Overview of the Anyphaenids ( Araneae , Anyphaeninae , Anyphaenidae ) spider fauna from the Chocó forest of Ecuador , with the description of thirteen new species

Abstract. The spider diversity of the family Anyphaenidae in premontane, low evergreen montane and cloud forest from the Chocó region of Ecuador is examined. A total of 287 adult specimens were collected and 19 morphospecies were identified based on male specimens. Thirteen new species are described and one new genus is proposed. Five new species are described in the genus Katissa Brescovit, 1997: Katissa kurusiki sp. nov., K. puyu sp. nov., K. tamya sp. nov., K. yaya sp. nov. and K. guyasamini sp. nov. The new genus Shuyushka gen. nov. is proposed and includes three species: Shuyushka achachay gen. et sp. nov., S. moscai gen. et sp. nov. and S. wachi gen. et sp. nov. Finally, five species are described in the genus Patrera Simon, 1903: P. hatunkiru sp. nov., P. philipi sp. nov., P. suni sp. nov., P. shida sp. nov. and P. witsu sp. nov. New records are provided for Patrera fulvastra Simon, 1903 and Josa nigrifrons Simon, 1897.


Introduction
The Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena corridor runs from Panama to the northwestern corner of South America.Considered a biodiversity hotspot, from this unique region a high number of species has been recorded: 11 000 plant species, 895 birds, 285 mammals, 327 reptiles, 203 amphibians and 251 freshwater fishes, of which 3114 species are endemic to the region (Conservation International 2013).In 2014, the project 'Spider diversity in the Chocó forests of Ecuador' was launched as part of the National Geographic Society/Waitt grant program.The project set out to study the spider biodiversity of the premontane, low evergreen and cloud forest of this unique corridor.The first results were presented in 2015 with the publication and description of 13 new species in the new genus Chococtenus Dupérré, 2015 from the family Ctenidae (Dupérré 2015a), the discovery of the first Telemidae from South America (Dupérré & Tapia 2015) and the first record and a new species of Paratropididae (Dupérré 2015b).Herein, we present further results of this study pertaining to the Anyphaenidae family.
The family Anyphaneidae includes 542 species in 56 genera (World Spider Catalog 2016).They occur worldwide but are very diverse in tropical regions (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006), especially in South America where 29 endemic genera belonging to the subfamily Amaurobioidinae are found (Ramírez 2003).In Ecuador, 24 species are known to occur, mostly described by Berland (1913) and mainly from the subfamily Anyphaeninae (Dupérré 2014).Anyphaenids are small to medium size spiders (2.5-17.0mm), ecribellate, entelegyne and with two superior claws.They are easily distinguished by their spatulate claw tuft setae and the position of the tracheal spiracle, which is situated one third of the abdomen length from the spinnerets (Richman & Ubick 2005;Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006;Ramírez 2014).Anyphaenids are active at night, occurring in foliage of trees and leaf litter, and due to their rapid movements and their pale legs, they are known as ghost-spiders (Brescovit 1997;Labarque et al. 2015).Some species are also known to live in the intertidal zone (Ramírez 2003;Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006), but most species are arboreal and can be found in a wide range of habitats, such as forests, deserts, semi-arid crops (Brescovit 1997) and grasslands, where they can be quite abundant (Labarque et al. 2015).Ramírez (1995a) presented a phylogenetic analysis of the family Anyphaenidae and proposed three subfamilies: Malenellinae (1 genus) found only in Chile, Anyphaeninae (33 genera) mostly from the New World with representatives in the Palearctic, the Oriental regions and Polynesia, and, finally, Amaurobiodinae (22 genera) found mainly in South America, except for the genus Josa Keyserling, 1891, found in Central America, the genus Arachosia O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1882 from Central and North America, and the genus Amaurobioides O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1883, which is found in Chile, South Africa, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand (Ramírez 2003).More recently, Ramírez (2014) in his morpholgical and phylogentic analysis of dionychan spiders, reinstated the subfamilies Anyphaeninae and Amaurobiodinae, but the subfamily Malenellinae was not maintained.To this day, no phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Anyphaeninae has been presented.However, Ramírez (2003) showed that the subfamily Anyphaeninae is paraphyletic and that the subfamily Amaurobiodinae is monophyletic.Labarque et al. (2015) corroborated these findings and showed for the first time that the genus Josa is the basal group, sister to all the other members of the subfamily Amaurobiodinae.
The aim of this work is to propose a new genus, describe 13 new species of Anyphaenidae and present ecological data for all Anyphaenid spiders found in premontane, low evergreen montane and cloud forests of the Chocó region of Ecuador.
forest.The reserve is characterised by its irregular terrain with steep slopes, deep valleys and small streams.The annual humidity ranges between 80-90%, with 2000-2500 mm of precipitation annually, and an average temperature of 16°C (Jarrín 2001).Otonga is dominated by three types of habitats: premontane evergreen forest (bosque siempreverde piemontano) with an altitudinal range from 800 m to 1300 m (Cerón et al. 1999), low evergreen montane forest (bosque siempreverde montano bajo) between 1300 m and 1800 m and cloud forest (bosque de neblina montano) between 1800 m and 3000 m (Valencia et al. 1999).
Four collecting trips were made; one week sampling in the rainy season (24-30 May 2014), one week sampling at the end of the rainy season (1-7 Jul.2014), one week sampling at the middle of the dry season (7-13 Sep. 2014), and one week sampling at the beginning of the rainy season (3-8 Nov. 2014).Six collecting techniques were used; pitfall traps, beating, sweeping, microhabitat collecting and litter sifting with Berlese funnel extraction and hand collecting, day and night.Five pitfall lines of ten pitfalls each, were installed on the south side of the mountain: pitfall line 1 (00.4195°S, 78.9961° W) at 1717 m, pitfall line 2 (00.4143° S, 79.0004° W) at 1888 m, pitfall line 3 (00.4199°S, 79.0062° W) at 1997 m, pitfall line 4 (00.4156°S, 79.0043° W) at 2105 m and pitfall line 5 (00.4226° S, 79.511° W) at 2225 m.Five pitfalls lines of ten pitfalls were also installed on the north side of the mountain, Las Damas (00.3951° S, 78.9810° W) at 1209 m.The Las Damas site was selected because it represents the lowest point of the reserve with remaining primary forest.The pitfalls ran from May until September 2014, and were emptied every 10-12 days.
All specimens from this study were collected at the same locality.Matching males and females can be tricky, consequently males and females were matched on the base of several criteria: 1) whether they were collected together, 2) on size and colour, and 3) on abundance.When in doubt, females were not matched, for that reason some species are only described from males until more material becomes available.
Of the 19 morphospecies collected, four morphospecies are based on male specimens (Unknown 1 (also ♀), 2, 3, 9) and remain unidentified to genus or species level.Five more possible morphospecies were also collected but only represented by female specimens (Unknown 4,5,6,7,8).In order not to inflate the morphospecies count they are not included in the total number of morphospecies collected, but their ecological and collection data are provided.
Material examined is deposited in the following institutions: AMNH = American Museum of Natural History New York, NY, U.S.A. DTC = Dupérré-Tapia Collection, Quito, Ecuador QCAZ = Museum of Invertebrates, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador Specimens were examined in 70% ethanol under a SMZ-U Nikon dissection microscope.A Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera attached to the microscope was used to photograph all the structures to be illustrated.The digital photos were used to trace proportions and the illustrations were detailed and shaded by referring back to the structure under the microscope.Female genitalia were excised using a sharp entomological needle placed on a slide in lactic acid and observed under an AmScope XSG Series T-500 compound microscope.All measurements are in millimetres and were made taken using a micrometric ruler fitted on the eyepiece of the microscope.Morphological nomenclature follows Brescovit (1997).

Results
A total of 287 adult specimens (142 males, 145 females) of Anyphaenidae were collected.

Diagnosis
Tracheal spiracle situated approximately in midway of abdomen or between the midway of abdomen and the epigastric groove; cheliceral retromargin with more than four denticles (Brescovit 1997: 7).

Description
For a complete description, see Brescovit (1997: 53), only new information is presented here.
Legs.Leg formula 1423 in males and 4123 in females (except for females of K. kurusiki sp.nov.and K. guyasamini sp.nov.).

Notes
The length of the embolus appears to be correlated to the length of the copulatory ducts of the female internal genitalia.For example, the longest embolus (Figs 2,17) found in Katissa kurusiki sp.nov.and Katissa tamya sp.nov., correspond to the females with the longest copulatory ducts (Figs 6,21).On the other end, the male of Katissa yaya sp.nov.has a short embolus (Fig. 12) matching the females with short copulatory ducts (Fig. 16).The epigynum in Katissa species are slightly sclerotized and bear curved lateral epigynal grooves that could serve to direct the embolus in the copulatory openings situated under the epigynal flap, which is somewhat more sclerotized.The internal genitalia of Katissa kurusiki sp.nov., K. tamya sp.nov.and K. guayasamini sp.nov.all have seminal receptacles situated at the beginning of the copulatory ducts (Figs 6,21,26).

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all other congeneric species by the elongated, sinuous projection of the abdomen, resembling a caterpillar (Fig. 1).Females are distinguished by their wing-shaped epigynal flap (Fig. 5) and convoluted copulatory ducts, with three loops (Fig. 6).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language, the combination of the words 'kuru' and 'siki' meaning worm-bottom.

European Journal of Taxonomy
abdoMen.Elongated oval with whitish caterpillar-like extension of various size (Fig. 1).Dorsally light brown, with dark brown pattern composed of spots and two large pyramidal medial dark marks (Fig. 1).Covered with long, dark erected setae and short, none erected light coloured setae.Ventrally, light brown.Spinnerets positioned at the junction between the oval abdomen and the caterpillar-like extension.
abdoMen.Oval.Dorsally brownish, with pattern composed of dark pyramidal marks medially and chevrons basally (Fig. 4).Covered with long, dark erected setae and short, none erected light coloured setae.

Natural history
Except for one female, all specimens were collected by sifting moss hanging from trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males can be distinguished from all congeneric species by the apically serrated plate-like palpal retrolateral tibial apophysis (Fig. 8); from K. simplicipalpis (Simon, 1897), by the white nub at the end of the abdomen, absent in the latter species (Brescovit 1997: fig. 99).Females are distinguished by the small V-shaped epigynal flap (Fig. 10), from K. simplicipalpis (Simon, 1897) by the elongated copulatory ducts, short and coiled in the latter species (Brescovit 1997: fig. 103).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'fog'.
abdoMen.Oval.Brown, with withish medio-apical mark, and dark brown pattern composed of medial dark marks.Covered with long, dark erected setae and short, none erected light coloured setae.

Natural history
All specimens were collected in the moss hanging from trees.

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning rain.cheLicerae.Brown, excavated with antero-prolateral keel; promargin with 3, retromargin with 5 teeth.

Natural history
Except for three females collected by beating, all specimens were collected in the moss hanging from trees.

Diagnosis
Males can be distinguished from all species by their elongated, serrated palpal retrolateral tibial apophysis with small dorsal spur, from K. guayasamini sp.nov.by the closely positioned dorsal spur (Fig. 18), remotely positioned in the latter species (Fig. 23).Females are distinguished by their knob-like epigynal flap (Fig. 20).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'large'.MeasureMents.Total length: 7.1; carapace length: 3.2; carapace width: 2.5.cephaLothorax.Pars cephalica light brown, with black mark near cephalic groove; pars thoracica yellowish, with a few dark marks dorsally along radiating lines; margin dark brown.Sternum light brown with two lateral dark brown bands, endites and labium dark brown.
DUPÉRRÉ N. & TAPIA E., New Anyphaenids (Araneae, Anyphaenidae) from Ecuador abdoMen.Oval.Light gray with whitish pale median band with small branches laterally, with a few dark spots along midline and laterally (Fig. 19).

Natural history
Specimens where collected in moss from trees or beating trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males can be distinguished from all congeneric species by their elongated, serrated palpal retrolateral tibial apophysis with small dorsal spur (Fig. 23) and from Katissa yaya sp.nov.by features mentioned in the description.Females are distinguished by their elongated V-shaped epigynal flap (Fig. 25).

Etymology
The specific name is in honor of the Ecuadorian painter, Oswold Guayasamin, in recognition of his unique art work, portraying the struggle of the Mestizo and indigenous people of Ecuador.
abdoMen.Oval.Colouration as in male.

Natural history
Most specimens were collected by beating trees and from moss on trees, but one was collected while sifting litter.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Shuyushka gen.nov.can be distinguished from other Anyphaeninae genera by the presence of the following characters: tracheal spiracle in the middle of abdomen; lateral margin of endites concave; posterior eye row procurved; prolateral apex of tibia I with patch of short setae (Fig. 40).From Wulfilopsis Soares & Camargo, 1955 by the presence of ventral patellar apophysis (Figs 29,34,39) absent in the latter genera; from Thaloe Brescovit, 1997 by the absence of medial projections on the lateral margin of the endites, present in the latter (Brescovit 1997: fig. 41).Females of Shuyushka gen.nov.are also distinguished by the absence of lateral epigynal grooves (Figs 30,35).

Etymology
The generic name is taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'spotted' for the dark marks on the abdomen.The gender is feminine.

Distribution
Ecuador.
eyes.Eight eyes; AME smallest, less than half the diameter of the others; LE-PME about the same size; AME touching; AME-ALE almost touching, LE contiguous, LE-PME separated by half their width; PME separated by half their width; posterior eye row slightly procurved in dorsal view (Fig. 27).
abdoMen.Elongated cylindrical, covered with a mix of pale and dark short, none-erected setae and a few dark erected setae; tracheal spiracle recurved, situated in the middle between spinnerets and epigastric groove.
Legs.As in male; somewhat shorter in relation to length of the body.Tarsi and metatarsi I-II with dense, entire scopula, metatarsi III-IV without scopula, tarsi III-IV with dense, entire scopula; metatarsi III-IV with apical brush; prolateral apex of tibia I with patch of short setae.Legs formula 4123.Palpal claws with 4 teeth.
abdoMen.Oval; covered with a mix of pale and dark short, none-erected setae and a few dark erected setae; tracheal spiracle recurved, situated in the middle between spinnerets and epigastric groove.

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'arrow', for the arrow-shape marks found on the abdomen.

Natural history
Specimens were mostly collected in moss hanging from trees and by beating.

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all congeneric species by their large patellar apophysis (Fig. 34), from S. wachi gen.et sp.nov.by the sinuous end of the male embolus (Fig. 33), strongly curved in the latter species.Females are distinguished by their V-shaped epigynal flap and hook-shaped copulatory openings (Fig. 35).

Natural history
Most specimens were collected by beating trees or from moss hanging from trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are distinguished from all congeneric species by their distinctly reduced patellar apophysis (Fig. 39).

Natural history
Specimens were collected by beating trees and in moss hanging from trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are distinguished from all other species of the genus by their massive ventral tegular projection and thin, elongated embolus (Fig. 41).Females are distinguished by the lateral epigynal grooves curving inwardly (Fig. 44).

Etymology
The specific name is in honour of Philip Bertkau.cheLicerae.Orange-brown.Posterior side with large tooth, narrow and triangular; promargin with 3, retromargin with 6 teeth (Fig. 43).

Natural history
Most specimens were collected by beating trees and during night collecting, a few were collected in moss hanging from trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all other congeneric species by the projecting basal part of the tegulum, and the presence of a bipartite ventral tegular projection (Fig. 46).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'look-like', for it resemblance to the type species.

Female
Unknown.

Natural history
Specimens were either hand collected or collected by beating trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all congeneric species by their basally wide and twisted embolus and their large ventral tegular projection (Fig. 49).Females are distinguished by the shallow, pocket-like lateral epigynal grooves (Fig. 52).

Natural history
All specimens were collected at night or by beating trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all species in the genus by their short and strongly curved median apophysis (Fig. 55).Females are diagnosed by the lateral epigynal grooves producing very deep cavities (Fig. 58).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition is taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'large teeth'.

Natural history
Most specimens were collected at night or by beating trees.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from all species in the genus by their strongly curved ventral projection of subtegulum and embolus (Fig. 60).Females are distinguished by their blunt knob-like projection and curved lateral epigynal grooves (Fig. 63).

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the Kichwa language meaning 'elongated' in reference to the elongated male palpal tibia.cheLicerae.Orange-brown.Large projection antero-apically; posterior side with one large tooth, rounded and wide; promargin with 4, retromargin with 5 teeth (Fig. 62).

Natural history
Specimens were collected in moss, by beating or hand collecting.

Distribution
Ecuador: known only from the type locality.

Natural history
Specimens were collected from moss in trees and by beating.

Natural history
The only specimen known was collected at night.

Natural history
The only specimen known was collected sifting moss.

Natural history
The only specimen known was collected beating trees.

Natural history
The only specimen known was collected at night.

Natural history
The only specimen known was collected at night.

Natural history
Specimens were collected by sweeping grass or beating trees.

Discussion
The new genus proposed, Shuyushka gen.nov., somatically resembles Wulfilopsis and Katissa, based on the following characters; tracheal spiracle in the middle of the abdomen, lateral margin of the endites concave and posterior eye row procurved.Members of this new genus, however, are distinguished from Wulfilopsis by their sub-rectangular carapace (Fig. 27), oval in Wulfilopsis (Brescovit 1997: fig. 33) and differentiated from Katissa by their very distinctive male and female genitalic configuration (see diagnosis above).Furthermore, this new genus is distinguished from all other Anyphaeninae by the presence of a patch of short setae on the prolateral apex of tibia I (Fig. 40).
The genus Katissa was previously known from 5 species (World Spider Catalog 2016), but only the males of the type species have ever been described.In this paper, we have doubled the number of species and described 5 males, thus presenting a more accurate description of male and female genitalia as well as the dissimilarity between the different species within the genus.For example, we were able to observe that the male palpal tibia can either be shorter (Fig. 8) or longer (Fig. 13) than the cymbium.The embolus length is also variable, from short (Fig. 7) to long (Fig. 1) and it seems correlated to the length of the female copulatory ducts.Katissa species also display very interesting morphological and ecological specialisations.For instance, the discovery of the first dionychan spider with an elongated, DUPÉRRÉ N. & TAPIA E., New Anyphaenids (Araneae, Anyphaenidae) from Ecuador modified abdomen is quite remarkable.We hypothesize that this modification resembles a caterpillar, based on its general appearance (whitish, with small constrictions and setae, tip bent and appearing as a caterpillar head) and also on the fact that in the moss extraction where Katissa kurusiki sp.nov.was found, we also noticed very small and whitish caterpillars.As far as we know, this condition was never described before in spiders.The caterpillar-like abdomen was found in all male specimens of K. kurusiki sp.nov, but the extension of the abdomen varies quite a bite in size from a nub to a very long tail, although the end of the tail is always curved and pointed.The modification of the abdomen into an elongated worm-like extension has been recorded before and it was hypothesised that it may be movable and perhaps camouflaging the spider as an inchworm (Exline & Levi 1962).Modification, elongation of abdomen in spiders to mimic a worm and/or caterpillar has been reported in various families such as Araneidae (e.g., Arachnura feredayi (L.Koch, 1872), A. scorpionoides Vinson, 1863) (Uyemura 1976), Tetragnathidae (e.g., Tetragnatha anguilla Thorell, 1877) (Keyserling 1887) and Theridiidae (e.g., Ariames longissimus Keyserling, 1891, Neospintharus trigonum Hentz, 1850) (Exline & Levi 1962).This is the first finding of such an adaptation in the family Anyphaenidae.Interestingly, Katissa specimens were collected mostly from moss hanging from trees and by beating trees, which clearly shows that they are arboreal.Two species (K.kurusiki sp.nov.and K. puyu sp.nov.) show a pattern of colouration that camouflages well within moss and were almost exclusively collected in moss from trees.
Shuyushka gen.nov. is composed of three species.Specimens were collected beating trees and in moss hanging from trees, they also have a distinctive colour pattern with arrow markings on the dorsal surface of the abdomen (Fig. 27) and patterned legs that could function as camouflage in moss and trees.
The five new species described in the genus Patrera are somewhat unusual, in the sense that the male and female genitalia do not conform with the genitalia of the type species, Patrera fulvastra.That being said, they might represent a group of Andean Patrera (Brescovit pers. comm.) or a new genus altogether, but until complete revisions of the genus Patrera and other related genera become available, it is prudent to maintain them in this genus.Patrera specimens were mainly collected by beating trees and by night collecting.Patrera species have a very faint pattern (Fig. 54), which seems adapted to their habitat, tree foliage.Males of Patrera have very well developed chelicerae, sometimes with a very large tooth (Fig. 57), and the male's legs I-II are extremely long, two to three times the length of the body.Females also have legs I-II longer than the others, but not as exceptionally long as in the male.This could be a predatory adaptation for hunting and running, as they are known to be cursorial hunting spiders (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006).An interesting morphological characteristic of Patrera, is that both males and females have uneven numbers of teeth on the tarsal claws of legs I-IV; the prolateral tarsal claw always have more teeth than the retrolateral one.
There are few spider biodiversity studies in neotropical premontane, low evergreen and cloud forest.A few spider biodiversity assessments have been done in cloud forests, namely in Mexico (Maya-Morales et al. 2012) and Costa Rica (Yanoviak et al. 2003;Peckmezian 2009), but never in Ecuador.In their study of a tropical montane cloud forest of Mexico, Maya-Morales et al. (2012) collected 1208 adult spiders, representing 112 morphospecies and 22 families.Yanoviak et al. (2003) and Peckmezian (2009), in their study of Costa Rican cloud forest, reported collecting 298 adult spider specimens, representing 86 morphospecies, while Peckmezian collected 406 adult spiders, representing 73 morphospecies and 15 families.Our biodiversity study is, by far, the most exhaustive spider biodiversity assessment ever done in premontane, low evergreen and cloud forest of the Chocó region of Ecuador.A total of 5482 adult spiders was collected, representing 248 morphospecies distributed over 37 families.The most diverse family collected was the Theridiidae family (32 morphospecies), making up ~13% of the total spider diversity collected.The most diverse families were: the Oonopidae (23 morphospecies), Tetragnathidae (22 morphospecies), Linyphiidae (22 morphospecies), Anyphaenidae (19 morphospecies) and Salticidae European Journal of Taxonomy 255: 1-50 (2016) (15 morphospecies) each representing ~10% of the fauna.All the remaining families ranged between 1 and 5%.Anyphaenidae was the fifth most diverse family found in the Chocó forests of Ecuador.Abundance wise, the family Oonopidae was the most abundant (27%), followed by the Zodariidae (14%) and the remaining families counted for less than 10% of the total abundance.If we only look at the abundance of arboreal spiders collected, then the family Theridiidae is the most abundant one (23%), followed by the Anyphaenidae (14%), Araneidae (13%) and Tetragnathidae (12%), which makes the Anyphaenidae the second most abundant family found in the arboreal habitat.Compared to similar studies, Maya-Morales et al. (2012) showed that in the understory of remnant tropical montane forests of Mexico, the four most abundant families were the Theridiidae, Anyphaenidae, Tetragnathidae and Linyphiidae.Yanoviak et al. (2003) showed that in the canopy and understory of the Costa Rican cloud forest, Araneidae and Linyphiidae were the most commonly collected families at all locations.And, finally, Peckmezian (2009) showed that in the low primary forest, 41.9% of the spiders collected belong to the family Ctenidae, while 35.3% were from the family Linyphiidae in the high primary forest.A comparison between different ecological studies is difficult, due to the use of different methodologies and collecting techniques.Most studies focus on a particular habitat (canopy, forest understory or ground) or use only a few techniques.In our study we collected spiders from all habitats, except the canopy, using five different collecting techniques.Consequently, this is the most thorough biodiversity spider study in the neotropical forests of the Chocó region of Ecuador.Our results demonstrate for the first time the importance of the family Oonopidae in neotropical forests, a family hardly ever mentioned in other studies.Finally, we were able to demonstrate that the family Anyphaenidae is a major component in the overall spider diversity found in these types of forests.The forests from the Chocó region of Ecuador harbour a wealth of biodiversity, hardly ever studied.Much more work needs to be done in order to understand these complex habitats.Nevertheless, this study is the first to uncover the unknown spider diversity hidden in these endangered forests and hopefully a stepping stone for further studies.