Holotype: MHNG; male; TADJIKISTAN, Sanglak Mts, Khatlon Region, Danghara District, environs of Sebiston, ca 38.248°N, 69.245°E, 1200-1500 m a.s.l.; 6.V.1991; leg. S. Ovtchinnikov.

Paratype: MHNG; 1 female; collected together with the holotype.

Comparative material: Anguliphantes nepalensis (Tanasevitch, 1987): ZMMU (# Ta-8182); 1 male; NEPAL, Mustang District, Thakkhola, Chadziou-Khola, 2700-2900 m a.s.l., monsoon-influenced, dense, primary broadleaved forest in canyon, with bamboo growth; X.1969; leg. J. Martens. – ZMMU (# Ta-8183); 2 males, 3 females [sample #108]; Solukhumbu District, Khumbu, Mt. Everest region, 3250-3300 m a.s.l., confluence of Imja and Phunki-Drangka, Betula forest; 30.IX.-2.X.1970; leg. J. Martens.

Etymology: The species name is a noun in apposition, meaning a native of Tadjikistan.

Diagnosis: The new species is distinguished from all known congeners by its relatively long legs. The male is also characterized by a modified palpal tibia, as well as by the shape of its lamella characteristica and of its embolus. The female differs by the shape of the proscapus base.

Description: Male holotype. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Total length 2.13. Carapace unmodified, 0.98 long, 0.85 wide; pale brown, with an indistinct grey, median spot and a greyish margin. Eyes relatively small, each with a black fringe. Chelicerae unmodified, 0.43 long, of same colour as carapace. Legs yellow to pale yellow. Leg I 7.42 long (1.75 + 0.30 + 2.00 + 1.98 + 1.39), leg IV 6.09 long (1.63 + 0.28 + 1.65 + 1.75 + 0.78). Chaetotaxy: FeI: 0-2-0-0, FeII-IV: 0-0-0-0; TiI: 2-1-1-0, TiII: 2-0-1-0; TiIII-IV: 2-0-0-0; MtI-III: 1-0-0-0, MtIV: 0-0-0-0. Metatarsi I-III each with a trichobothrium. TmI 0.08. Palp (Figs 3-9): Patella with a special spine (see Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996). Cymbium with neither posterodorsal outgrowth nor process. Tibia with a small, conical dorsal tubercle carrying a weak spine, and with a small arcuate projection retrolaterally. Paracymbium relatively large, toothless, its posterior and anterior pockets merged into a single large pocket. Terminal apophysis relatively small, complex in shape. Lamella characteristica widened near middle, narrowing distally, bifid apically. Embolus large and wide, its serrate surface (see Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996) well-developed. Five small, slender, blunt teeth at base of embolus. Embolus proper short, bifid. Abdomen (Fig. 1) 1.10 long, 0.65 wide, dark grey, dorsal pattern absent. Female paratype. Habitus as in Fig. 2. Total length 2.35. Carapace unmodified, 1.05 long, 0.75 wide; yellow, with a grey median spot and a greyish margin. Eye sizes as in male. Chelicerae 0.45 long. Legs yellow. Femur and patella I 1.75 and 0.30 long, respectively, other segments of leg I missing. Leg IV 6.01 long (1.70 + 0.28 + 1.63 + 1.60 + 0.80). Chaetotaxy: FeI: 0-2(3)-0-0, FeII-IV: 0-0-0-0; TiII: 2-0-1-0; TiIII-IV: 2-0-0-0; MtII: 1(2)-0-0-0, MtIII: 1-0-0-0, MtIV: 0-0-0-0. TmI unknown, metatarsi I missing. Abdomen (Fig. 2) 1.50 long, 1.00 wide, grey. Epigyne (Figs 14-16): Proscapus long and slender, gradually curving, with a small outgrowth at its base on both sides. Distal part of scapus widening. Lateral lobes long, extending far out from both sides of proscapus. Stretcher long and slender, pit distinct. Posterior median plate small, longer than wide.

Taxonomic remarks: Judging from the modified palpal tibia, the structure of the embolic division in the male and the shape of the scapus in the female, the new species seems to be most closely related to the Himalayan A. nepalensis (see Introduction). Anguliphantes tadjik sp. nov. differs by the shape of the retrolateral projection of its palpal tibia (Figs 4-5 cf. Fig. 10), by the the absence of a swollen extension on its paracymbium (Fig. 6 cf. Fig. 10), by the shape of its embolus (Fig. 8 cf. Fig. 12), as well as by the shape of its lamella characteristica (Fig. 9 cf. Fig. 13). The female differs from that of A. nepalensis by the longer proscapus and the presence of lateral extensions on both sides of the proscapus (Fig. 14 cf. Fig. 17).

Breitling (2019, 2021) suggested that Anguliphantes is a junior synonym of Oryphantes Hull, 1932 on the basis of DNA barcoding data using a fragment of the MT-CO1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) gene. However, it is well known that CO1 barcoding alone is quite unreliable at the generic level (for details see paragraph 7 at  https://wsc.nmbe.ch/faq). The separation of the genera Anguliphantes and Oryphantes was confirmed by clear-cut differences in the genital structures of both sexes, in particular the embolus division of the male palp and the lateral walls of the female epigyne (for details see Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996).