Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XVI. Compsobuthus maidensis sp. n. (Buthidae) from Somaliland
Author
Kovařík, František
text
Euscorpius
2018
260
1
11
journal article
1536-9307
E7E8E112-E7B9-4292-A064-53D6C8FA662B
Compsobuthus maidensis
sp. n.
(
Figs. 1–39
,
Table 1
)
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:442AA0
FF-2FFB-465A-9EE2-95404CFF2429
TYPE
LOCALITY AND
TYPE
DEPOSITORY
. Somaliland, Maid,
11°00'03"N
47°06'30"E
,
52 m
a.s.l.
;
FKCP
.
TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED
.
Somaliland
, Maid,
11°00' 03"N
47°06'30"E
,
52 m
a.s.l.
(
Fig. 38
,
Locality No.
17SN),
3.-4.IX.2017
,
1♂
3♀
(
holotype
and
paratypes
), leg.
F. Kovařík
,
FKCP
.
ETYMOLOGY. Named after the village of collection.
DIAGNOSIS. Total length
30–33.5 mm
. Sexual dimorphism minor, fingers of pedipalps straight in both sexes; there is no difference in length and width of metasomal segments. Base color uniformly yellow to yellowish brown with dark spot on fifth and four metasomal segment. Movable finger of pedipalp bears 10 rows of granules, all without external and with internal accessory granules (
acutecarinatus
group of Levy & Amitati, 1980). Pedipalp chela length/width ratio
4.49 in
males and
4.9 in
females. Manus of chela shorter than fixed finger. Pedipalp chela length/movable finger length ratio
1.40–1.41 in
both sexes. Trochanter of pedipalps with 3– 7 spinules and 2 setae. Anterior margin of carapace bears 8 symmetrically distributed spinules. First to third metasomal segments bear 10 carinae, fourth bears 8 or 10 carinae. All metasomal segments longer than wide. Pectinal teeth number
19–20 in
male and
16–18 in
females. Sternites and ventral surface of metasoma granulated. Seventh sternite bears four crenulate carinae. Telson bulbous, aculeus shorter than vesicle. Subaculear tubercle present but not spinoid.
DESCRIPTION. Total length
30–33.5 mm
in both sexes. The habitus is shown in
Figs. 1–4
. For position and distribution of trichobothria of pedipalps see
Figs. 20– 28
. Sexual dimorphism minor, fingers of pedipalps straight in both sexes (
Figs. 22 and 32
); there is no difference in length and width of metasomal segments.
Coloration
(
Figs. 1–4
). The base color is uniformly yellow to yellowish brown, with dark spot on anterior half of the fifth and fourth metasomal segment; other spots missing or indicated only.
Carapace and mesosoma
(
Figs. 5–8
). The entire carapace is covered by granules of different sizes. The carinae are moderately to strongly developed and granular. The anterior margin of the carapace is medially weakly concave, and bears eight symmetrically distributed spinules. The tergites are granulated. Tergites I–VI bear very strong, denticulate lateral carinae. Each carina terminates in a spiniform process that extends well past the posterior margin of the tergite. Tergite VII is pentacarinate, with lateral pairs strong, serratocrenulate and the median carina moderate, crenulate and present only in the proximal half. The pectinal tooth count is
18–19 in
male and 16–18 (2x16, 4x18) in females. The pectine marginal tips extend to one-third of the fourth sternite in the female and to half of the fifth sternite in the male. The pectines have three marginal lamellae and six to eight middle lamellae. The lamellae bear numerous dark setae, each fulcrum with two or three dark setae. All sternites are finely granulated. The glabrous wide zone on posterior part of fifth sternite developed medially and absent on other sternites in male.The sixth and seventh segments bear four ventral crenulate carinae, which are more strongly developed on the seventh segment. The other sternites bear two carinae.
Metasoma and telson
(
Figs. 13–20
). The first to third segments bear 10 carinae, the fourth segment bears 8 or 10 carinae and the fifth segment bears five carinae. Intermediate carinae of the fourth segment are replaced by isolated granules that may also form carinae. All segments are sparsely setose and densely granulated. Accessory rows of granules are present on dorsal surfaces of segments as well as on the ventral surface of the fifth segment. The telson is bulbous, with the aculeus a little shorter than the vesicle. A subaculear tubercle is present and variously short.
Pedipalps
(
Figs. 21–37
). The pedipalps are granulated and hirsute. The femur bears five carinae. The patella bears seven granular carinae. The chela bears five carinae. The movable and fixed fingers bear 10 rows of granules, all without external and with internal granules. Pedipalp chela length/width ratio
4.49 in
males and
4.9 in
females. Manus of chela shorter than fixed finger. Pedipalp chela length/movable finger length ratio
1.40– 1.41 in
both sexes. The trochanter of pedipalps bears 3–7 spinules and 2 setae.
Legs
(
Figs. 9–12
). Legs III and IV bear moderate tibial spurs. Retrolateral and prolateral pedal spurs are present on all legs. The tarsomeres bear two rows of macrosetae on the ventral surface and several macrosetae on the other surfaces. Bristlecombs are absent. The femur bears four carinae and the patella bears four to six carinae. The femur and patella bear only solitary macrosetae and are granulated except for external lateral surfaces, which are smooth.
Measurements
. See
Tab. 1.
AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish
Compsobuthus maidensis
sp. n.
from all other species of the genus.
C. maidensis
sp. n.
is morphologically the most similar to
C. eritreaensis
Kovařík et al., 2016
(see key in
Kovařík et al., 2016: 19
) but these two species occur in remote areas (
Fig. 39
) and can be morphologically unequivocally separated by:
1
) Pectinal teeth number
19–20 in
male and
16–18 in
females in
C. maidensis
sp. n.
vs.
22–26 in
males and
18–23 in
females in
C. eritreaensis
;
2
) pedipalp chela length/movable finger length ratio is
1.40–1.41 in
both sexes in
C. maidensis
sp. n.
vs.
1.32–1.38 in
C. eritreaensis
;
3
) trochanter of pedipalps with 3–7 spinules and 2 setae in
C. maidensis
sp. n.
vs. 10–12 spinules and 2 setae in
C. eritreaensis
;
4
) fingers of pedipalps straight in both sexes in
C. maidensis
sp. n.
(
Figs. 28 and 30
) vs. adult males with fingers of pedipalps slightly flexed proximally (figs. 28 and
30 in
Kovařík et al., 2016: 7
) in
C. eritreaensis
;
5
) glabrous wide zone on posterior part of fifth sternite developed medially and absent on other sternites in male in
C. maidensis
sp. n.
(
Fig. 7
) vs. reduced/indicated on sternites in male in
C. eritreaensis
(fig.
11 in
Kovařík et al., 2016: 6
).
Figures 5–12:
Compsobuthus maidensis
sp. n.
Figures 5, 7
. Male holotype, carapace and tergites I–IV (5), coxosternal area and sternites (70).
Figures 6, 8–12
. Female paratype, carapace and tergites I–IV (6), coxosternal area and sternites (8), left legs I– IV, retrolateral aspects (9–12).
Figures 13–20:
Compsobuthus maidensis
sp. n.
Figures 13, 15–17
. Male holotype, lateral view of telson (13), metasoma and telson lateral (15), ventral (16), and dorsal (17).
Figures 14, 18–20
. Female paratype, lateral view of telson (14), metasoma and telson lateral (18), ventral (19), and dorsal (20). Scale bar: 10 mm (15–20).
COMMENTS ON LOCALITIES AND LIFE STRATEGY. The
type
locality, 17SN is sandy semi-desert to desert (
Fig. 38
). The
types
of
Compsobuthus maidenensis
sp
.
n
.
were obtained at night during UV collecting together with
Gint maidensis
Kovařík et al., 2018
,
Hottentotta
sp.
,
Leiurus
sp.
, and
Neobuthus
sp. (Buthidae)
. The first author arrived at the locality at night on 3th
September 2017
at 21.00. At this time the temperature was 38.6 ºC and humidity 52%. Minimum temperature of 31.9 ºC and humidity of 46% were recorded on
4th September
2017
in the early morning.