SYDNEY: Australian scientists have discovered a bigger, more venomous species of the Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world`s deadliest.
The new funnel-web species has earned the nickname `Big Boy` and was first discovered in the early 2000s near Newcastle, 170 km north of Sydney, by Kane Christensen, a spider enthusiast and former head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park.
`This particular spider is a lot larger, its venom glands are alotlarger and its fangs are a lot longer, he said.
In research released on Monday, scientists from the Australian Museum, Flinders University and Germany`s Leibniz Insti-tute said the `Big Boy` would be classified as a separate species of funnelweb spider. Scientists have named the 9-centimetre long species as Atrax christenseni, after Christensen`s contributions to the research.
The nocturnal black arachnids are usually spotted within around 150 km of Sydney and are mostly active between November and April.
Only the male Sydney funnel-web, which carries a much stronger venom, is responsible for human deaths. A total of 13 deaths have been recorded though no human fatalities have occurred since the development of antivenom in the 1980s.
