Nebo omanensis?

[pelo]

Only thing I could find was Ischnurid species are from tropical and partly subtropical areas...which means odds are I'm housing them wrong...No wonder they were relishing water from you and are big drinkers in my setup......peace..

 

[skinheaddave]

I'm not even going to look at the pics, as that is not going to prove satisfactory in terms of a real ID. If I could sit down with Pete's specimens again I could probably ID them to at least the family level fairly quickly. Since I'm over there tommorow evening, I'll see what I can do without the aid of a microscope. Otherwise, it may have to wait until I return from Montreal next week.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[skinheaddave]

Upon further investigation, I can make the distinction tommorow with my magnifying glass. I'll either post the results here or let Pete do it.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by pelo
Only thing I could find was Ischnurid species are from tropical and partly subtropical areas...which means odds are I'm housing them wrong...No wonder they were relishing water from you and are big drinkers in my setup......peace..

Would make sense, because when I added moisture to one of the two's containers I have, it did a LOT of digging, piling sand/peat mix up over the rock I had placed in there, trying to burrow under the rock. While desert species do dig, I've noticed that they're not too keen on water. The one I added water to the substrate wasn't bothered by it at all. But Opisthacanthus aren't really supposed to burrow much more than a scrape under rock or tree bark, right? These ones would burrow I bet if given the correct substrate.

One identification key of Opisthacanthus is that the tarsi of the legs are armed ventrally with stout spines. Also, Opisthacanthus' mesosomas do not taper toward the tail and are generally fat bodied. South African species of Opishacanthus possess course but smooth granulations on the pinchers.

I believe many Opisthacanthus come from South Africa. Some found (O. rugiceps) in east Africa (Tanzania). Some are also found in the Congo. There are also some found in grasslands (O. validus in South Africa) found under surface debris in shallow burrows/scrapes. O. valerioi may possibly come from Costa Rica. There are also some Opisthacanthus (elatus) from Venezuela. Someone please correct any misinformation here.

So in the spirit of information sharing, here are some various weather conditions in various cities and other information on Costa Rica to aid in your keeping of Opisthacanthus species. I can also add info on South Africa if you if you're interested in that.

If you believe your specimen is O. valerioi, it may possibly be from Costa Rica seeing as Dr. Carlos Viquez, who authored "Scorpions of Costa Rica," submitted one of the pics on the Scorpion Files along with other pictures of scorpions from Costa Rica. Jan Ove Rein would be a good person to ask about O. valerioi, since the pics were submitted to his website.

So let's take a look at Costa Rica. Just some additional information on the country and some weather patterns there for keepers who go with the nature knows best theory.

Heredia, Costa Rica. Weather over the next ten days: One day of early evening thunderstorms, 2 days of thunderstorms, one day of AM thunderstorms, 5 days of scattered thunderstorms, and one day of PM thunderstorms. Temperatures over the next 10 days are ranging from 59F at night to 78F during the day. Chance of precipitation over the next 10 days is as follows: 2 days of 60% chance, one day of 80% chance, 4 days of 40% chance, 2 days of 50% chance, and one day of 30% chance. Sun is rising around 5:30am and setting around 6pm. Humidities are ranging from 70% during the day to 100% during the evening. Winds from the east around 6 mph.

San Jose, Costa Rica. Weather over the next ten days: Identical to weather in Heredia, Costa Rica. I believe July is one of the wettest months in San Jose, Costa Rica with 7.2 inches of rain during the month. July through November are pretty wet months in San Jose. The driest month there is in January with .3" of rain during the month.

Personally I have a feeling this is an African species of Opisthacanthus, though I could be totally wrong. Just a feeling. Or even O. madagascariensis!

I have another specimen from Tanzania that I think is an Opisthacanthus. I'll have to add pics of it tomorrow when I get time.

I typed this post before I read Dave's post, but rather than deleting it I'll go ahead and post it, then await Dave's opinion tomorrow!

Take care!

 

[pelo]

Well Dave was over and definitely confirmed they aren't Nebos.Nebos are from the family Diplocentridae.One defining characteristic of the family diplocentridae is that they all have a subeculear tubercle located on the vesicle just in front of the stinger (polis 1990)...in other words a little protrusion/bump sticking off the vesicle just in front of the stinger, easily seen here on a heteronebo portoricensis....click here..http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/h_portoricensis.jpg ..Seems they(our nebos??) are totally lacking this characteristic which means they can't be diplocentridae which nebo omanensis falls into.There were also a couple other factors which Dave will explain later on in another post which also confirm they're not nebo.He is certain though they are a species of opisthacanthus.He too will explain why he has come to that conclusion.He told me and I was able to see but to translate it all back here..lol...well we'll let Dave do that.He'll try to do it tonight if he has time or when he returns from a trip next weekend.....peace...

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Oh, cool! I didn't know ALL Diplocentridae have subaculeur tubercles (I always called them subaculeur spines, lol!). Same thing as with Centruroides and Babycurus, right? the "second stinger?"

I appreciate the update!! That's awesome! I'll be looking forward to the extra info!!

Thanks again for posting that!

Take care!

 

[pelo]

Now I "think"..(Dave will varify later) that possibly only 2 genus lack the subacular tubercle..scorpindae and ischnuridae(opisthacanthus).With opiisthacanthus also is that the exoskeleton is much softer than some species,which mine were...a couple more factors leading Dave to his conclusions that they are opisthacanthus....peace..

 

[skinheaddave]

Okay, I'll try to address everyone's concerns.

The first thing I looked at was the telson. There was no subaculear tubercle. In taxonomic terms, there are a myriad of projections that can be found in that area and they are called subaculear tubercles, teeth etc. based on their size and morphology. According to "The Biology of Scorpions" (Polis, 1990), all Diplocentridae have subaculear tubercles. You can actualy just see the tubercle on the picture of N.omanesnsis located here at the Scorpion Files.

Now, given that it has a smoothe telson and taking into account its general appearance (large chela, thin metasoma etc.) it is probably Scorpionidae or Ischnuridae. There are other scorpions that lack some sort of subaculear projection or have a very indistinct one, but upon general inspection, I figured those two families. Since Opisthacanthus had been mentioned, I refered back to Polis (1990) which has a key to genra. The factor specifying as Opisthacanthus is "Dentate margins of pedipalp-chela fingers with 2 rows of granules (these rows are sometimes fused at the base)" Upon inspection, the specimens examined had these rows, giving some weight to the guesses made previously in this thread.

So where does this leave us? Well, it is definitely not Nebo or another Diplocentridae. It is probably Opisthacanthus, but I am unhappy saying "for sure" without multiple features to confirm, but in this case it seems to match my Opisthacanthus well in many respects and seems to posess enough taxonomic features to classify it as such based on Polis (1990).

I would like people to make note of two factors at this point, though:
- I do not have any documentation other than a 10 year old summary of systematics (albeit a very good one)
- This taxonomic evaluation thing is relatively new to me. I've been vaguely interested for a while now, but only really hit the books after the ATS conference (quite an inspiration for me). Thus, what I have put here is to be taken as the words of not only an amateur but of a novice.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by pelo
Now I "think"..(Dave will varify later) that possibly only 2 genus lack the subacular tubercle..scorpindae and ischnuridae(opisthacanthus).With opiisthacanthus also is that the exoskeleton is much softer than some species,which mine were...a couple more factors leading Dave to his conclusions that they are opisthacanthus....peace..

That's interesting!

I've noticed these seem to have a "softer" exoskeleton as well.

Take care!

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Here is a closeup of the telson. My batteries went dead and are recharging so I'll try to take some better ones of the telson.

 

[rainman]

looks to be some tiny bubbles on their if ya look close enough. eh, good closeup on the telson.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

As requested by Paul in a prior post...

Most of the Opisthacanthus genus and locales are as follows:

Species - Region (Country/ies)

1 Opisthacanthus africanus - Sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Mozambique)
2 Opisthacanthus asper - Sub-Saharan Africa (Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe)
3 Opisthacanthus basutus - Sub-Saharan Africa (Lesotho)
4 Opisthacanthus capensis - Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe)
5 Opisthacanthus cayaporum - South America (Brazil, French Guiana)
6 Opisthacanthus diremptus - Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
7 Opisthacanthus elatus - Central America (Colombia, Panama, Venezuela)
8 Opisthacanthus laeviceps - Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
9 Opisthacanthus lamorali - Sub-Saharan Africa (Zimbabwe)
10 Opisthacanthus lecomtei - Sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Gabon)
11 Opisthacanthus lepturus - Central America (Dominican Republic, Haiti)
12 Opisthacanthus madagascariensis - Sub-Saharan Africa (Madagascar)
13 Opisthacanthus piscatorius - Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
14 Opisthacanthus punctulatus - Sub-Saharan Africa (Madagascar)
15 Opisthacanthus rugiceps - Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania)
16 Opisthacanthus rugulosus - Sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi)
17 Opisthacanthus valerioi - South America (Costa Rica)
18 Opisthacanthus validus - Sub-Saharan Africa (Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland)
19 Opisthacanthus weyrauchi - South America (Peru)



adios,
edw.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by rainman
looks to be some tiny bubbles on their if ya look close enough. eh, good closeup on the telson.

Yeah, I don't know what the heck that was! lol! Thanks, Rainman! I'm going to have to save up over the year and get one of those 5 megapixel dealies for better closeup shots!

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Dave and Edward,

thankyou both for taking the time to post that info! All awesome info!!

I've noticed something on the venom gland of the ones I have here that resembles a subaculer tubercle but it's VERY tiny, so I don't know if it's just a hair with a thick base or what. I'm going to try and get some better shots at the right angle and post later.

Thanks again, guys!!

Best wishes,

Paul

 

[pelo]

Well now to try and figure out the best way to house them.I've got a x-large critter keeper.I've given it the oppurtunity to climb,burrow and a hide to retreat.I've moisten some sections and left others relatively dry.There's actually a few different enviroments contained within it.Now to see where it likes to hang out best.I'll leave it for a few days and post the results.....peace..

 

[pelo]

Before Dave left he told me odds were good it would be a climber.It's travelled around investigating all setups and has taken to climbing the corkbark and has stayed there...I'll keep you posted....peace..

>>hey phoenix...why don't you stand a peice or two of corkbark in your enclosure and see what happens.....

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Hey Pelo,

I'm going to change it's setup now to peat, add some moisture and add some pieces of branch for it to climb on and see what happens. In it's current setup it seems to really like this chunk of concrete and is pretty much on that constantly!

I'll try to get more pics and do all that and then repost!

Take care!

Oh, here's some other info on Costa Rica, just for information sake (in case the scorpion in question is O. valerioi):

Borders Carribean and North Pacific Sea between Nicaragua and Panama.

.86% of Costa Rica is water.

The country of Costa Rica is slightly less in size than the state of West Virginia.

It is a tropical and subtropical climate; it's dry season being December through April and it's rainy season being May through November. The highlands are cooler in temperature.

Costa Rica is made up of coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, several of which are active volcanoes. In the center of the country, close to San Jose (the capital), there are four volcanoes, two of which are active volcanoes, one named Irazu.

There are occasional earthquakes there, and hurricanes along the Atlantic coast. The lowlands are frequently flooded at the beginning of the rainy season which cause landslides.

 

[pelo]

Day 2...still hanging out on the corkbark I've stood up against the walls....peace..