Rediscovery of the poorly-known genus Heteronebo Pocock, 1899 from Socotra, Yemen, with the erection of a new genus (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae)
DISCLAIMER
This is not a peer-reviewed paper, and none of the taxonomic decisions presented here are valid or scientifically binding.
In October 2024, I received a preserved juvenile Heteronebo specimen from a friend and began drafting this manuscript. Since then,
I have been awaiting an opportunity to indirectly examine type specimens deposited at NHMUK through my friend at UCL. During
this period, I completed most of this article but shifted focus to two other formal papers, which have since been published. Recently
after their finalization, I was informed that the NHMUK curator finally had availability to assist external visitors, prompting me to
revisit this manuscript. Unfortunately, after another month of waiting, the curator was once more occupied by personal commitments.
As a result, I opted to proceed with the publication of this article, with the intention of supplementing it later with photographs of
the type specimens once the curator becomes available, to facilitate future research. As I was toying with phylogenetic coding of
several diplocentrids in an attempt to see if there was any chance to support the monophyly of three genera, a significant lack of
data which hindered confident validation of diagnostic characters made me realize that I just could not tolerate the low quality of
this work as a formal publication and let it contaminate the field, even to the least extent. Consequently, I decided not to submit this
manuscript as a scientific paper but to share it instead as an informal report, just like some other ones I have previously uploaded to
ResearchGate and Zenodo. Therefore, please do not treat any taxonomic decisions or statements herein as authoritative, although
they may sound like formal conclusions since that was the original goal. My purpose in releasing this manuscript is to document
and share my observations, leaving this subject to specialized scorpiologists who can directly examine fresh specimens to produce
a rigorous, definitive study. It is hoped that by disclosing these personal findings, this study will serve as a preliminary guide for
researchers, helping to prevent them from inadvertently pursuing unnecessary detours during their investigations. Figures and tables
are listed after References for clarity. Data matrices were uploaded to Zenodo for interested readers to verify or entertain with.
Summary
Recent fieldwork on Socotra Island, Yemen, led to the discovery of a new specimen of Heteronebo Pocock, 1899. Inspection on this
specimen suggests a new synonymy: Heteronebo forbesii Pocock, 1899 = Heteronebo granti Pocock, 1899, syn. n. Based on detailed
review and paleogeographic evidence, it is proposed that all Caribbean taxa (17 species) formerly classified under Heteronebo
should be reassigned to a new genus, established as Aposanguis gen. n. Consequently, the genus Heteronebo now accommodates
only one species restricted to the Socotra Archipelago. However, present cladistic analyses based on limited and biased information
do not support the monophyly of either Heteronebo or Aposanguis gen. n. relative to genus Cazierius Francke, 1978. A complete
list of currently recognized Aposanguis species and their respective distribution is provided. Although this research does not revise
the systematics of Caribbean diplocentrids—this being beyond its scope—it sets the stage for future systematic investigations.
