''Aops'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

s in the Urodacidae

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. Its sole species is the

troglobitic A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

''Aops oncodactylus'', which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It was first described in 2008 by Erich Volschenk and Lorenzo Prendini.

Etymology

The generic name ''Aops'' comes from the Greek prefix ''a-'' (‘without’) and ''ops'' (‘eye’) because the scorpion is eyeless. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''oncodactylus'' derives from the Greek ''onkos'' (‘hook’) and ''daktylos'' (‘finger’) for the hooked ends of the

pincer Pincer may refer to: *Pincers (tool) *Pincer (biology), part of an animal *Pincer ligand, a terdentate, often planar molecule that tightly binds a variety of metal ions *Pincer (Go), a move in the game of Go *"Pincers!", an episode of the TV series ...

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer-shaped organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through Neo-Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds ...

Description

The single specimen found, the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, is a juvenile female. It is the first troglobitic urodacid and the first troglobitic scorpion to be recorded from continental Australia. The specimen exhibits troglomorphic (adapted to cave-dwelling) features, including lack of eyes and pigmentation; it was blind, and its colouring was white to yellowish-cream.

Distribution and habitat

The species was discovered in the course of a biotic survey of the caves of Barrow Island, a continental island lying 50 km off the coast of north-western

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The location was a chamber in Ledge Cave, which is only accessible by diving through a submerged passage.

References

Urodacidae Scorpion genera Monotypic arachnid genera Scorpions of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Arthropods of Western Australia Animals described in 2008 Cave arachnids Taxa named by Erich Volschenk {{Scorpion-stub