Divergent venoms among two closely related co-distributed centipede species, Scolopendra morsitans and S. hardwickei in tropical Asia

Abstract

Venom is an important functional trait that helps predatory animals capture prey. Centipede predatory venoms are complex cocktails of multiple proteins, such as neurotoxins (scoloptoxins), cytotoxins, β-pore-forming toxins, and enzymes. We examined venom phenotypes in two closely related and co-occurring centipede species, Scolopendra morsitans (n = 28) and S. hardwickei (n = 11), in peninsular India to determine whether their venoms are similar or dissimilar. An integrated proteo-transcriptomic approach was used to characterise the venom phenotypes of the two species across multiple individuals in peninsular India. We used species occurrence records and species distribution models to assess the distributional overlap among these species within the peninsular Indian region. The species showed significant overlap in their current and projected geographical ranges, corresponding with their co-occurrence. We characterised the venom profiles of both species and found that the venoms comprised 110 and 84 proteins in S. morsitans and S. hardwickei, respectively, including enzymes, β-pore-forming toxins, neurotoxins, and non-toxin proteins.