- Joined
- Jul 3, 2011
- Messages
- 495
Lorenzo Prendini recently published a revision of the genus Heterometrus and a couple other members of the family Scorpionidae.
http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/7246
As far as implications go for some of the species in the hobby:
• The Pandinus subgenera Pandinopsis and Pandipalpus are elevated to full genera (and thus the species are Pandinopsis dictator and Pandipalpus viatoris).
• Hobby "Heterometrus petersii" are actually H. silenus. Real H. petersii is apparently a cryptic species morphologically indistinguishable from H. spinifer (but are genetically distinct) and has only been confirmed from Singapore and the Malaysian island of Penang.
• Heterometrus cimrmani and H. minotaurus are conspecific and are synonymized with H. laevigatus.
• Heterometrus bengalensis is now Deccanometrus bengalensis.
• Heterometrus madraspatensis and H. fulvipes are now in the genus Chersonesometrus (and are indeed separate species). C. madraspatensis appears to be the more common species in the pet trade based on morphology.
• Heterometrus mysorensis is now Chersonesometrus tristis.
• Heterometrus swammerdami is now Gigantometrus swammerdami. The subspecies titanicus is reinstated and elevated to full species, and thus animals found on Sri Lanka are G. titanicus.
• Heterometrus cyaneus is now Javanimetrus cyaneus.
http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/7246
As far as implications go for some of the species in the hobby:
• The Pandinus subgenera Pandinopsis and Pandipalpus are elevated to full genera (and thus the species are Pandinopsis dictator and Pandipalpus viatoris).
• Hobby "Heterometrus petersii" are actually H. silenus. Real H. petersii is apparently a cryptic species morphologically indistinguishable from H. spinifer (but are genetically distinct) and has only been confirmed from Singapore and the Malaysian island of Penang.
• Heterometrus cimrmani and H. minotaurus are conspecific and are synonymized with H. laevigatus.
• Heterometrus bengalensis is now Deccanometrus bengalensis.
• Heterometrus madraspatensis and H. fulvipes are now in the genus Chersonesometrus (and are indeed separate species). C. madraspatensis appears to be the more common species in the pet trade based on morphology.
• Heterometrus mysorensis is now Chersonesometrus tristis.
• Heterometrus swammerdami is now Gigantometrus swammerdami. The subspecies titanicus is reinstated and elevated to full species, and thus animals found on Sri Lanka are G. titanicus.
• Heterometrus cyaneus is now Javanimetrus cyaneus.
