Study Details Four New Spider Species Found in Colombian Pacific Region

A recent study by faculty members of the Medellín-based Universidad EAFIT has yielded new findings about four spider species discovered last year in the Colombian department of Chocó and potentially broadened the science community’s understanding of this type of arachnid category and its diversity in the region.

Photo: Ummidia solana, one of the new spider species discovered in Chocó. (Photo credit: Mariana Echeverri, Sebastián Gómez Torres, Nicolás Pinel, Carlos Perafán)

The four new spider species (Ummidia solana, Melloina pacifica, Euthycaelus cunampia, and Neischnocolus mecana) are described as “predatory animals” and “primarily terrestrial and relatively sedentary,” which helps explain their ability to elude scientists up until now.

Each belongs to the “mygalomorph” group of spiders that is concentrated in tropical regions and accounts for about 6% of the currently known species, including tarantulas, hairy spiders, trapdoor spiders, funnel-web spiders, millimeter-sized spiders, and bald-legged spiders. 

Speaking to Finance Colombia about their discovery, Sebastián Gómez Torres, a researcher and one of the paper’s co-authors, hopes that the findings will have a “positive impact” in the scientific community and speculates that these creatures may even have the potential to impact the country’s private sector.

“These newfound species might harbor chemical compounds, enzymes, or other unique biological characteristics with potential applications in diverse domains, such as medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and industry,” he said.

Torres also hopes for the discovery to help further the development of “strategies aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources” while advancing research into the spiders’ roles in the ecosystem.

Study co-author Sebastián Gómez Torres hopes for the discovery to help further the development of “strategies aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources” while advancing research into the spiders’ roles in the ecosystem.

While Torres and his co-authors hope to explore more of the region to continuing investigating the species discovered there, a lack of funding has thus far kept them from fulfilling all their research goals.

“As a consequence of this situation, our intention is to promote collaboration and support from institutions interested in endorsing endeavors of this nature, with the aim of fostering and propelling scientific research within the Colombian context,” he said.

The authors of the research paper — Sebastián Gómez Torres, Mariana Echeverri, Nicolás Pinel, and Carlos Perafánv — first collected samples of the species in February 2022 in the Chocó Biogeographic Region before transporting them for preservation to the Arachnological Collection at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales at Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

As home to the Amazon, other rainforests, the Andes mountains and so many other climates within its borders, Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on earth after Brazil.