Occidenchthonius ventalloi ( Beier, 1939 ) Beier, 1939

Zaragoza, Juan A., 2017, Revision of the Ephippiochthonius complex in the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Macaronesia, with proposed changes to the status of the Chthonius subgenera (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae), Zootaxa 4246 (1), pp. 1-221 : 208-210

Occidenchthonius ventalloi ( Beier, 1939) , n. comb.

( Figs 66 , 319)

Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) ventalloi Beier 1939: 164 –165, fig. 4.

Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) ventalloi: Zaragoza 1985a: 145 –149, 156, figs 1–13, 28–29. Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) ventalloi ventalloi: Zaragoza 2007: 20 .

Not Chthonius (E.) ventalloi: Lagar (1972a): 17 –18 (misidentification).

Not Chthonius (E.) ventalloi: Lagar (1972b): 46 (misidentification).

Type locality. Spain, Valencian Community, Valencia province, Ribera Alta comarca, Tous, Cova del Candil (39°10′18″N, 00°38′54″W; 387 m a.s.l.).

Distribution. Spain: Valencian Community.

Diagnosis (♂ ♀). A medium-sized, hypogean, troglomorphic Occidenchthonius species of the verai -group. Movable cheliceral finger without isolated subapical tooth (di) and spinneret small in female, strongly reduced in male, lyrifissure ldb present; without eyes or eye-spots, anterior margin of carapace without preocular microsetae, posterior margin with 2 macrosetae; chelal hand weakly depressed at level of ib / isb, with a short, low hump distad of ib / isb and gentle slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; trichobothrium ist proximad of lyrifissure fb; fixed chelal finger with 18–19 teeth; distal half of movable chelal finger with 12–13 pointed teeth with dental canals, basal half of movable chelal finger with 7–10 rounded, partially fused, vestigial teeth, without canals, on weak lamina; pedipalpal femur (♂) 6.8, (♀) 6.4–7.2 times longer than broad, length (♂) 0.63 mm, (♀) 0.80–0.94 mm; chela (♂) 6.6, (♀) 6.0–6.2 times longer than deep, length (♂) 0.89 mm, (♀) 1.11–1.26 mm; ratio movable chelal finger/chelal hand (♂) 1.6, (♀) 1.5–1.6; lacking lyrifissures ma1, ma2 and hp, all other chelal lyrifissure patterns present with their standard complements.

Non-type material examined. Spain, Valencian Community, Valencia province, 1 ♀, Ribera Alta comarca, Tous , Cova del Candil (39°10′18″N, 00°38′54″W; 387 m a.s.l.), 02.X.1983, leg. V. Ripoll, A. Sendra & J.A. Zaragoza . Same type locality: 1 ♂, 23.IV.2005, leg. A. Sendra et al. ; 1 ♀, 27.VIII.2005, leg. M. Arnedo & A. López-Pancorbo. All in DEUA.

Description (♂ ♀). Medium-sized, hypogean species of troglomorphic facies ( Fig. 66 ). Integument depigmented; weak hispid granulation on lateral surfaces of carapace, on cheliceral hand and on bases of chelal fingers.

Carapace as long as or slightly longer than broad, constricted posteriorly; medial part of anterior margin strongly prominent, without a well-defined epistome, and strongly dentate. Without eyes or eye-spots. Chaetotaxy: 18 setae, without preocular microsetae, 2 setae in posterior row, formula 4:6:4:2:2, anteromedial setae 0.11–0.14 mm long, sublateral ocular setae 0.08–0.11 mm; 4 lyrifissures anteriorly and 2 posteriorly.

Cheliceral hand with 6 setae and 1 lateral microseta, seta vb short (0.030–0.060 mm long), microseta 0.020– 0.030 mm; hand with 5 dorsal and 1 ventral lyrifissure, lyrifissure ldb present. Fixed finger with 7–9 teeth decreasing in size proximally, two distal teeth distinctly larger than others, 2–4 proximal microtubercles. Movable finger without an isolated subapical tooth (di), with 7–9 teeth decreasing in size proximally and 1 proximal microtubercle, the distal tooth larger than others; spinneret strongly reduced in male, almost absent, small and apically rounded in female; seta gl 0.55–0.57 from base of movable finger. Rallum with 11 blades. Serrula exterior with 15 blades, serrula interior 12–13 blades.

Chaetotaxy of tergites 4:4:4:4:6:6:6:6:1T2T1:4:1T2T1:0, tergites IX and XI each with 2 sublateral tactile setae (0.20–0.26 and 0.25–0.35 mm long, respectively). Chaetotaxy of sternites 8–9:(3)7– 9(3):(2)7(2):8:6:6:6:6:2T1T2:0:2, lateral setae on sternite III macrosetal in size, sternite X with 2 submedial tactile setae (0.15–0.23 mm long); in addition, genital notch of male flanked by 6–8 setae on each side and 4+4 internal glandular setae.

Pedipalpal coxa with 5 setae (including 2 on manducatory process), distal marginal seta of disk 0.13–0.14 mm long; coxa I 3 + 3 marginal microsetae, distal marginal seta 0.07 mm long; II 4 + 7–10 bipinnate coxal spines, III 5 + 3–5 bipinnate coxal spines and IV 6; intercoxal tubercle bisetose.

Pedipalp with femoral chaetotaxy 3:6:3:5:1. Chela (Fig. 319) with hand weakly depressed at level of ib / isb, with a short, low hump distad of ib / isb and gentle slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; distinct hollow before base of movable finger with thicker cuticle; width slightly longer than depth; chaetotaxy 4:5:4, seta ph3 present; distal end of hand and bases of chelal fingers with sclerotized condylar complex. Fixed finger with 18–19 pointed teeth and with dental canals, first two distal teeth small, third tooth of normal row (mt) of fixed finger distinctly modified in shape and deviated in orientation with respect to the others, dental row reaching up to slightly proximad or distad of trichobothrium sb, 9 proximal microtubercles; tip of fixed finger with an accessory tooth (td) on antiaxial face; tip of fixed chelal finger of male with a weak hollow on paraxial face, without subdistal protuberance (sp); one pair of long antiaxial sensory setae (as) at the base, one level with and other markedly distad of lyrifissure fb, 0.048–0.065 mm long, distance between them 0.041–0.080 mm, fixed finger depth at the base 0.060–0.065 mm; 4–5 teeth at level of est / it occupying 0.1 mm, distance between successive apices 0.023–0.030 mm. Distal half of movable finger with 12–13 mostly pointed teeth with dental canals that reach up to approximately halfway between trichobothria st and sb, 2 proximal teeth slightly reduced in size and still pointed or apically rounded, the distal tooth tiny; basal half of movable chelal finger with 8–11 rounded, partially fused, vestigial teeth, without canals, on weakly raised lamina; dental row reaching up to halfway between trichobothrium sb and sensilla pc, 7–10 proximal microtubercles; basal apodeme long and apically indented; coupled sensilla pc halfway between sb and b or slightly closer to sb. Trichobothria as in Fig. 319; trichobothrium ist well distad of esb and proximad of lyrifissure fb; distance between ib / isb and base of hand approximately equal to that between ib / isb and esb; distance between st and sb 1.7–1.8 times longer than that between sb and b; lacking lyrifissures ma1, ma2 and hp, all other chelal lyrifissure patterns present most with their standard complements.

Measurements and ratios. Specimens from Cova del Candil. Male: Body 1.37. Carapace 0.43/0.38 (1.1). Chelicera 0.38/0.17 (2.2), movable finger 0.20. Pedipalp: femur 0.63/0.10 (6.8), patella 0.26/0.12 (2.2), chela 0.89/ 0.14 (6.6), hand 0.34 (2.5), movable finger 0.54; ratio movable finger/hand 1.6, femur/movable finger 1.2, femur/ carapace 1.5, chela/carapace 2.1, chela/femur 1.4. Female: Body 1.29–1.52. Carapace 0.48–0.56/0.46–0.56 (1.0). Chelicera 0.55/0.25 (2.2), movable finger 0.28. Pedipalp: femur 0.80–0.94/0.12–0.13 (6.4–7.2), patella 0.33–0.37/ 0.15–0.17 (2.1–2.3), chela 1.11–1.26/0.18–0.21 (6.0–6.2), hand 0.42–0.50 (2.3–2.4), movable finger 0.69–0.74; ratio movable finger/hand 1.5–1.6, femur/movable finger 1.2–1.3, femur/carapace 1.7, chela/carapace 2.3, chela/ femur 1.3–1.4.

Remarks. Within the verai -group, Occidenchthonius ventalloi resembles O. espanyoli in having about 10 rounded vestigial teeth in the basal half of movable chelal finger and a reduced spinneret in the male. Differences between them are the shorter pedipalp and the presence of cheliceral lyrifissure ldb in O. ventalloi , as compared in the key and in the remarks under O. espanyoli n. sp. The above description incorporates in part those of Beier (1939) and Zaragoza (1985a). Records of this species from the Spanish provinces of Huesca and Tarragona ( Lagar 1972a, 1972b) must be discarded because O. ventalloi is likely to be a short-range endemic. One of the previous records from Tarragona province (Cova del Janet) is assigned here to O. aurouxi n. sp.

Figures

FIGURES 64 – 67. Habitus of living specimens of Ephippiochthonius and Occidenchthonius species from Spain. 64, Ephippiochthonius mahnerti (Zaragoza, 1984) n. comb., Cova del Bolumini, Beniarbeig, Alicante province; 65, Occidenchthonius bullonorum (Carabajal Márquez, García Carrillo & Rodríguez Fernández, 2012) n. comb., Cueva de la Pileta, Benaojan, Málaga province; 66, Occidenchthonius ventalloi (Beier, 1939) n. comb., Cova de les Gralles, Tous, Valencia province; 67, Occidenchthonius cazorlensis (Carabajal Márquez, García Carrillo & Rodríguez Fernández, 2012) n. comb., Cueva Secreta del Sagreo, La Iruela, Jaén province. Photographs: Ximo Baixeras (Fig. 64), Adrià Miralles (Figs 65, 67), Sergio Montagud (Fig. 66).