Cranaidae

The Cranaidae are a family of neotropical harvestmen within the suborder Laniatores.

Cranaidae
Santinezia serratotibialis
Trinidad
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Opiliones
Suborder:
Laniatores
Infraorder:
Grassatores
Superfamily:
Gonyleptoidea
Family:
Cranaidae

Roewer, 1913
Subfamilies

Cranainae
Heterocranainae
Prostygninae
Stygnicranainae

Diversity
c. 80 genera, > 140 species

Name

The name of the type genus is derived from Cranaus, the successor of Cecrops I as king of Attica in Greek mythology.[1]

Description

Body length ranges from about six to sixteen millimeters. The color normally ranges from brown to black greenish, with the legs sometimes lighter to yellowish. Some species feature white stripes on some regions.[1]

Distribution

Most species are found in northern South America, with few species found in Panama and Costa Rica. The diversity of the family is probably explained by the diversity of habitats in the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia, ranging from elevations of 500 to 3,500 m. Some species were even collected from elevations as high as 5,000 meters.[1]

Relationships

The four subfamilies constituting the Cranaidae were transferred from Gonyleptidae by Kury (1994), erecting it as a sister group to Cosmetidae and Gonyleptidae. Cranainae and Stygnocranainae are probably closely related.[2]

Subfamilies

See the List of Cranaidae species for a list of currently described species.

  • Cranainae — French Guiana, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Venezuela (56 genera, 121 species)
  • Heterocranainae — Ecuador, Colombia (1 genus, 2 species)
  • Prostygninae — Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia (16 genera, 18 species)
  • Stygnicranainae — Ecuador, Colombia (3 genera, 6 species)

Footnotes
  1. Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo & Kury, Adriano B. (2007): Cranaidae Roewer, 1913. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 185ff
  2. Kury 1994
gollark: ```Coffeehorse Dragons received their name due to their horse-like physique and endearing behavior. They are capable of surviving out of coffee, and when on land their skin secretes a gelatinous goo to retain caffeine. However, their large paddle feet are better suited for swimming, and coffeehorse dragons tend to move very awkwardly when on land. Coffeehorses are very friendly dragons and enjoy playing with humans.```
gollark: Er, coffeehorse.
gollark: Just get a coffeedragon! They produce a sleep-reducing field.
gollark: Possibly. When's the time limit on that?
gollark: There's someone on the trade hub with a tan ridgewing asking for, inexplicably, *high* time egg offers.

References
  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Cranaidae
  • Kury, Adriano B. (1994): The genus Yania and other presumed Tricommatidae from South American highlands (Opiliones, Cranaidae, Prostygninae). Rev. Arachnol. 10: 137-145.
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9.
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R. and Hara, M.R. (2010) : New familial assignments for three species of Neotropical harvestmen based on cladistic analysis (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores). Zootaxa, 2241: 33–46.
  • Kury, A. B. (2012) : First report of the male of Zamora granulata Roewer, 1928, with implications on the higher taxonomy of the Zamorinae Kury, 1997 (Opiliones, Laniatores, Cranaidae). Zootaxa, 3546: 29–42.
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