Journal of Threatened Taxa

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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

Response A preliminary but incomplete checklist of Gujarat spiders

R.V. Vyas & B.M. Parasharya

26 March 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 3 | Pages: 11493–11494 10.11609/jot.3886.10.3.11493-11494

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JournalResponse of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2018 | 10(3): 11493–11494

A preliminary but incomplete checklist of The authors have shown eight Response Gujarat spiders agro-climatc zones of Gujarat which have been adopted from R.V. Vyas1 & B.M. Parasharya2 the Department of Agriculture ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) and Cooperaton, Government of ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 1 1 - Shashwat Apartment, 23 Anandnagar Society, BPC Road, Alkapuri, Gujarat but the source for the same Vadodara, Gujarat 390007, India 2 Vishrut Park 1/18, Jitodia Road, Anand, Gujarat 388001, India is not given. Afer looking at Map OPEN ACCESS 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 1 and Table 1, one realizes that the 2 [email protected] zone numbers in the map and in the table do not match! Whether such a gross mistake is by the web site of Government of The authors of the paper Yadav et al. (2017) should Gujarat or by the authors remains unknown. The zone be congratulated for taking up this herculean task of names, sites covered and dominant fora shown in Table compilaton and documentaton of existng informaton 1 appears to be of the authors and not of the Government about the spider fauna of Gujarat State. Additonal data website and hence it gives wrong informaton to the generated through fresh survey during 2014-15 have readers. The source of the content of Table 1 should enriched the checklist and distributon records within have been mentoned clearly as the dominant fora the state. On careful reading of this paper, we found that and spider diversity shown here appears irrelevant. there are certain mistakes in the paper and omissions Evidences suggest that the authors are confused about of certain published informaton. We draw atenton of the names of the agro-climatc zones (Table 1) and the the authors and readers here to rectfy the errors and numbers they have given on the map 1. According to prepare a fresh checklist. the authors, ‘The highest spider records were from the The authors claim that there are 415 species northwestern zone, which consists of Panchmahal and belonging to 169 genera of 40 families. Out of these, Vadodara…….’. According to the Table 1, the north-west 29 genera and 17 families are endemic to Gujarat. zone is 8 where as Panchmahal and Vadodara falls under There is, however, no menton of which species/genera/ zone 3, middle Gujarat. The same mistake is repeated in family are endemic to Gujarat in the entre paper. If Table 2 as most potental zone 2, 6 and 7 have very low conclusions about endemism are correct, the authors numbers of species, which is not possible. have failed to highlight importance of Gujarat in spider The Kachchh (Kutch) District – the second largest species endemism. district of the country is climatcally arid and located The authors claim to have recorded 149 species on the northwestern part of the state. Unfortunately, belonging to 99 genera during their survey 0f 2014-15 Kachchh District is not mentoned anywhere in Table 1. but Table 3 shows that at least 45 species are identfed All studies referred into this publicaton, except a only up to the genus level. When such species are added few studies (Kumar & Shivakumar 2004; Trivedi 2009) into the checklist, it is presumed that they could be a were conducted in non-cultvated area. In spite of this, new species to science. published records were classifed into agro-climatc zones. Normally, occurrence/distributon of animal or plant species is viewed with respect to the bio- geographic zones (Darlington 1980).

DOI: htp://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3886.10.3.11493-11494 Omission of published informaton Date of publicaton: 26 March 2018 (online & print) In this paper, three unpublished Ph.D. Thesis of Manuscript details: Ms # 3886 | Received 04 November 2017 M.S. University of Baroda and one from Sardar Patel University are referred. The authors have not referred Citaton: Vyas, R.V. & B.M. Parasharya (2018). A preliminary but incomplete checklist of Gujarat spiders. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(3): to the works carried out at other universites. The fact 11493–11494; htp://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3886.10.3.11493-11494 is that there are several Ph.D. Thesis submited to M.K. Copyright: © Vyas & Parasharya 2018. Creatve Commons Atributon Bhavnagar University (under the guidance of Dr. B.H. 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this artcle in any medium, reproducton and distributon by providing adequate Patel & S.K. Patel), South Gujarat University and several credit to the authors and the source of publicaton.

11493 Response

M.Sc. Dissertatons, which are not referred to. Had they Devi forest (in the same publicaton) was not taken been referred, several more species could have been note of. At least three specimens were collected for added to the list. identfcaton. This and similar issues may be there with Several published records are not referred in this several other publicatons referred by the authors which paper, though some of them were published in reputed need to be taken care. journals (Vasava et al. 2015; Parasharya & Pathan 2013; Looking to so many problems in this published Parasharya et al. 2015; Parmar et al. 2014) and several paper; it appears that the present checklist needs drastc other papers available on internet too. Unfortunately, improvement for its acceptance. We wish that keeping one publicaton of M.S. University on spiders of Gir the above points in view, if the checklist is revised, it forests (Parikh et al. 2008) is also not referred. will serve as a standard and acceptable checklist of the spiders of Gujarat for future researchers. Other comments The authors have referred ‘standard taxonomic References literature’, however, they have not mentoned which classifcaton/ checklist of spiders was followed for this Anonymous (2009). Introducton to Spider Diversity of Gujarat. Forest Department, Gujarat. 94pp. compilaton. One wonders why updated checklist of the Darlington, P.J., Jr. (1980). Zoogeography: The Geographical Indian spiders by Siliwal et al. (2005) was not referred. Distributon of Animals. Krieger Publishing Company, Florida, U.S.A. Argiope arcuata Kumar, D. & M.S. Shivakumar (2004). Ecological studies on spiders in Under the family Araneidae, Simon, Rice agroecosystem of Vadodara (Gujarat) with special emphasis on 1874 (Sr.no.9) is mentoned. This seems to have come biocontrol aspect. Indian Journal of Entomology 66(4): 323–327. from the Ph.D. Thesis of Patel (1971). Siliwal et al. (2005) Parasharya, B.M., R.V. Vyas & B.H. Patel (2011). First authentc record of Regal Parachute Spider Poecilotheria regalis Pocock, 1899 and do not separately list A. arcuata in their list; instead only further comments on the distributon of Theraphosidae spiders A. lobata is listed and A. arcuata is shown as synonym of from Gujarat State, India. Journal of the Britsh Tarantula Society A. lobata (Pallas, 1772). One expects the latest version 26(2): 55-62. Parasharya, B.M. & R.V. Vyas (2013). Obituary: Dr. B.H. Patel- of the classifcaton accepted by the Indian researchers. Arachnologist. Zoos’ Print XXIII (8): 33-36. One wonders why Anonymous (2009) was referred by Parasharya, B.M. & V.A. Pathan (2013). Diversity of spider fauna in the authors for compiling present checklist! Authentcity Lucerne (Medicago satva L.). Journal of Biological Control 27(4): 253–259. of such a compilaton becomes doubtul when it is Parasharya, B.M., R.V. Vyas & B.H. Patel (2015). Status and distributon published as anonymous! In fact, this publicaton was of Red-backed Spider, Latrodectus hasselti Thorell (Araneae: largely based on several unpublished reports of GEER Theridiidae) in Gujarat State, western India. Journal of Biological Control 29(4): 171-178. Foundaton (Gandhinagar) on the spider fauna of Parikh, P.H., S. Sonavane & K. Ahir (2008). Spider diversity of Gir protected areas of Gujarat by late Dr. B.H. Patel. One Protected Area, Gujarat. Journal of Current Science 12(2): 719-724. wonders why those original reports by Dr. Patel were not Patel, B.H. (1971). Studies on some spiders (Araneae: Arachnida) from Gujarat, India. PhD Thesis Submited to Sardar Patel University, referred by the authors as citatons of those reports are Vallabh Vidyanaga, Anand, Gujarat. already available in Parasharya & Vyas (2013). In their Siliwal, M., S. Molur & B.K. Biswas (2005). Indian Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae): Updated checklist 2005. Zoos’ Print Journal 20(10): 1999- compiled list, Anon. (2009) had not shown the source 2049; htp://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1283.1999-2049 reference from where the species is added. In that case, Trivedi, V. (2009). Diversity of spiders in Groundnut crop felds in such publicaton can’t be considered as reliable. village area of Saurashtra region. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 106(2): 184–189. There are certain mistakes in quotng published Vasava, A.G., M. Patel, B.M. Parasharya, V. Mistri, P. Patel, D. informaton. For Sr. no. 339, Plesiophrictus millardi Mehta, D. Patel & K. Patel (2015). Records of brown widow spider Pocock, 1899, credit was given to Parasharya et al. Latrodectus geometricus Koch, 1841 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Gujarat, western India with notes on its distributon, habitat and (2011) when Parasharya et al. (2011) had identfed it natural history. Acta Arachnologica 64(1): 5-9. up to the genus level only. Moreover, when Parasharya Yadav, A., R. Solanki, M. Siliwal & D. Kumar (2017). Spiders of Gujarat: et al. (2011) was referred by the authors, record of A preliminary checklist. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(9): 10697– 10716; htp://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3042.9.9.10697-10716 Ischnocolus decoratus of Theraphosidae family at Sadad

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11494 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2018 | 10(3): 11493-11494

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online); ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

March 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 3 | Pages: 11361–11494 Date of Publicaton: 26 March 2018 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2018.10.3.11361-11494

Communicatons Short Communicatons

The status of Nepal’s mammals A Babbler’s tale: assessing the distributon of Turdoides striata -- Rajan Amin, Hem Sagar Baral, Babu Ram Lamichhane, Laxman Prasad (Dumont, 1823) (Aves: Passeriformes: Leiothrichidae) in India Poudyal, Samantha Lee, Shant Raj Jnawali, Krishna Prasad Acharya, Gopal -- Nishikant Gupta & Gautam Talukdar, Pp. 11450–11453 Prasad Upadhyaya, Megh Bahadur Pandey, Rinjan Shrestha, Dipesh Joshi, Janine Grifths, Ambika Prasad Khatwada & Naresh Subedi, Extension in its distributon range and a new record for the cicada Pp. 11361–11378 genus Salvazana Distant, 1913 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cryptotympanii) from India The bat fauna (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the United Arab Emirates: a -- Sudhanya Ray Hajong & Rodeson Thangkiew, Pp. 11454–11458 review of published records and museum specimens with conservaton notes Umbrella Starwort Stellaria umbellata Turcz. (Caryophyllaceae): a new -- J. Judas, Gabor Csorba & Petr Benda, Pp. 11379–11390 record to the fora of the western Himalaya, India -- Satsh Chandra & D.S. Rawat, Pp. 11459–11463 Investgatng Sri Lanka’s human-monkey confict and developing a strategy to mitgate the problem First record of fungus Cryptomarasmius T.S. Jenkinson & Desjardin -- Surendranie Judith Cabral, Tharaka Prasad, Thulmini Pubudika (Physalacriaceae: Agaricales: Basidiomycota) from India Deeyagoda, Sanjaya Nuwan Weerakkody, Ashwika Nadarajah & -- Arun Kumar Duta & Krishnendu Acharya, Pp. 11464–11469 Rasanayagam Rudran, Pp. 11391–11398 Foliicolous fungi on medicinal plants in Thiruvananthapuram District, A checklist of bird communites In Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary, the Kerala, India northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India -- A. Sabeena, V.B. Hosagoudar & V. Divaharan, Pp. 11470–11479 -- Dhananjay Chavan Vinayak & Subhash Vithal Mali, Pp. 11399–11409

Spatal and temporal paterns of stork sightngs (Aves: Ciconiidae) in Notes Natonal Chambal Sanctuary of Gangetc River system -- R.K. Sharma & L.A.K. Singh, Pp. 11410–11415 Pternopetalum latpinnulatum (Apiaceae), a new record for the fora of India The Red-headed Falcon Falco chicquera Daudin, 1800 (Aves: -- Licha Jeri, Nazir Ahmad Bhat & Yogendra Kumar, Pp. 11480–11483 Falconiformes: Falconidae) breeding on Palmyra Palm at Bahour Lake, Puducherry (Pondicherry), India Five new additons to the grass fora of Tripura State, India -- Raveendran Lekshmi & Surendhar Boobalan, Pp. 11416–11422 -- Sampa Ghosh & Debjyot Bhatacharyya, Pp. 11484–11492

Fish diversity and the conservaton status of a wetland of Cooch Behar District, West Bengal, India Response -- Ram Krishna Das, Pp. 11423–11431 A preliminary but incomplete checklist of Gujarat spiders Seasonal distributon and abundance of earthworms (Annelida: -- R.V. Vyas & B.M. Parasharya, Pp. 11493–11494 Oligochaeta) in relaton to the edaphic factors around Udupi Power Corporaton Limited (UPCL), Udupi District, southwestern coast of India -- T.S. Harish Kumar, M. Siddaraju, C.H. Krishna Bhat & K.S. Sreepada, Pp. Miscellaneous 11432–11442 Natonal Biodiversity Authority Breeding behaviour of the Coromandel Marsh Dart Damselfy (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae: Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius)) in central India Nilesh R. Thaokar, Payal R. Verma & Raymond J. Andrew, Pp. 11443– 11449

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