Telling Chilobrachys species apart

gottarantulas · Jul 27, 2015

Hey folks! Recently purchased yet another Chilobrachys T which was sold as a Burma (Burmese) Chocolate Tarantula,I then noticed that
Chilobrachys bicolor,Chilobrachys guangxienensis, Chilobrachys huahini and Chilobrachys Sai yok all look similar. Does anyone know how to
definitively tell them apart?

Angel Minkov · Jul 27, 2015

Well, just looking at them with the naked eye and without some knowledge in taxonomy - I'd say you can't. You'd need to read some papers or consult with a taxonomist.

Storm76 · Jul 28, 2015

That's the problem: A lot of them, like "Sai Yok" aso, haven't been described as of yet. Hence, the locality where they were found is used as a species name for the time being. It'll take time until then and I strongly suggest not mixing them up with each other, but keeping them seperate until such time - the last thing the hobby needs are hybrids because someone assumed they're the same. Just saying.

AphonopelmaTX · Jul 28, 2015

Storm76 said:
That's the problem: A lot of them, like "Sai Yok" aso, haven't been described as of yet. Hence, the locality where they were found is used as a species name for the time being. It'll take time until then and I strongly suggest not mixing them up with each other, but keeping them seperate until such time - the last thing the hobby needs are hybrids because someone assumed they're the same. Just saying.

Have these undescribed species been keyed out and determined to be undescribed?

TownesVanZandt · Jul 28, 2015

The classifications of Chilobrachys spp. is currently a mess that hopefully will be sorted out over the next few years. That being said, they are such beautiful and great spiders to keep

Storm76 · Jul 28, 2015

AphonopelmaTX said:
Have these undescribed species been keyed out and determined to be undescribed?

To my knowledge, Volker v. Wirth is still working on the subject. He's seemingly the person to talk to about this genus. In the past, that's a fact for Europe by the way, a lot of Chilobrachys have been sold as "huahini" or "andersoni" for example - although those were not properly identified as such. As my colleague from Norway said it's pretty messy. For instance: There's a number of supposedly Chilobrachys, that don't dig at all and live actually in the trees. Given that, science is intent on confirming these are in fact Chilobrachys spp and not something entirely different looking similiar only.

Lastly, there's a new species out there from Feb. 2015 (supposedly) in the Chilobrachys genus: CLICKY (awesome looks...)
Has been named Chilobrachys sp. "electric blue" for the time being, discovered by Wojtas Pałasz Charliie and Jakub Skowronek in Thailand 2015 apparently.

Angel Minkov · Jul 28, 2015

Yes, C. sp. electric blue is very beautiful. I shop on a regular basis from one of the team members to have discovered this species. Great people

Storm76 · Jul 28, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Yes, C. sp. electric blue is very beautiful. I shop on a regular basis from one of the team members to have discovered this species. Great people

They certainly do look very nice. Kinda remind me a bit of a bigger version of Psednocnemis brachyramosa... CLICKY

gottarantulas · Jul 28, 2015

Thanks for all your replies and insight! Definitely appreciated.

pyro fiend · Jul 28, 2015

Storm76 said:
They certainly do look very nice. Kinda remind me a bit of a bigger version of Psednocnemis brachyramosa... CLICKY

off topic... but im not too fond of chilos, just personal preference, but seeing this link was def worth my time ;D

petkokc · Jul 29, 2015

Good thread, wanted to start similar. About C. dyscolus and sp Vietnam blue. Is that same sp or what? Anyone know something more about them?

Poec54 · Jul 29, 2015

petkokc said:
Good thread, wanted to start similar. About C. dyscolus and sp Vietnam blue. Is that same sp or what? Anyone know something more about them?

I find it hard to believe they're the same species. Also, does dyscolus have a black carapace or a beige one?

petkokc · Jul 29, 2015

I have no idea, but I saw some sellers use both names together, that's why I ask (0.0.10 Chilobrachys dyscolus " Vietnam blue " 1,5 cm for example)

Storm76 · Jul 29, 2015

petkokc said:
Good thread, wanted to start similar. About C. dyscolus and sp Vietnam blue. Is that same sp or what? Anyone know something more about them?

No, they aren't. Chilobrachys dyscolus was traded as Chilobrachys burmensis formerly. Typical dyscolus: CLICKY

Poec54 said:
I find it hard to believe they're the same species. Also, does dyscolus have a black carapace or a beige one?

Beige, brownish.

advan · Jul 29, 2015

Storm76 said:
To my knowledge, Volker v. Wirth is still working on the subject. He's seemingly the person to talk to about this genus. In the past, that's a fact for Europe by the way, a lot of Chilobrachys have been sold as "huahini" or "andersoni" for example - although those were not properly identified as such. As my colleague from Norway said it's pretty messy. For instance: There's a number of supposedly Chilobrachys, that don't dig at all and live actually in the trees. Given that, science is intent on confirming these are in fact Chilobrachys spp and not something entirely different looking similiar only.

Jan, I think you missed his point. Any of the Chilobrachys species labelled with a locale or hobby name could be undescribed but they could also already be described, just not properly ID'd yet.

Lastly, there's a new species out there from Feb. 2015 (supposedly) in the Chilobrachys genus: CLICKY (awesome looks...)
Has been named Chilobrachys sp. "electric blue" for the time being, discovered by Wojtas Pałasz Charliie and Jakub Skowronek in Thailand 2015 apparently.

New species to the hobby from those two but not newly discovered. Alan Mommerency photographed this species back in 2009. The two(Wojtas Pałasz Charliie and Jakub Skowronek) brought the species back, named them 'electric blue' instead of the locale (Near Khao SoK National Park, Tenasserim Hills, Thailand) that they have been previously been known as. See Alan's photo here>>> http://www.birdspiders.com/gallery/index.php/Tarantulas/birdspiders_0829

petkokc said:
Good thread, wanted to start similar. About C. dyscolus and sp Vietnam blue. Is that same sp or what? Anyone know something more about them?

See here>>> http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...brachys-spp.&p=2386184&viewfull=1#post2386184

Poec54 · Jul 29, 2015

Storm76 said:
No, they aren't. Chilobrachys dyscolus was traded as Chilobrachys burmensis formerly. Typical dyscolus: CLICKY

Beige, brownish.

The dyscolus I bought have black legs/abdomen and a beige/brown carapace (captive bred, Chris Allen). I have a couple w/c Chilos that are 7" and all black. Dyscolus?

My guangxiensis are lighter colored, like that pic.

Storm76 · Jul 29, 2015

advan said:
Jan, I think you missed his point. Any of the Chilobrachys species labelled with a locale or hobby name could be undescribed but they could also already be described, just not properly ID'd yet.

New species to the hobby from those two but not newly discovered. Alan Mommerency photographed this species back in 2009. The two(Wojtas Pałasz Charliie and Jakub Skowronek) brought the species back, named them 'electric blue' instead of the locale (Near Khao SoK National Park, Tenasserim Hills, Thailand) that they have been previously been known as. See Alan's photo here>>> http://www.birdspiders.com/gallery/index.php/Tarantulas/birdspiders_0829

See here>>> http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...brachys-spp.&p=2386184&viewfull=1#post2386184

Thanks for clearing that up, Chad! I guess I did miss his point, yes. Sorry about that.

Poec54 said:
The dyscolus I bought have black legs/abdomen and a beige/brown carapace (captive bred, Chris Allen). I have a couple w/c Chilos that are 7" and all black. Dyscolus?
My guangxiensis are lighter colored, like that pic.

I'm not aware of a completely black dyscolus, but with that size it sounds more likely to be a different species - perhaps those "Black Satan"? I can't tell what they are, but not dyscolus in my opinion. If they were W/Ced - got the locality where they are from?

Considering a lot of the T's you guys get into the hobby over there, get imported from Europe, perhaps it was some mislabled spider? As for guangxiensis (formerly sold as Chilobrachys jingzhao), yeah they're are pretty light-colored from those that I saw.

Poec54 · Jul 29, 2015

Storm76 said:
I'm not aware of a completely black dyscolus, but with that size it sounds more likely to be a different species - perhaps those "Black Satan"? I can't tell what they are, but not dyscolus in my opinion. If they were W/Ced - got the locality where they are from?

They came from an importer along with some w/c H lividum. They were all supposed to be lividum, but I saw a couple bigger, all-black ones and bought those.

AphonopelmaTX · Jul 29, 2015

advan said:
Jan, I think you missed his point. Any of the Chilobrachys species labelled with a locale or hobby name could be undescribed but they could also already be described, just not properly ID'd yet.

Yes, you got it.

Storm76 · Jul 30, 2015

Poec54 said:
They came from an importer along with some w/c H lividum. They were all supposed to be lividum, but I saw a couple bigger, all-black ones and bought those.

Now I'm interested in pics

Telling Chilobrachys species apart

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