), <em>Marjanus isfahanicus</em> sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), <em>Nomisia ameretatae</em> sp. nov. (♂, Tehran; northern Iran), <em>Prodidomus inexpectatus</em> sp. nov. (♂, Hormozgan; southern Iran), <em>Scotophaeus anahita</em> sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), <em>Scotophaeus elburzensis</em> sp. nov. (♀, Tehran, Zanjan; northwestern and northern Iran), <em>Sosticus montanus</em> sp. nov. (♀, Ilam; western Iran), <em>Synaphosus martinezi</em> sp. nov. (♂♀, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern Iran), <em>Zagrotes apophysalis</em> sp. nov. (♂♀, Hormozgan, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern to southern Iran) and <em>Zelotes hyrcanus</em> sp. nov. (♀, Mazandaran; northern Iran). These are the first records of the genera <em>Berinda</em> Roewer, 1928, <em>Echemus</em> Simon, 1878 and <em>Marjanus</em> Chatzaki, 2018 in Iran. Additionally, the previously unknown female of <em>Callipelis deserticola</em> Zamani & Marusik, 2017 is described and illustrated, and <em>Berlandina mesopotamica</em> Al-Khazali, 2020 is recorded in Iran for the first time. Furthermore, <em>Berinda idae</em> Lissner, 2016 syn. nov. (Greece, Cyprus) is synonymized with <em>Berinda infumatus</em> (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) comb. nov. (ex. Heser Tuneva, 2004; Greece, Tanzania, Egypt, Israel, introduced to Japan).</p>