New Species from Cameroon?

[John Hays]

Odd one this, a new Pet Store has opened near me, I went to check it out as I heard he dealt in Arachnids, Reptiles and what not, the shop is very well presented and all the animals are in well sized tanks and look healthy. I'm only giving this information so you can know he doesnt seem like a dodgy guy.

I got talking to him and I was asking what sort of things he was into, he said mostly Tarantulas, he told me he is getting a new Breed sent over from Cameroon.
Apparently its only just been discovered, so mush so that it doesnt even have a name for transport and is getting sent as a Goliath, he showed me the Order form and it says clear as day "New Unknown Tarantual Species"
Its being shipped as a Goliath because its the same size as a mature adult.

Has anyone else heard of this or is the guy either being fibbed to? He seemed very genuine, and really excited as well, would be great if it was.

[Peter Lacey]

I think the person that will answer this well has to be Richard Gallon. Not aware of it myself, not too impressed with the Africans (he says with 24 marshalli, 2 darlingi, 3 murinus and 1 lugardi). I'd just be careful if this price is obviously high.

[John Hays]

I'm not planning on buying, just really intrigued with what it is going to look like and what sort of temperament its going to have. If I can when he gets it in, I will try and get a picture of it and post it on here.

[Richard Gallon]

I suspect it'll just be another batch of Hysterocrates sp. - very common large brown jobs from Cameroon. But who knows - here's dreaming of Phoneyusa
Cheers,
Richard

[John Hays]

I take it that Phoneyusa means its made up then, or is that the actual name of a Spider?

He should be getting it next week, so I will put some photos up if he lets me take some.

Googled it and nothing so far, I smell some fibs I reckon.

[Nicola Dolby]

The problem is John that there are a few species from Cameroon which are Hystocrates and without wishing to commit slander these have been imported under various made up names for years so that now no-one knows what they are any more. the collectors just get the specimens, call them Hystocrates sp. Aunt Fanny or whatever and send them over to us, who are none the wiser. The only way to solve this is to go over there and do a full taxonomical revision, but Cameroon isn't the safest place in the world to go to. Also there is the danger, if you are planning on breeding, of hybridisation because we don't know which species is which. The best thing to do in that case is to buy 10 slings from the same batch if they are slings and if not, don't bother breeding. Sorry I can't give you better news.

[Phil Rea]

I take it that Phoneyusa means its made up then, or is that the actual name of a Spider?

He should be getting it next week, so I will put some photos up if he lets me take some.

Googled it and nothing so far, I smell some fibs I reckon.

Phoneyusa is a valid genus, John. It was described by Friedrich Karsch in 1884

What Richard is saying is that it would be nice if this mystery spider batch could be Phoneyusa sp. rather than the usual large brown jobs from Cameroon that are imported as Hysterocrates spp.

I think you'd be fighting him for some if they were

[Lee Ardern]

I would doubt its anything more than Hysterocrates. We have been working with one of the main cameroon exporters for years and have yet to obtain anything other than hysterocates even when supplying them with locations where different species are likely to be found.

However it would be nice to be proven wrong and see some different stuff.

[John Hays]

lol, given the oddnes of the situation I thought Phoneyusa was made up

I wasnt planning on buying, just really intrigued in it, i'm such a n00b when to comes to Spiders, lots to learn.