Differentiations Between Scorpion Species

[Ryan Reynolds]

Some scorpion families have several genera, and some of those genera have 100+ species that are spread over most of the world. How similar are all scorpions of the same species, genus, and family, and how much are they different from other scorpions in the same species, genus, and family that are halfway across the world?

 

[Stugy]

Polymorphism can be a thing like in Centruroides gracilis which exhibit this. The colors in each brood can differ. I don't really understand the part about "other member of their species that are halfway across the world" part. Did you mean how a hobbyist can have a scorpion of one species looks or act different than maybe another hobbyist's scorpion of the exact same species or WC specimens/ wild (in their natural habitat) specimens? Now I don't understand myself. Not that I ever did but whatever lol.

 

[RTTB]

It would be s complex answer that my brain can't answer.

 

[Ryan Reynolds]

Polymorphism can be a thing like in Centruroides gracilis which exhibit this. The colors in each brood can differ. I don't really understand the part about "other member of their species that are halfway across the world" part. Did you mean how a hobbyist can have a scorpion of one species looks or act different than maybe another hobbyist's scorpion of the exact same species or WC specimens/ wild (in their natural habitat) specimens? Now I don't understand myself. Not that I ever did but whatever lol.

I guess I really want to know how general a description would have to be in order to accurately describe all of the members of a family, genus, and species. How similar (biologically) are scorps from the same family, but from different genera, or from the same genus, but different species?

 

[pannaking22]

The description would really depend on how diverse the group in question is. If you're looking at a large genus like Centruroides, you're going to have a harder time pinning down a species, especially in areas with high diversity. Taxonomic identification in a genus that has essentially been a dumping ground will be challenging at the very least. Morphological details may be minute and in some cases difficult to find, assuming you have a pristine specimen and there aren't any cryptic species that would likely require genetic testing to separate. The genetics would then help determine whether the specimen in question is a subspecies, new species, or should be combined with a previously described species.

There are keys that help identify a specimen to genus and those can be very useful for general identification. After that, you would need much more specific publications to try to get the scorp to species.

Ecologically speaking, most Centruroides exhibit the same behaviors and fill the same basic niche. This would be different than buthids from a different region (such as Androctonus) which have different niches that need to be filled. There can be overlap though depending on the habitat, though different species may not necessarily be found in the same habitat.