Acanthogonatus Photos

Enomegra · Nov 26, 2010

As much as I like to consider these little beauties Tarantulas, taxonomy will not allow me my delusions. I love these little monsters immensely. They shine like gold, web like mad, and will fight you till the death, particularly the A. sp. "Chilean Tiger". Each species is very similar in appearance so I have been very diligent to keep proper records and precise labeling.

Without further ado, here is all but one of our Acanthogonathus specimens.

Acanthogonathus sp. "Black"

Acanthogonathus francki

Acanthogonathus pissi. One of two specimens we have.

Acanthogonathus pissi. Second of two specimens we have.

Acanthogonathus vilches

Same spider as above but she was being very photogenic today so I took advantage ^^

Acanthogonathus sp. "Chile". One of four specimens we have.

Acanthogonathus sp. "Chile". Second of four specimens we have.

Acanthogonathus sp. "Chile". Third of four specimens we have.

The fourth Acanthogonathus was far more interested in chewing on my handling straw than posing for photos so she will remain anonymous.

KnightinGale · Nov 26, 2010

Ohmigosh, they're beautiful! How big do they get, and how long do they live? They really do shine like gold. Or bronze or copper, depending on species and type, I suppose. Are you going to try breeding them? Thanks for sharing the pics! I hadn't seen these before.

Enomegra · Nov 26, 2010

They are full grown at about 3 inches but they are pretty leggy. I am not sure of their lifespan as they are pretty rare and there is not much info out there on them. I would imagine they would live somewhere around the same length as trap door spiders and dwarf T's at between 5-20 years depending on sex. They can be cared for just like any other Chilean species and are heavy webbers.

I would love to breed them when I have sexed them all. We have four of the A. sp. "Chile" so we have the best chance of having at least one pair of them. If we are very lucky we will have a pair of the A. pissi as well. If we do succeed in breeding them I will be sure to post it on here.

And thank you for the compliments. They are really amazing animals and are so rarely seen.

KnightinGale · Nov 27, 2010

Hm, yes, I searched for them online and didn't find much. The search engine kept trying to get me to search for the ant of similar name and most people who actually did say anything about this spider called them tarantulas. Do you know of any good links?
Good luck with the breeding! Hope that works out for you. How long have you had these guys? Count me in if you get a successful sac!

SpiderGuy814 · Nov 27, 2010

KnightinGale said:
Hm, yes, I searched for them online and didn't find much. The search engine kept trying to get me to search for the ant of similar name and most people who actually did say anything about this spider called them tarantulas. Do you know of any good links?
Good luck with the breeding! Hope that works out for you. How long have you had these guys? Count me in if you get a successful sac!

Great photos!

These guys in any way medically significant?

If you dont mind me asking (because I love heavy webbers and want some of my own) where did you get these from and maybe a price?

Are they defensive or aggressive?

Enomegra · Nov 27, 2010

@KnightinGale
I have found virtually no information on any of the species. Even photos are in short supply. All I know about them is from knowing other species from their locale and what I info i got from the person who sold them to us. I am in search of science papers on them because if the Genus is described there is bound to be some information on them in the academic world. If I find any links or info I will be sure to pass it along.

@SpiderGuy814
I am not aware of their venoms potency but that is some of the information I am aiming at acquiring. I hope to have a much more thorough understanding of the species before I commence breeding. They are quite defensive and very vast then they are not posturing. I found that while all of them were willing to do a fangless strike, the A. sp. "Chile" were considerably more aggressive with numerous full blown bites to my handling straw per individual and a couple sessions of gnawing that lasted around 5 full seconds. Personally I found it adorable since they are thoroughly convinced of how tough they are.

KnightinGale · Nov 28, 2010

Do they flick hairs much, or at all? Do they even have urticating hairs?

Enomegra · Nov 28, 2010

Whether they have them or not I have not been able to tell but they have not kicked in my presence.

the toe cutter · Nov 28, 2010

Those are amazing looking! They seem to have a fantastic metallic look about them. Best of luck to you with those little gems!

Zoltan · Nov 29, 2010

They don't have urticating hairs, they are not tarantulas (family Theraphosidae), they are nemesiids (family Nemesiidae). You should probably use the correct spelling when searching for info on them:

Acanthogonatus - nemesiid genus (there is an o after g but no h after the second t)
Acanthognathus - ant genus (there is an h after the second t but no o after g)
Acanthogonathus - ???

There is plenty of scientific literature on the genus, you can use the World Spider Catalog's Nemesiidae page in combination with the Bibliography pages to get titles.

If a dealer, item and price is involved, please take the discussion into PM.

Chris_Skeleton · Dec 18, 2010

I just picked up an A. sp. "Chile" today at Petco and it seems really docile. They've been getting a lot of different types of spiders lately and selling them as C. fasciatum. Couple weeks ago, I got a Paraphysa sp. "Chilean Tiger". I think someones overdoing it on the Chile imports.

AprilH · Dec 19, 2010

I saw a couple of these available locally, also. I was tempted... should I get them?

Chris_Skeleton · Dec 20, 2010

opiate said:
I saw a couple of these available locally, also. I was tempted... should I get them?

How much?

I like them. They're neat little spiders. HEAVY webbers.

Hobo · Dec 21, 2010

Here's my A. pissi.
They're great spiders. I hope to get more of this genus when I get the chance.
[YOUTUBE]eJ5DrJOMgFg[/YOUTUBE]

txgsxr · Dec 21, 2010

I dont know if its just the way the photo came out but the Acanthogonathus vilches looks like my fav.

josh_r · Dec 22, 2010

they remind me of calisoga. I used to keep these guys and they were very cool. very mellow as well. easily handleable

davisfam · Dec 22, 2010

what BEAUtiful creatures! :]
.. thanks for sharing these photos, it's mucho appreciated!

KoriTamashii · May 29, 2011

Chris_Skeleton said:
I just picked up an A. sp. "Chile" today at Petco and it seems really docile. They've been getting a lot of different types of spiders lately and selling them as C. fasciatum. Couple weeks ago, I got a Paraphysa sp. "Chilean Tiger". I think someones overdoing it on the Chile imports.

I picked one up today just labeled as a Tiger Rump - I'm smart enough to know that it's not one, haha. Silly Petco.

I think mine's an A. pissi, though. And a real sweetheart.

bloodpythonMA · Jul 29, 2011

KoriTamashii said:
I picked one up today just labeled as a Tiger Rump - I'm smart enough to know that it's not one, haha. Silly Petco.

I think mine's an A. pissi, though. And a real sweetheart.

Local petco had one on sale... I could tell it wasn't a tiger rump. But which Acanthogonatus species is it?

CoinJar · Oct 23, 2015

What about them keeps them from being classified as Tarantulas? They seem to have all the features; vertical fangs, haor, size. And they look identical to tarantulas.

Acanthogonatus Photos

Arachnopeon

Arachnoknight

Arachnopeon

Arachnoknight

Arachnopeon

Arachnopeon

Arachnoknight

Arachnopeon

Arachnobaron

Cult Leader

Arachnoprince

Petridish

Arachnoprince

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Arachnopeon

Arachnoprince

Arachnoknight

Arachnobaron

Arachnosquire

Arachnopeon