Shahan Derkarabetian
LightNews LightNews
banner
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
Shahan Derkarabetian
@sderkarabetian.bsky.social
360 followers 230 following 14 posts
Opiliones. Systematics. Evolution. Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Sci-fi. Metal. Cyborg. deaf w CI. He/him. Opinions are mine.
Posts Replies Media Videos
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
New paper, accepted. Open access. Metazoan UCEs, plus other things like pairwise comparisons of 21 probe sets across 58 genomes and divergence times. Huge group effort on this!

doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
October 14, 2025 at 2:56 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
Opilioacarida! Mites that kind of look like Opiliones (hence the name). Found all over tropical and subtropical habitats worldwide, poorly studied. These were the first I've ever seen alive! From south of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. This is Neocarus bajacalifornicus.
A macro photo of a small mite, facing right. The body color is light grey. Its front pair of legs are elongate and pointing forward like antennae. It is walking on a rock.
March 2, 2024 at 3:26 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
Phrynus asperatipes from south of La Paz, Baja California Sur. This was the first amblypygid I've ever seen in the wild! Second photo is a a full body shot that shows the first pair of legs that are sensory in function and give them the name "whip scorpions"
A macro photo of an amblypygid. The photo is a closeup of the front of the body showing the face and pedipalps. The body is light tan / brown with some patches of darker pigment on the body. This photo shows the whole body. The first pair of legs are thin and antennae-like, being waved in the air. It is sitting on a rock.
December 17, 2023 at 4:47 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
#Arachtober
Cardwella atar (family Assamiidae), from northern Queensland. The males of this species have this spiny hook on the fourth leg.
#Opiliones
A macro photo of an Opiliones, in profile view. The Opiliones is mostly orange-yellow, with patches of brown pigmentation. The fourth leg is also in focus. In profile view, the leg has a small hook shaped spine that sticks out from underneath the femur.
October 28, 2023 at 3:53 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
#Arachtober
Gasteracantha fornicata, northern Queensland.
A macro photo of a spider facing downwards in its web. The spider is dark reddish brown, but its abdomen is extremely wide and has spines coming out horizontally. The abdomen also has large patches of yellow coloration, while the spines are reddish purple.
October 26, 2023 at 3:40 AM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
#Arachtober
Bogania advena from Queensland. Found in a woody debris-covered rock pile at the base of a large eucalyptus tree. The bright yellow spot is the ozopore, the opening for the chemical defense gland.
#Opiliones
A macro photo of an Opiliones, facing right. The body color is largely orange, with some patches of darker brown. It is walking on a rock.
October 25, 2023 at 2:56 AM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
#Arachtober
Scorpion face. Lychas variatus from southern Queensland.
A macro photo of the front of a scorpion, looking down onto it at 3/4 perspective. Its base color is yellow-orange and it has brown marbled pigmentation pattern. It's looking right at you.
October 21, 2023 at 6:16 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
#Arachtober
The face of a huntsman spider (Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) from northern Queensland, AUS. There were a lot of these out at night and all were quite photogenic.
A macro photo of a spider's face. The spider is brownish-purple, with lighter tan stripes. Its face has a bit more color, the fangs have a blue tinge to them and the eyes are highlighted by a reddish brown. The spider is staring the camera head-on, and is sitting on a leaf.
October 14, 2023 at 9:49 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
One of the coolest looking spiders I saw in Queensland AUS (which is saying a lot) was this Ornodolomedes (Pisauridae) guarding her egg sac. Seen during a rainforest night walk in Crater Lakes NP. Amazing colors on this one.
#Arachtober
A macro photo of a spider hanging in between a couple thin plant stems against a black background. The spider is a mix of colors, greens, browns, and yellows. Tucked underneath its legs is an egg sac.
October 5, 2023 at 1:49 AM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
It's #Arachtober !! To start off, this is an undescribed species in an undescribed genus of Triaenonychidae from northern Queensland, AU. We (@invertebrained and I) found only two at this site, they were a bit hard to find.
A macro photo of a spiny harvester. It is facing to the left. The body is mostly dark grey-brown, with some hints of orange towards the front. The tips of the spines turn into a more bold orange yellow color. It is sitting on a piece of wood.
October 1, 2023 at 7:13 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
During fieldwork in Tasmania earlier this year, found this velvet worm, Tasmanipatus barretti, in one of the best woodpiles I've ever looked through. Seems a little shy. A rare species, listed as vulnerable. With permit. What a pleasure seeing this.
Northeastern Tasmania.
A macro photo of a velvet worm. It is a light tan/grey color, facing left. Is is on a piece of wood tucked into a little gap. The body is covered with little bumps and you can make out a very small eye.
August 28, 2023 at 4:54 PM
sderkarabetian.bsky.social
Hello Bluesky!

Do you like Opiliones? I post (mostly) Opiliones, my macro photos, and research.

I’m an arachnologist, systematist, and evolutionary biologist. Expert in Opiliones. (soon to be) Curator of Entomology at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Also, Opiliones.
A macro photo of an Opiliones facing left, the view is from the side. The Opiliones is orange-yellow and brown. It is generally oddly-shaped, with large tubercles on its body and small spines on the appendages. The most striking feature is its eyemound which is rather elongate and pointing forward. It is sitting on a piece of wood and the background is black.
August 19, 2023 at 5:46 PM