Biodiversity discovery program Bush Blitz yields a new species of goblin spider, Cavisternum attenboroughi (Araneae: Oonopidae), from the Northern Territory.

This paper is part of the “Goblin Spider PBI” project, a world-wide revision of the spider family Oonopidae (http:// research.amnh.org/oonopidae). Oonopidae is one of the world’s most diverse spider families with over 1000 described species in 88 genera (Platnick 2012). Mostly six-eyed and tiny (1–3 mm), they are not often noticed by people because of their small size and secretive lifestyle. Most have a body shield of abdominal scutae (hardened plates). The Oonopidae are most diverse in tropical and subtropical regions (Platnick and Dupérré 2010), yet they also occur in other locations such as at high altitudes in the Himalayan Mountains (Baehr and Ubick 2010). The Australian endemic genus Cavisternum is distinguished by broadened fangs and a concave sternum covered with clavate setae in males (Baehr et al. 2010). They are found in tropical northern Australia, mostly at low rainfall sites with open woodland vegetation. Most species are short range endemics, often only recorded from a single location (Baehr et al. 2010). Bush Blitz 2012 the biodiversity discovery partnership program between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton and Earthwatch Australia, has yielded a new species of Cavisternum, C. attenboroughi sp. nov., which takes the number of species in the genus to 22. The species was collected at Fish River Station, Northern Territory, in heath woodland (Fig. 1) and monsoon vine thicket (Fig. 2), using pitfall traps.