Dr Alireza Zamani

Anatextrix monstrabilis Kaya, Zamani, Yağmur & Marusik, 2023

Araneae: Agelenidae

Distribution. Turkey.

Significance. This species was the second addition to Anatextrix, a genus that my colleagues and I described from southern Turkey. One of the most striking features of males of Anatextrix is their highly modified palpal femur, which has a bend either at the proximal or middle part and is adorned with numerous outgrowths. To the best of our knowledge, the combination of these two traits to the extent exhibited by A. monstrabilis is not documented in any other known spider species. The mating behavior of Anatextrix species should be an interesting case for further study, as the large and numerous apophyses present on the male palpal femur are likely to play a crucial role in copulation.

Reference. Kaya, R., Zamani, A., Yağmur, E. A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2023). A new species of Anatextrix Kaya, Zamani, Yağmur & Marusik, 2023 (Araneae, Agelenidae, Textricini) from southern Türkiye, with a remarkable morphology of the male palpal femur. Zoosystematics and Evolution 99(2): 299–305.

Araniella villanii Zamani, Marusik & Šestáková, 2020

Araneae: Araneidae

Distribution. Iran, Kazakhstan, India.

Significance. This species is named after French mathematician Cédric Villani, winner of the Fields Medal in 2010 and the former director of Sorbonne University’s Henri Poincaré Institute, for his “mysterious love” for spiders.
Orb-web spiders, the family to which this spider belongs, are masters of mathematics, and many of them build beautiful and architecturally aesthetic webs, some of which are formed in spirals in line with the repetitive pattern of the golden ratio.

Reference. Zamani, A., Marusik, Y. M. & Šestáková, A. (2020). On Araniella and Neoscona (Araneae, Araneidae) of the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia. ZooKeys 906: 13–40.

Chaetopelma persianum Zamani & West, 2023

Araneae: Theraphosidae

Common name. Persian gold tarantula.

Distribution. Iran, Iraq (?).

Significance. This species was the first of its genus to be recorded in Iran, and is the easternmost known species of Chaetopelma. Its discovery captured the attention of both the media and the public, primarily due to its naming and its woolly, golden coating.
Also, the description of this species was published on the Tarantula Appreciation Day (August 8^th).

Reference. Zamani, A. & West, R. C. (2023). A new species of Chaetopelma Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Theraphosidae) from Iran. ZooKeys 1174: 75–84.

Filistata maguirei Marusik & Zamani, 2015

Araneae: Filistatidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was named after the American actor and film producer Tobias Vincent “Tobey” Maguire who played the role of the title character in the Spider-Man film series.

Reference. Marusik, Y. M. & Zamani, A. (2015). Additional new species of Filistatidae (Aranei) from Iran. Arthropoda Selecta 24(4): 429–435.

Iranotricha lutensis Zamani & Marusik, 2018

Araneae: Gnaphosidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species has been collected only in one locality in the Lut Desert, the surface temperature of which has been measured as high as 80.83 °C, making this habitat the hottest place on earth inhabited by spiders. Its chelicerae possess vestigial teeth and lack keels altogether, which might be an indication of a restricted diet toward soft bodied prey animals, as many desert dwelling insects have considerably thick exoskeletons, making them difficult to subdue. The presence of numerous long and thick spines on legs might be an adaptation for a burrowing lifestyle, although this has not been observed yet.

Reference. Zamani, A., Seiedy, M., Saboori, A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2018). The spider genus Pterotricha in Iran, with the description of a new genus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). ZooKeys 777: 17–41.

Ischnocolus vanandelae Montemor, West & Zamani, 2020

Araneae: Theraphosidae

Distribution. Oman, Iran.

Significance. This species represented the first tarantula species ever recorded from Iran.

Reference. Montemor, V. M., West, R. C., Zamani, A., Moradmand, M., Wirth, V. von, Wendt, I., Huber, S. & Guadanucci, J. P. L. (2020). Taxonomy of the genus Ischnocolus in the Middle East, with description of a new species from Oman and Iran (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Zoology in the Middle East 66(1): 76–90.

Loureedia phoenixi Zamani & Marusik, 2020

Araneae: Eresidae

Common name. Joker spider.

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was named after the American actor, producer and animal rights activist Joaquin Phoenix in recognition of his praised portrayal of the title character in the 2019 movie Joker, and as a reference to the male abdominal pattern of the new species which resembles the famous makeup of this character.

Reference. Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2020). A new and easternmost species of Loureedia (Aranei: Eresidae) from Iran. Arthropoda Selecta 29(2): 239–243.

Loxosceles coheni Zamani, Mirshamsi & Marusik, 2021

Araneae: Sicariidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was named in honor of Leonard Norman Cohen (21 September 1934 to 7 November 2016), a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, novelist, and one of my most favorite artists, because his music kept me working during the long, cold, and dark winters of Finland.
The phrase “burning violin” used in the title of the paper is a pun. First, it is a reference to Leonard Cohen’s famous song “Dance Me to The End of Love,” and, second, it refers to the violin-shaped marking on the cephalothorax of these spiders (hence the common name “violin spiders”) and the “burning” nature of their venom. In some cases, the envenomation by these spiders can cause severe dermonecrosis, often leaving a permanent scar behind. This is similar to the music of Leonard Cohen: It does not affect everyone, but those who are affected by it carry a scar for the rest of their lives.

Reference. Zamani, A., Mirshamsi, O. & Marusik, Y. M. (2021). ‘Burning Violin’: the medically important spider genus Loxosceles (Araneae: Sicariidae) in Iran, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, with two new species. Journal of Medical Entomology 58(2): 666–675.

Lycosa aragogi Nadolny & Zamani, 2017

Araneae: Lycosidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was named after Aragog, the famous fictional spider from Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling, in a reference to the similarities between this species and the animatronic puppet version of the character used in the film “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, which is based on a wolf spider.

Reference. Nadolny, A. A. & Zamani, A. (2017). A new species of burrowing wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae: Lycosa) from Iran. Zootaxa 4286(4): 597–600.

Paratheuma enigmatica Zamani, Marusik & Berry, 2016

Araneae: Dictynidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This is a marine species that constructs small funnel-webs leading to a tubular retreat within crevices and cavities in loose broken corals, empty mollusc shells and perhaps barnacles in the intertidal zone of the rocky seashores of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. During the high tide, the spider remains in the upper portion of the hole within a small air chamber made using silk. They hunt during the low tide, with small marine isopods and intertidal insects consisting their main prey animals. Interestingly, this genus is otherwise known from North America, Hawaii, Far East Asia, Australia and a few islands in the Pacific Ocean

Reference. Zamani, A., Marusik, Y. M. & Berry, J. W. (2016). A new species of Paratheuma (Araneae: Dictynidae) from Southwestern Asia and transfer of the genus. Zoology in the Middle East 62(2): 177–183.

Phrynichus persicus Miranda & Zamani, 2018

Amblypygi: Phrynichidae

Common name. Persian whip spider.

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was the first and currently the only known species of whip spiders known from Iran. Its narrow distribution range in western Iran (i.e., southern Ilam Province and northern Khuzestan Province) represents the northernmost global record of the family Phrynichidae.

Reference. Miranda, G. S. & Zamani, A. (2018). Filling the gap of whip spider distribution in Asia: Phrynichus persicus sp.n. (Arachnida, Amblypygi), a new Phrynichidae from Iran. Zootaxa 4413(2): 339–350.

Pritha garfieldi Marusik & Zamani, 2015

Araneae: Filistatidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was named after the American-English actor Andrew Russell Garfield, who played the role of the title character in The Amazing Spider-Man film series.
For a video in which Garfield comments on this naming, click here .

Reference. Marusik, Y. M. & Zamani, A. (2015). Additional new species of Filistatidae (Aranei) from Iran. Arthropoda Selecta 24(4): 429–435.

Proszynskiana izadii Azarkina & Zamani, 2019

Araneae: Salticidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species has been collected only in one locality in the Lut Desert, the surface temperature of which has been measured as high as 80.83 °C, making this habitat the hottest place on earth inhabited by spiders.

Reference. Azarkina, G. & Zamani, A. (2019). The Aelurillina Simon, 1901 (Aranei: Salticidae) of Iran: a check-list and three new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1884 and Proszynskiana Logunov, 1996. Arthropoda Selecta 28(1): 83–97.

Pseudomicrommata mokranica Moradmand, Zamani & Jäger, 2019

Araneae: Sparassidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. This species was the first member of its genus to be recorded outside of Africa. Its distribution area in southeastern Iran is more than 4000 km away from the nearest recorded locality of the genus in Kenya.

Reference. Moradmand, M., Zamani, A. & Jäger, P. (2019). An Afrotropic element at the north-western periphery of the Oriental Region: Pseudomicrommata mokranica sp. nov. (Araneae: Sparassidae). Revue suisse de Zoologie 126(2): 249–256.

Salticus lucasi Zamani, Hosseini & Moradmand, 2020

Araneae: Salticidae

Distribution. Iran.

Significance. The species was named after Lucas the Spider, an
animated character created by animator Josh Slice on the basis of the anatomy of jumping spiders, in recognition of the
role that it played in “curing” many arachnophobes around
the world.

Reference. Zamani, A., Hosseini, M. S. & Moradmand, M. (2020). New data on jumping spiders of Iran, with a new species of Salticus (Araneae: Salticidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 59: 63–66.

Scytodes kumonga Zamani & Marusik, 2020

Araneae: Scytodidae

Distribution. Iran, Oman, UAE.

Significance. This species, belonging to the family of spitting spiders, was named after Kumonga, a fictional, mutated, enormous “spitting” spider that first appeared in Toho’s 1967 movie Son of Godzilla. The two spiders also have a similar coloration pattern.
Kumonga’s binomial name in Godzilla Singular Point, “Kumonga scytodes“, pays homage to this species (see here).

Reference. Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2020). New species of Filistatidae, Palpimanidae and Scytodidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from southern Iran. Acta Arachnologica 69(2): 121–126.