Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992

Mirza, Zeeshan A. & Gowande, Gaurang, 2016, Neotype designation for Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), with redescription and notes on the species, Euscorpius 223, pp. 1-7 : 1-5

Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992

( Figs. 1–3, Table 1)

Scorpiops (Scorpiops) pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992: 100 .

Neotype (here designated): NCBS AT103, ♀ from near Dhoopgarh , near Pachmarhi, Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, India. 22.467818°N, 78.388150°E, 1125 m asl. Collected by Rajesh Sanap, David Raju & Zeeshan Mirza on 6 th May 2014.

Other material: two ♀ (NCBS AT104-AT105) and one ♂ (NCBS AT106), same data as for neotype .

Description of Neotype Female NCBS AT103:

Coloration (in preserved condition): Mostly yellow to yellow-brown. Carapace yellow-brown, median and lateral tubercles black. Tergites and metasoma brown. Vesicle light brown with reddish brown aculeus, basal por- tion of the aculeus blackish. Chelicerae yellow with reticulation, fingers yellow-brown, gradually become yellow towards the tips. Manus of pedipalps dark reddish-brown to black with black carinae, fingers black with reddish tips. Sternites and sternum yellow. Genital operculum, basal piece and pectines yellow. In living condition ( Fig. 1), overall coloration a shade of brown, mesosoma, legs and metasoma brown, telson yellowish brown. Anterior half of carapace darker. Pedipalp dark reddish brown to black.

Morphology: Prosoma ( Fig. 2): Carapace with a slight gloss throughout, with minute sparsely distributed granules; anterior median furrow distinct and flat, posterior median and posterior lateral furrows distinct and deep; carinae absent; anterior and posterior margins sooth, anterior margin deeply notched; ocular tubercle welldeveloped, smooth, a pair of median eyes located much anteriorly in the ratio 1:2.51, three lateral eyes, anterior two larger than the third. A circular patch on each side between the median and lateral eyes. Chelicera small, basal segment smooth, brownish reticulation on the dorsal surface, basal segment yellow-brown, fingers dark brown, gradually turn light brown towards the tip, toothed normally, inferior fang of the movable finger provided with 8-9 teeth. Mesosoma ( Figs. 1–2): Tergites I–V with sparse granulation throughout, especially concentrated on the posterior margin, pretergal region smooth; tergite I–VI with distinct median carinae, traces of lateral carinae but poorly developed, tergite VII with two pairs of carinae in the posterior portion; sternites III- VI smooth, presternites and presternal margins smooth, sternites III–VI provided with bracket-shaped stigmata for book lungs. Pedipalp stout and strong, carinated, manus medially depressed; femur flat, shorter than the carapace, carinated; all carinae show sparse granulation, inner carinae much more sparsely granulated, anterior surface with two small tubercles; patella marginally longer and wider than the femur, shorter than the carapace, carinated; carinae show sparse granulation, a small tubercle present on the anterior surface; chela long, much longer than wide, carinated, inner carinae more granular than the outer which are nearly smooth, can’t find any basal tubercles; manus shows shallow depression dorsally, not much flat, wider than femur and patella, carinated; all carinae sparsely granular, exterior carinae nearly smooth, intercarinal region coarsely granulated on inner portion, sparse granulations on the dorsal surface; fingers smooth, carinated, granules on the fingers. Trichobothrial pattern on femur, patella, manus and the fixed finger ( Fig. 3) is consistent with Bastawade (1992); patella with 10 ventral, differ in relative positions of Eb 2 to Eb 1 on patella and Dt to Eb 3 on manus, the rest typical for the family and genus (Tikader & Bastawade, 1983). Legs I–IV almost entirely smooth. Genital operculum wider than long, small genital papillae visible, pectines longer than wide, weakly developed, middle lamellae and fulcra indistinguishable, pectines 7/ 6 in female. Metasoma: Cauda almost thrice as long as the carapace; metasoma I longer than wide, only dorsal and ventral carinae fairly developed, others almost vestigial; telson longer than metasoma V, shorter than carapace, smooth; aculeus less than half the length of the vesicle, not much curved, sharp ( Fig. 3).

Natural history notes: All the specimens were found along rocky outcrops at Dhoopgarh. The locality is the highest point in the Satpura Hills range at 1350 m ( Fig. 4) and is amidst a dense Sal forest. Specimens were found actively foraging on the rock with the aid of ultra violet flashlights. A few individuals were seen under boulder along a forest trail. A total of five individuals were collected however additional specimens of the species were encountered but were not collected.

Comments

Members of the three Indian genera of the family Euscorpiidae are distributed as follows: Scorpiops in western Himalayas and Satpuras, Neoscorpiops in Western Maharashtra, and Euscorpiops in northeastern India ( Figure 5; Mirza et al., 2014; Zambre et al., 2014). The disjunct distribution is likely an artifact of incomplete sampling. Dedicated surveys in the intermediate zones will fill the large gap in the distribution as well as our understanding of this family. Designation of a neotype for Scorpiops pachmarhicus is in accordance with Article 75.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN (1999) and is based on a specimen collected from the type locality. The designation is deemed necessary to further enhance our understanding of scorpions of India and for a revisionary work on Indian scorpions, material of each species must be examined, ideally the type specimens. Most type specimens deposited at the collection of the Zoological Survey of India are either not traceable or are difficult to access even for a native researcher, making it really important to have neotypes designated for species whose types are missing, and have them deposited in museums which are accessible to researchers.