Simlops, a New Genus of Goblin Spiders (Araneae: Oonopidae) from Northern South America

A new genus of goblin spiders, Simlops, is proposed for 15 species found in Brazilian and Colombian Amazonia and southern Caribbean (Venezuela and Guyana). The new genus belongs to the Scaphiella complex, a group of Neotropical genera that share a sexually dimorphic condition in which the abdominal dorsal scutum is present in males but absent in females. Simlops is hypothesized to be a monophyletic group united by a unique conformation of the male endites, which present three apical portions, a prolateral, curved process, with laminar apices, a retrolateral process and a median, more dorsal, unsclerotized portion. The species Triaeris bodanusChickering, 1968, is transferred to Simlops and the female of this species is described for the first time. The remaining 14 species are newly described: S. bandeirante Ott, S. cristinae Santos, S. campinarana Brescovit, S. jamesbondi Bonaldo, S. juruti Bonaldo, S. machadoi Ott, S. miudo Ruiz, S. nadinae Ruiz, S. pennai Bonaldo (type species), S. platnicki Bonaldo, and S. similis Ott, all from Brazilian Amazonia; S. cachorro Ruiz from Colombian Amazonia; S. guatopo Brescovit from Venezuela; and S. guyanensis Santos from Guyana.