Scolopendra gigantea, Linnaeus, 1758: 638

Shelley, Rowland M., 2006, A chronological catalog of the New World species of Scolopendra L., 1758 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae), Zootaxa 1253 (1), pp. 1-50 : 5

gigantea Linnaeus, 1758:638 .

Neotype (ZMUC); neotype locality, Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela .

Original rank: species. Current rank and status: valid species ( Kraepelin 1903; Attems 1930; Bücherl 1939, 1942 a 1974; Shelley & Kiser 2000).

Anatomical illustrations: Shelley & Kiser (2000, figs. 1–5).

Distribution: the Caribbean coastline of northern South America from Cordoba Dept., Colombia, to Surinam; Trinidad, Aruba, Curaçao, & Margarita Island, Venezuela. Occurrence in Surinam is based on the record by Jeekel (1952) that was overlooked by Shelley & Kiser (2000), who also missed the account by Brölemann (1909) and obscure records from Colombia ( Attems 1900, 1903), Venezuela ( Daday 1891), Guyana ( Chamberlin 1944, cited as S. galapagoensis Bollman 1889 ), & Trinidad ( Daday 1891). Bücherl (1942 a) cited S. gigantea from Goias & Alagoas Edos., Brazil, but these records need confirmation. There is one preserved specimen each from Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, & St. Thomas , U. S. Virgin Islands, that Shelley & Kiser concluded represent accidental human importations or labelling errors. Maps: Shelley & Kiser (2000, figs. 6–7).

Remarks: The oldest name for a species of Scolopendra in the New or Old Worlds, and thus holding taxonomic priority over all other names, S. gigantea was accorded a modern diagnosis by Shelley & Kiser (2000:161–165) to establish its identity and stabilize binomials in the Scolopendridae . The name was proposed for an illustration and short verbal account of a large­bodied species found on the wharves of Kingston, Jamaica ( Browne 1756), but there is no evidence that a type specimen ever existed.