Hapalopus formosus

[herpetogeorgie]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty confused on the Hapalopus genus. As I understand it the Columbia large was given its taxonomic name of H. formosus, but I'm seeing a lot of other names floating around such as Columbia groß, H. Sp. Columbia and the like. Could someone iron it out for me?

 

[Stemmy101]

So, to my understanding (someone pls correct me if I'm wrong), when a species isn't yet we'll established in the hobby it is given a name with the genus and sp "something". In this case Hapalopus sp. Colombia, and then later the name is reformed. For example, Euthalas sp. Red is now Homoemma chilensis. There's a lot of Ts in the hobby with sp names Xenesthis sp. "blue", Pseudhapalopus sp. “Colombia”, etc. Name changes happen all the time. And people probably aren't aware of the name change yet or just don't care so they still go by Hapalopus sp. Colombia. That's just my take on it, but I'm not really 100%

 

[viper69]

Names don’t always catch on

 

[Nevermore Exotics]

Actually, I believe it is when a species has not be classified sp. is used until it is classified.

 

[Stemmy101]

Actually, I believe it is when a species has not be classified sp. is used until it is classified.

That's essentially what I was trying to say I just didn't have the right words lol

 

[Smotzer]

Hapalopus sp. Columbia Large=groß
H. sp. Columbia Small=Klein

Often sellers do not follow taxonomic classifications or reclassifications. Sometimes it’s easier to sell under old names that have been used for years and not new names to the public who doesn’t follow taxonomic classification, that’s my personal observation.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Actually, I believe it is when a species has not be classified sp. is used until it is classified.

The abbreviation ‘sp.’ in place of a species epithet following a genus name indicates an unknown species of that genus. It doesn’t imply the organism, in this case a tarantula of the genus Hapalopus, has not been described. Just that whoever is using the sp. abbreviation does not know the species. Could be new to science and needs a description or could already be known but just not identified to species level. The meaning depends on context.

So, to my understanding (someone pls correct me if I'm wrong), when a species isn't yet we'll established in the hobby it is given a name with the genus and sp "something". In this case Hapalopus sp. Colombia, and then later the name is reformed. For example, Euthalas sp. Red is now Homoemma chilensis. There's a lot of Ts in the hobby with sp names Xenesthis sp. "blue", Pseudhapalopus sp. “Colombia”, etc. Name changes happen all the time. And people probably aren't aware of the name change yet or just don't care so they still go by Hapalopus sp. Colombia. That's just my take on it, but I'm not really 100%

With Euathlus sp. Red, the tarantula was misidentified as belonging to the genus Euathlus. It was properly identified as belonging to the genus Homoeomma by some who referred to the exact same tarantula as Homoeomma sp. "Fire." After the species was properly described and classified with the published results becoming available, people in the hobby who called it Euathlus sp. Red played "follow the leader" with changing the name to Homoeomma chilensis. By "follow the leader" I mean that those who had stated "Euathlus sp. Red is now Homoeomma chilensis" were, and probably still are, just repeating what someone else said without understanding why calling it a Euathlus species was wrong to begin with. Those who used the correct genus placement of Homoeomma finally had the confirmation that it was, in fact, a new species of Homoeomma and started calling it H. chilensis. All of the tarantulas being sold as Xenethis sp., Pamphobeteus sp., etc. can not be confirmed to be new species until someone actually studies them properly.

So the take-aways from all of this is...

The sp. abbreviation means "I don't know what species this is."
You can not trust that the tarantulas you buy are even correctly identified to the genus rank.
People need to be skeptical of the scientific names given to tarantulas for sale in the pet hobby. More than likely they are just guesses.

 

[herpetogeorgie]

Thanks for clearing it up guys, I thought H. formosus was the scientifically described name for most of the names I was seeing but just wanted to make sure

 

[DaveM]

Thanks for clearing it up guys, I thought H. formosus was the scientifically described name for most of the names I was seeing but just wanted to make sure

You're right, and a great resource for you would be the World Spider Catalog, found here: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/
You can make an account for free and then access a listing of accepted scientific names, and you can download the taxonomic references. Most recent for Hapalopus formosus is:
Pérez-Miles, F. (2020). Introduction to the Theraphosidae. In: Pérez-Miles, F. (ed.) New World Tarantulas. Zoological Monographs, 6, pp. 1-23.

 

[herpetogeorgie]

You're right, and a great resource for you would be the World Spider Catalog, found here: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/
You can make an account for free and then access a listing of accepted scientific names, and you can download the taxonomic references. Most recent for Hapalopus formosus is:
Pérez-Miles, F. (2020). Introduction to the Theraphosidae. In: Pérez-Miles, F. (ed.) New World Tarantulas. Zoological Monographs, 6, pp. 1-23.

Wow thanks for this! Excuse me whilst I lose a couple evenings surfing this...

 

[viper69]

Wow thanks for this! Excuse me whilst I lose a couple evenings surfing this...

Let us know what you learn. I'm sure you aren't the only person who would like to know. Knowledge is useless if only a few know it.

 

[herpetogeorgie]

Let us know what you learn. I'm sure you aren't the only person who would like to know. Knowledge is useless if only a few know it.

When I was a member of a group of people that loved herps we used to have something that we affectionately called PP night... Or PowerPoint night. Everyone week we'd have a video call and a couple of people could present 5 minute presentations on pretty much anything they liked or found out that week. It was a lot of fun. Maybe an idea for the forum??

 

[Jimmyboi]

The WSC makes no mention of Hapalopus sp. columbia anywhere that's visible to me. Hapalopus formosus is of course present so I'm going to assume just going off of what I can (and can't) find, is that H. formosus and H. columbia large are synonymous. I'm going to assume that this was another case of poachers guessing or wrongly assuming. H. columbia klein on the other hand might be a mystery.