A checklist dataset of the spider species from Kenya

Grace Kioko; Joshua Sese

doi:10.15468/jxpwmd

A checklist dataset of the spider species from Kenya

Citation

Kioko G, Sese J (2022). A checklist dataset of the spider species from Kenya. National Museums of Kenya. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/jxpwmd accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-11-09.

Description

Currently there are over 50,000 described spider species worldwide according to the world spider catalog (WSC). The study of spiders in Kenya is not well done and as of December 2018, 805 species were described from the region. Some of the species were considered nomen dubium and others described from juvenile species which are at best considered misidentified. The data presented here is a checklist of spider species described from Kenya up-to May of 2022. The species are described from Kenya and other regions of the world with some considered to be cosmopolitan. A total of 801 species from 58 families are represented in the data set. 320 out of the 801 species from this data set are considered endemic to Kenya. 84 species are genus types. The families Salticidae and Linyphiidae had the most species representatives i.e. 163 and 109 species respectively. The bracketed scientific name authorship represent species that have either been transferred to a new/different genus or have been synonymized with other species but maintain the original author. Letters in the scientific name authorship distinguish articles from authors who made multiple publications within the same year.

Purpose

The checklist is an important dataset in the study of spiders as it highlights the species described from Kenya. In addition, it helps to show the gaps of taxonomy study in the region and therefore promoting study in the area.

Sampling Description

Study Extent

Specimen in the checklist were collected from various parts of Kenya with 38 out of the 47 counties having species representations.

Sampling

The dataset from this checklist was compiled from an online resource World Spider Catalog (2022). This was done by checking for data from distribution areas within Kenya, East Africa and Africa. Publications from East Africa and Africa were downloaded and checked if Kenya was listed as a collection locality. TaxonID/acceptedNameUsageID and parentNameUsageID used are similar to identifiers from WSC for easy search in the catalog. The spider checklist from Kenya published in 2021 was also a useful resource in data compilation for this checklist data.

Quality Control

The WSC is a site where all taxonomic papers on spiders are listed and its updated daily. The papers are from skilled arachnologists and from peer reviewed papers.

Method steps

Data mined from the World Spider Catalog was aligned to the Darwin Core Standard (taxon). The standardized data was then validated and uploaded to GBIF through the IPT.

Taxonomic Coverages

Several families from the class Arachnida.

Arachnida
rank: class
Araneae
rank: order
Agelenidae
rank: family
Anapidae
rank: family
Araneidae
rank: family
Atypidae
rank: family
Barychelidae
rank: family
Caponiidae
rank: family
Cheiracanthiidae
rank: family
Cithaeronidae
rank: family
Clubionidae
rank: family
Corinnidae
rank: family
Ctenidae
rank: family
Cyatholipidae
rank: family
Cyrtaucheniidae
rank: family
Deinopidae
rank: family
Dictynidae
rank: family
Eresidae
rank: family
Gnaphosidae
rank: family
Hahniidae
rank: family
Hersiliidae
rank: family
Idiopidae
rank: family
Ischnothelidae
rank: family
Linyphiidae
rank: family
Liocranidae
rank: family
Lycosidae
rank: family
Migidae
rank: family
Mimetidae
rank: family
Miturgidae
rank: family
Mysmenidae
rank: family
Ochyroceratidae
rank: family
Oecobiidae
rank: family
Oonopidae
rank: family
Oxyopidae
rank: family
Palpimanidae
rank: family
Philodromidae
rank: family
Pholcidae
rank: family
Phyxelididae
rank: family
Pisauridae
rank: family
Prodidomidae
rank: family
Pycnothelidae
rank: family
Salticidae
rank: family
Scytodidae
rank: family
Segestriidae
rank: family
Sicariidae
rank: family
Sparassidae
rank: family
Telemidae
rank: family
Tetrablemmidae
rank: family
Tetragnathidae
rank: family
Theraphosidae
rank: family
Theridiidae
rank: family
Theridiosomatidae
rank: family
Thomisidae
rank: family
Titanoecidae
Trachelidae
rank: family
Trochanteriidae
rank: family
Uloboridae
rank: family
Zodariidae
rank: family
Zoropsidae
rank: family

Geographic Coverages

The specimens represented here are from various locations in Kenya. Nine counties (Busia, Garissa, Kisii, Lamu, Mandera, Migori, Nandi, Siaya, and Vihiga) had no species records while the remaining 38 counties had records of species collection.

Bibliographic Citations

Kioko, G. M., Marusik, Y. M., Li, S. Q., Kioko, E. N. & Ji, L. Q. (2021). Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Kenya. African Invertebrates 62(1): 49-229. - doi: 10.3897/AfrInvertebr.62.58776
World Spider Catalog (2022). World Spider Catalog. Version 23.0. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on {26th May 2022}. - doi: 10.24436/2

Contacts

Grace Kioko
originator
position: Research Scientist, Zoology Department
National Museums of Kenya
Museum Hill Road
Nairobi
40658 - 00100
Nairobi
KE
Telephone: +254718285925
email: gmwende@museums.or.ke
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-3631

Joshua Sese
originator
position: Data Clerk, Zoology Department
National Museums of Kenya
Museum Hill Road
Nairobi
40658 - 00100
Nairobi
KE
Telephone: +254743147287
email: sesejjoshua@gmail.com
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6869-4462

Grace Kioko
metadata author
position: Research Scientist, Zoology Department
National Museums of Kenya
Museum Hill Road
Nairobi
40658 - 00100
Nairobi
KE
Telephone: +254718285925
email: gmwende@museums.or.ke
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-3631

Esther Mwangi
distributor
position: Research Scientist
National Museums of Kenya
Museum Hill Road
Nairobi
40658 - 00100
Nairobi
KE
email: ewmwangi@museums.or.ke
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4961-0278

Grace Kioko
administrative point of contact
position: Research Scientist, Zoology Department
National Museums of Kenya
Museum Hill Road
Nairobi
40658 - 00100
Nairobi
KE
Telephone: +254718285925
email: gmwende@museums.or.ke
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-3631