Newest Addition (C. sculpturatus)

[Michelle.C]

My newest little invertebrate, and my very first Scorpion.

She is a Arizona Bark Scorpion (C. sculpturatus) and a very neat little girl. She is quite active and very interesting to watch. Even though I was a bit nervous unpacking her, I am glad I was able to get this girl.


Isn't she a cutie?

Thanks for looking!

[stangs13]

I like her!! I would love to have one, but my mom doesnt..

[littleindiangirl]

Rock on scorpios! Lol, okay, totally not the same thing, but she looks feisty.

[edie]

I think they changed the name to C. exilicauda. I've been keeping those since the fourth grade. Mine were always fast but never caused me any problems! I kept a communal group for about a year, I miss having them around

[Michelle.C]

I like her!! I would love to have one, but my mom doesnt..

I was unsure if I would like her or not. I can't think of anything that I'm really afraid of, but Scorpions have always given me the creeps. I gave them a chance, and I'm glad I did. Awesome little creatures.

Rock on scorpios! Lol, okay, totally not the same thing, but she looks feisty.

She is very feisty, swings that tail up every time you open the lid, they are also quite fast. I loves her even if she does want to sting me.

I just need to think of a name for her. I was thinking about going with the Egyptian Gods/Goddess theme with the Scorpions.

I think they changed the name to C. exilicauda. I've been keeping those since the fourth grade. Mine were always fast but never caused me any problems! I kept a communal group for about a year, I miss having them around

Ok, maybe you can help me clear up something.

I thought Centruroides exilicauda and Centruroides sculpturatus were found in different geographical locations and the species was still differentiated. I had heard that the species might be combined, but I wasn't sure if it went through.

I also heard that their DNA and Venom was shown to differ from each other. Wouldn't that make them a separate species? Very least, subspecies. If you do a species look up on either, they are still listing them as a different species. So, I am confused.

[edie]

I haven't heard anything about them being different species, living in AZ they are always referred to as C. exilicauda. I know with most websites I have seen they either list one or the other, and the one that lists the C. exilicauda are usually newer sites, I haven't seen any where the two names are both listed. I'm part of the Arizona Herpetolgocal Association and sometimes on the forum people post asking about barks and calling them C. sculpturatus and people usually correct saying that is the former name.

I wish I could have a more definite answer for you! Thats just what I always thought was going on with the names.

[Bobtard]

Centruroides sculpturatus is found in arizona.
at one point they were refered to as C.exilicauda for some time, but it is now known that exilicauda is indeed a different species and is found in Baja California.
Most, if not all, "C.exilicauda" in the hobby are indeed C.sculpturatus.

[edie]

After googling the situation I'm finding that answers are about 50/50 on them being different species and them being the same, just one being the former. I'm asking the people at the AHA right now, they said there is one guy there that will know the definative answer but he hasn't been on yet

[Patrick Long]

Interesting topic.

Makes you wonder, what else is out there?!?!?!?!?

[edie]

I just received this e-mail from Dr. W. David Sissom
Department of Life, Earth, & Environmental Sciences
West Texas A&M University

"Hi Charlotte,

Yes, I was at Arachnocon in 2006.

To answer your question, the original name for the Arizona bark scorpion
was C. sculpturatus and this was based on the yellow, unmarked form
(Ewing 1928). Some years later, H. Stahnke named the striped phase as
C. gertschi. In 1970, he correctly decided that gertschi was a junior
synonym of C. sculpturatus.

In 1973, S. Williams published that C. sculpturatus was the same as the
species in Baja California, which was called C. exilicauda. Since the
name exilicauda is older than sculpturatus, the former name was applied
to the bark scorpions in both Baja and Arizona.

More recently, there have been several studies using DNA sequence data
that suggest that the Arizona form is indeed different from exilicauda
in Baja. Therefore, it appears that a lot of people are now using C.
sculpturatus again as the name for the Arizona bark scorpion. I'm not
sure whether sculpturatus has actually been revalidated, but there have
been published suggestions, at least.

Hope this clarifies the situation for you.

David"

So I guess nothing is final? Lol, still confusing!