It took the researchers 11 years to convince the scientific community that they had discovered a new scorpion. Because the specimen they had first spotted in Amboli Ghats of Maharasthra looked so similar to another commonly found Indian scorpion the Hottentotta rugiscutis, that it could possibly have been just a colour variation, thought the experts.
But finally after DNA testing confirmed the uniqueness of the species, Hottentotta vinchu in which ‘vinchu’ refers to the word scorpion in local parlance has been officially named a new discovery.
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The scorpion with a black coloured sting was first spotted by Zeeshan A Mirza in 2008 while pursuing his BSc., now a biologist attached to the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru. He took a picture of it and forgot about it until in 2010 he again saw the scorpion in Amboli when visiting with a friend.
This time, the duo thought that the scorpion needed close attention. The likeness with the commonly found brown scorpion was so much that it was hard to tell at first that it was indeed a different species.
“We decided to start studying this scorpion and submitted a research paper based on its features twice. But due to lack of DNA data, the paper was rejected by the reviewers,” said Mirza.
This did not deter him however. Having discovered 38 species including six scorpions, Mirza knew it was not easy to find conclusive scientific evidence about any new species, especially when it resembled a commonly known cousin.
A decade later, the researcher got a break when teamed with, Mayuresh Ambekar of the Department of Natural Sciences, Middlesex University, London, and Nirmal Kulkarni from the Mhadei Research Centre Goa, he again spotted the scorpion, this time in Goa’s Chorla Ghat in 2013, and in Northern Karnataka.
Ambekar and Mirza began collecting the DNA data of the species and soon got the confirmation they needed – the DNA testing revealed it was a new species. There work was again reviewed and approved this time. The research was recently published in the journal- Arachnida Rivista Arachnological Italiana.
Vinchu is found in lateritic plateaus of the Western Ghats which receive high rainfall supporting a wide variety of amphibians and arachnids. The species is common in the region and can be found in crevices in the culverts along roads and the broken down houses.
Thanks to the persistence of one ardent biologist, the newly identified scorpion species adds to the richness of the Western Ghats.
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