New funnel web spider species discovered

Enthusiast Kane Christensen helps discover a new funnel-web species, named Atrax christenseni in his honour.

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An Australian spider enthusiast, Kane Christensen, has been part of a groundbreaking discovery with the identification of a new species of funnel-web spider.

The new species, named Atrax christenseni, was confirmed after Christensen, who has worked with deadly spiders at the Australian Reptile Park for two decades, noticed significant differences in funnel-web spiders brought from the Newcastle area, north of Sydney.

Christensen, who began working at the park in 2003, originally observed that some of the male funnel-webs from Newcastle were much larger and had distinct genital bulb features compared to those found in Sydney.

His hunch led him to collaborate with scientists at the Australian Museum, and DNA testing confirmed the discovery of a new species.

This week, the discovery was made official as Atrax christenseni was named after Christensen. Additionally, a large male funnel-web spider, dubbed "Hemsworth" for its large size, was identified as a member of this new species.

Photo: A male atrax christenseni funnel-web spider. Photograph: Kane Christensen/Australian Museum

Hemsworth, found near Newcastle, has a leg span of 9.2 cm, marking it as the largest male funnel-web ever recorded by the Australian Reptile Park.

In the process of identifying the Newcastle funnel-web, researchers also reclassified another species, the southern Sydney funnel-web (Atrax montanus), which was originally considered a distinct species in 1914 but later dismissed. The discovery brings the total number of known Australian funnel-web species to 38.

The Newcastle funnel-web is distinguished by its evolutionary history, with the last shared ancestor with the Sydney funnel-web dating back 17 million years. Its reproductive organs are particularly notable, with the male using copulatory bulbs to transfer sperm.

The copulatory organ of the Newcastle funnel-web is significantly larger than that of the Sydney funnel-web, preventing successful mating between the two species.

The Newcastle funnel-web is found in limited locations, with the exact sites kept confidential for conservation reasons. Though the venom of the new species is similar to that of the Sydney funnel-web, experts caution that its larger size may result in a greater venom delivery.

However, the introduction of antivenom in 1981 has reduced fatalities from funnel-web bites, and it is believed to be effective against the newly discovered species.