What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae)

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  What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae) Abstract We designate a neotype for the Eurasian spider species Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757, thereby fixing the objective application of the species name, the genus name Araneus Clerck 1757, the family name Araneidae Clerck 1757, and the superfamily name Araneoidea Clerck 1757. By etymology and arachnological tradition, it also unofficially fixes the application of the ordinal name Araneae Clerck 1757 and thus answers the uncontroversial question, “What’s a spider?” A. angulatus also happens to be historically the first animal species ever described because Clerck (1757) has priority over Linnaeus (1758). Neotype designation is justified for three reasons: the syntypes of A. angulatus are lost; “ A. angulatus ” contains significant COI sequence divergence, potentially representing intraspecific variation, misidentifications, or as many...

The Venom Proteome and Immunorecognition Profile of Clinically Important Echis carinatus sochureki from Northwestern India Underscores the Need for Regionally Specific Antivenoms

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By Mvshreeram - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93624499

The Venom Proteome and Immunorecognition Profile of Clinically Important Echis carinatus sochureki from Northwestern India Underscores the Need for Regionally Specific Antivenoms

Abstract

The saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus, one of the “Big Four” causes of snakebites in India, is found from Sri Lanka to eastern Iraq. To investigate clinical reports regarding the limited efficacy of Indian polyvalent antivenom (IPAV) against envenomation in Echis carinatus sochureki (ECS) in northwestern India, we obtained 22 snakes from three locations in Rajasthan and identified 148–174 toxin isoforms belonging to 21–25 toxin families in their venom using a bottom-up proteomics approach. All samples showed a high abundance of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs), particularly SVMP class III. Other major components were phospholipases A2, L-amino-acid oxidases, snake venom serine proteases and snaclecs (C-type lectins). Variation in venom composition among locations in Rajasthan, compared to E. c. carinatus (ECC) from southern India, was primarily due to differences in the relative abundance of these toxin families. Recognition of all venom components by IPAV was poor at lower antivenom concentrations. Notably, SVMP classes II and III were poorly recognized at all venom-to-antivenom ratios in all ECS venoms, and a plasma clotting assay revealed poor neutralization of procoagulant activity. This collaborative study highlights the need for the development of regional antivenoms to effectively treat snakebites in northwestern India.

Kumar, A., Sahu, A., Gopalakrishnan, M., Blotra, A., Rout, V. K., Kuttalam, S., Muralidar, S., Malhotra, A., & Vasudevan, K. (2026). The Venom Proteome and Immunorecognition Profile of Clinically Important Echis carinatus sochureki from Northwestern India Underscores the Need for Regionally Specific Antivenoms. Toxins, 18(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins18010054