New species of peacock spider described from Cape Naturaliste in Western Australia

On 13 October 2020 David Hill and Jurgen Otto described and named the peacock spider that was reported on in the previous news article in Peckhamia 123.1. The new species is named Maratus tidallik, the species name being a reference to Tiddalik the frog from an Australian Aboriginal dreamtime story. The name was chosen as the colour pattern on the abdomen of the males resembles a crouching frog, as illustrated in Peckhamia 123.1. This brings the number of names species of Maratus to 86 and the number of named peacock spider species which also includes the genus Saratus to 87. The new species is a close relative of other peacock spider species that live nearby, most notably Maratus boranup. Both species have small flaps at the side of the opisthosoma which are not expanded during the courtship display, and both species have white spots on the legs which otherwise are black.