A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

Posted by
  A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation? Abstract Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus , observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus , was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a ...

Introducing the toxin-ID nomenclature to enable storage of venom toxin data in online repositories

Posted by

 


Introducing the toxin-ID nomenclature to enable storage of venom toxin data in online repositories

Abstract

The naming of venom toxins was largely ad hoc until the introduction of a rational nomenclature with a structured framework for naming venom peptides conveying taxonomic, pharmacological and structural information. Unfortunately, the resulting toxin names are susceptible to frequent name changes, necessitating a more stable nomenclature extending beyond peptides for long-term storage of toxin records in online repositories. The proposed toxin ID nomenclature includes a class-level taxonomic identifier plus a unique number within each class.
Herzig, V. (2025). Introducing the toxin-ID nomenclature to enable storage of venom toxin data in online repositories. Toxicon, 108592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108592