Citation

Brito G, Borges A. J. Venom Anim. Toxins Incl. Trop. Dis. 2015; 21: 23.

Affiliation

Laboratory of Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador ; Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Toxinas y Receptores, Instituto de Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Apartado Postal 50587, Venezuela ; National Secretariat for Higher Education, Sciences, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador (Senescyt), Quito, Ecuador.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Universidade Estadual Paulista. Centro de Estudos de Venenos e Animais Peçonhentos)

DOI

10.1186/s40409-015-0023-x

PMID

26229525

PMCID

PMC4520211

Abstract

Ecuador harbors one of the most diverse Neotropical scorpion faunas, hereby updated to 47 species contained within eight genera and five families, which inhabits the "Costa" (n = 17), "Sierra" (n = 34), "Oriente" (n = 16) and "Insular" (n = 2) biogeographical regions, corresponding to the western coastal, Andean, Amazonian, and the Galápagos archipelago regions, respectively. The genus Tityus Koch, in the family Buthidae, responsible for severe/fatal accidents elsewhere in northern South America and the Amazonia, is represented in Ecuador by 16 species, including T. asthenes, which has caused fatalities in Colombia and Panama, and now in the Ecuadorian provinces of Morona Santiago and Sucumbíos. Underestimation of the medical significance of scorpion envenoming in Ecuador arises from the fact that Centruroides margaritatus (Gervais) (family Buthidae) and Teuthraustes atramentarius Simon (family Chactidae), whose venoms show low toxicity towards vertebrates, frequently envenom humans in the highly populated Guayas and Pichincha provinces. This work also updates the local scorpion faunal endemicity (74.5 %) and its geographical distribution, and reviews available medical/biochemical information on each species in the light of the increasing problem of scorpionism in the country. A proposal is hereby put forward to classify the Ecuadorian scorpions based on their potential medical importance.

Language: en