Gnaphosidae Banks, 1892

Family |   ACCEPTED
N.B.: the names Gnaphosae and Gnaphosi were used firstly at tribe level by Banks, 1892d: 92, 94 and thus Banks, 1892 is the valid authorship and year for the family, not Pocock, 1898c: 219; for the family name Drassidae Sundevall, 1833 see Simon, 1893a: 340 and Bonnet, 1956: 1554. Family relimited by Platnick, 1990a: 35 and Azevedo, Griswold & Santos, 2018b: 612; most genera listed by Brignoli, 1983c under Micariinae are treated here under Corinnidae and Phrurolithidae. Prodidomidae revalidated by Platnick, 1990a: 36 to include the former Prodidominae, Molycriinae and Anagraphidinae; Anagraphidinae transferred from Prodidomidae to Gnaphosidae by Platnick & Baehr, 2006: 5; Prodidomidae downgraded to subfamily of Gnaphosidae by Azevedo, Griswold & Santos, 2018b: 613 (synonyms: Molycriinae Simon, 1897 and Theuminae Simon, 1893), redefined by Rodrigues & Rheims, 2020b: 694 and elevated to familiy rank again by Azevedo et al., 2022: 12 (without Molycriinae); Azevedo, Griswold & Santos, 2018b: 612 distinguish several well definded clades within Gnaphosidae (Gnaphosinae Banks, 1892, Zelotinae Platnick, 1990, Herpyllinae Platnick, 1990, Drassodinae Simon, 1893, Prodidominae Simon, 1884 and Leptodrassinae Azevedo, Griswold & Santos, 2018) and state three monogeneric subfamilies, Anagraphidinae Simon, 1893 (type genus Anagraphis), Echeminae Simon, 1893 (type genus Echemus) and Micariinae Banks, 1892 (type genus Micaria), which do not perform a grouping function; Micaria Westring 1851, Nauhea Forster, 1979 and Verita Ramirez & Grismado, 2015 (and some related genera) are probably not gnaphosids, and many genera are not assigned to a subfamily given their poorly supported and unstable relationships (Azevedo, Griswold & Santos, 2018b: 614); the subfamily Molycriinae Simon, 1897 is re-established by Rodrigues & Rheims, 2020b: 682 (includes Cryptotoerithus, Molycria, Myandra, Nomindra, Wesmaldra and Wydundra); Lin & Li, 2020e: 313 described the new subfamily Solitudinae, with the single genus Solitudes Lin & Li, 2020; Micariidae is regarded as a separate family (sister to Cithaeronidae) by Breitling, 2021: 19, but without listing the genera, which should belong to it, and it is also not accepted because it is based mainly on COI, see FAQ 7; Ammoxenidae (Ammoxenus, Austrammo, Barrowammo, Rastellus) are synonymized with Gnaphosidae by Azevedo et al., 2022: 12; the family is not monophyletic per Kulkarni, Wood & Hormiga, 2023: 520, f. 19.
Gen. Sorkinius Sherwood, Jocqué, Cazanove & Derepas, 2025 urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidergen:06449
type Drassus maillardi Vinson, 1863; gender masculine

In synonymy:

Sorkinius espoir (Platnick, 1981, T from Xerophaeus) = Sorkinius maillardi (Vinson, 1863) (Sherwood et al., 2025h: 10)

Sorkinius oceanicus (Schmidt & Jocqué, 1983, T from Xerophaeus) = Sorkinius maillardi (Vinson, 1863) (Sherwood et al., 2025h: 10)

Sorkinius coruscus (L. Koch, 1875) | | Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Yemen urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:028064
Drassus coruscus L. Koch, 1875b: 50, pl. 5, f. 5 (Df) Original description
Scotophaeus coruscus Strand, 1908h: 59
Scotophaeus coruscus Strand, 1908l: 20
Xerophaeus coruscus Simon, 1909c: 35
Xerophaeus coruscus Tullgren, 1910: 107, pl. 1, f. 19 (Dmf)
Xerophaeus coruscus Berland, 1932b: 270, f. 380 (f)
Xerophaeus coruscus Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2021D: 41, 3 f. (mf)
Sorkinius coruscus Sherwood et al., 2025h: 16, f. 8A (f, T from Xerophaeus)
Sorkinius kibonotensis (Tullgren, 1910) | | Tanzania urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:028065
Xerophaeus coruscus kibonotensis Tullgren, 1910: 108, pl. 1, f. 20 (Df) Original description
Xerophaeus coruscus kibonotensis Berland, 1920c: 105, f. 121-122 (Dm, f)
Sorkinius kibonotensis Sherwood et al., 2025h: 17, f. 8B-C (mf, T from Xerophaeus, elevated to species level from X. coruscus)
Sorkinius maillardi (Vinson, 1863) | | Seychelles, Reunion urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:055845 TYPE SPECIES
Drassus maillardii Vinson, 1863: 115, f. 4a-b (Df) Original description
Drassus maillardii Roewer, 1955c: 1471 (nicht zu deuten = nomen dubium)
Xerophaeus espoir Platnick, 1981a: 454, f. 5-6 (Dm) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:028069]
Xerophaeus oceanicus Schmidt & Jocqué, 1983: 356, f. 2 (Df) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:028081]
Xerophaeus espoir Saaristo, 2010: 75, f. 11.17-20 (mf)
Xerophaeus espoir Marusik, 2010b: 7, f. 1-10 (m, Df)
Xerophaeus oceanicus Marusik & Haddad, 2025: 83 (probable junior S of Drassodes maillardi, currently a nomen dubium)
Drassodes maillardi Marusik & Haddad, 2025: 83 (probable senior S of Xerophaeus oceanicus)
Sorkinius maillardi Sherwood et al., 2025h: 10, f. 1A-C, 2A-H, 3A-F, 4A-B, 5A-F, 6A-I, 7A-D (Dm, f, T from Drassodes, removed from nomen dubium, S of Xerophaeus espoir and X. oceanicus)

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