One more new species of the genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1891 from Africa (Scorpiones: Buthidae)
Author
Lourenço, Wilson R.
Author
Leguin, Elise-Anne
text
Euscorpius
2011
2011-12-31
135
123
1
6
https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2011/iss123/1/
journal article
10.18590/euscorpius.2011.vol2011.iss123.1
1536-9307
12782728
F5468220-9C59-4076-84CB-D021D5B0664A
Orthochirus maroccanus
Lourenço et Leguin
,
sp. n.
(
Figs. 1–13
;
Tab. 1
)
Type material:
Morocco
, trail
between Assa and Aouinet Torkoz
,
45 km
past
Assa
towards
Aouinet Torkoz
,
12 April 2004
(W.
R
. Lourenço), female
holotype
and female
paratype
. Deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris
.
Etymology: specific name refers to the
Morocco
, the country in which the new species was collected.
Diagnosis
Moderate sized scorpions, reaching a total length of
27 to 29 mm
for females. General coloration brownish-yellow to dark brown. Anterior margin of carapace almost straight in females. Ventral aspect of metasomal segment V without granulations posteriorly. Fixed and movable fingers with 8-8 rows of denticles; accessory denticles present. Pectines with 15 to 16 teeth in females.
Trichobothriotaxy:
A-β (Beta) neobothriotaxy ‘minorante’ in female.
Relationships:
Orthochirus maroccanus
sp.
n.
can be distinguished from the other species of
Orthochirus
, and in particular from
Orthochirus atarensis
by the following characters:
(i) bigger overall size (see Table I), (ii) anterior margin of carapace almost straight in female, (iii) absence of trichobothrium
d
2
of femur in female, (iv) paler coloration pattern, (v) carapace, tergites and metasomal tegument more intensely granular.
Description based on female
holotype
and
paratype
. Measurements in
Table 1
.
Coloration.
Basically brownish-yellow. Prosoma: carapace dark brown; anterior margin slightly yellowish-brown; median and lateral eyes surrounded by black pigment. Mesosoma: brownish-yellow; carinae and granulations dark brown. Metasomal segments dark brown; telson reddish-brown; aculeus reddish with a darker tip. Metasomal carinae marked with blackish. Venter yellowish-brown; pectines pale yellow. Chelicerae yellowish, with dark variegated spots; fingers brownish. Pedipalps, femur and patella brownish to brownish-yellow; chela yellowish. Legs yellowish with diffused dark brown spots.
Figures 1–2:
Orthochirus maroccanus
, female holotype, dorsal and ventral aspects.
Morphology.
Carapace moderaly granular; anterior margin almost straight in female. Carinae and furrows moderate to weak. Median ocular tubercle slightly anterior to the centre of the carapace; median eyes separated by more than one ocular diameter. Three pairs of lateral eyes. Sternum subtriangular to subpentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites with moderately marked granulations; median carina moderate in all tergites. Tergite VII pentacarinate with moderate carinae. Venter: genital operculum elongated, divided longitudinally into two suboval plates. Pectines: pectinal tooth count 15-16 (
holotype
), 15-15 (
paratype
); basal middle lamellae of each pecten not dilated. Sternites almost smooth with small slit-like spiracles; VII with four carinae moderate. Metasoma: segments rounded, with carinae moderately marked; granulations moderately marked; segments I to III with ten carinae; segments
IV
and
V
with punctuations; ventral aspect of segment
V
without granulations in the distal region. Intercarinal spaces with some granulations dorsally; moderately to strongly granular laterally and ventrally. Telson smooth with a few punctuations; aculeus longer than the vesicle and moderately curved; subaculear tooth absent. Cheliceral dentition characteristic of the family
Buthidae (
Vachon, 1963
)
; movable finger with basal teeth reduced but distinct; ventral aspect of both finger and manus with thin setae. Pedipalps: femur with five strong carinae, granular; patella with 6–7 moderaly marked carinae; chela without carinae, smooth. Fixed and movable fingers with 8-8 rows of denticles. Tri-