New species of spider nicknamed ‘big boy’ is one of the world’s deadliest

A new type of spider, nicknamed the ‘big boy’, has officially been discovered in Australia- and immediately became one of the deadliest arachnids in the world.

The Sydney funnel-back spider has held the title of world’s most venomous spider for many years, and has been responsible for at least 13 recorded deaths.

Symptoms of a funnel-back bite can include pain, muscle spasms, sweating, difficulty breathing and even death if untreated.

Funnel-back spiders can grow to various shapes and sizes, with a number of variations spotted throughout Sydney and the surrounding suburbs.

But according to new research from BMC Ecology and Evolution, the biggest of these spiders, the aforementioned ‘big boy’, are distinct enough from the other funnel-backs to be classified as their own separate species.

Using DNA analysis, researchers explained how what they thought was one species of spider was actually three distinct species: the ‘classic’ Sydney funnel-web, the Southern Sydney funnel-web (Atrax montanus), and the newly-christened Newcastle funnel-web (Atrax christenseni).

The previous two species were already known to scientists, but the Newcastle variant, which can grow to up to 9cm tall, is distinct enough to warrant reclassification.

‘This particular spider is a lot larger, its venom glands are a lot larger and its fangs are a lot longer,’ said spider expert Kane Christensen, the former head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park.

Mr Christensen, who first discovered the species in the early 2000s and had the Atrax christenseni named after him, added: ‘Sometimes you might find them in a garage or in a bedroom or somewhere in the house where they might have wandered in during the night.

‘I would not recommend touching them, that’s for sure, they do give copious amounts of venom.’

The big boy is considered to be the most venomous of the three funnel-spider variations, and its discovery could lead to breakthroughs in the production of anti-venom.

‘Since 1981, the Australian Reptile Park, situated in Somersby, NSW, has run a Venom Milking Program to gather venom from Sydney funnel-web spiders for antivenom production,’ said Danilo Harms, an arachnologists at the LIB, in a statement.

‘Although no human fatalities have occurred since the development of antivenom in the 1980s, the antivenom for Sydney funnel-web spiders might be optimized by considering biological differentiation at the species level.’

Mr Christensen added: ‘Atrax christenseni is a superb and impressive funnel-web. The sheer size of the males, compared to the males of the other Atrax species, is simply astounding.

‘I am very passionate about funnel-webs and there is no greater compliment than to have another scientist name a funnel-web species after me. I am deeply honoured and accept it with great pleasure.’

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