Euscorpius yagmuri Kovařík, Fet et Soleglad, 2014

Kovařík, František, Fet, Victor & Soleglad, Michael E., 2014, Euscorpius yagmuri sp. n., a new scorpion species from Epirus, northwestern Greece (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), Euscorpius 193, pp. 1-11 : 1-9

Euscorpius yagmuri Kovařík, Fet et Soleglad , sp. nov.

( Figs. 2–8; Table 1) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0D3D30

80-39B7-4E1C-83EB-06DCAFD5C8F9

Type material: Holotype ♂, Greece, Epirus, Preveza District, Mt. Zalongo, Cassope (Kassope), 39.145278°N,

20.675556°E, 18–19 July 1994, leg. I. Tuf ( FCKP) ; paratypes, same label as holotype, 1 ♂, 4 ♀ ( FKCP) , 2 ♀ ( NHMW 21.957 ) , 1 ♀, 2 ims. ( NMPC) .

Diagnosis. A small Euscorpius species , total length 16– 22 mm. Color dark brown; telson, legs, and sternites dark yellow; metasoma dark yellow with brown mottling; chelicerae light, yellow to orange, slightly reticulated. The number of trichobothria on the pedipalp patella ventral surface 8–9. The number of trichobothria on pedipalp patella external surface is: eb = 4, eba = 4, esb = 2, em = 4, est = 4, et = 5–6. The pectinal teeth number in males is 8, in females 6–7. Dorsal patellar spur welldeveloped. Dorsal carinae on metasomal segments I-IV are granulated. Sexually mature males lack a proximal gap on the chelal fixed finger.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality: Greece, Epirus, Preveza District, Cassope. See map in Fig. 1.

Etymology. We are glad to name the new species after our colleague and friend Ersen Aydín Yağmur ( Turkey), who has recently made a great impact on the study of Eastern Mediterranean scorpions, including, but not limited to, those of the genus Euscorpius .

Description

MALE. The following description is based primarily on the holotype male, with additional information derived from male and female paratypes. Measurements of the holotype and male and female paratypes are presented in Table 1. See Figure 2 for dorsal and ventral views of the male holotype and female paratype.

COLORATION. Carapace, tergites, and pedipalps dark brown; carapace with some darker mottling; metasoma dark yellow with brown mottling; telson, legs, and sternites dark yellow; genital operculum, pectines, and basal piece yellow; chelicerae light, yellow to orange, slightly reticulated.

CARAPACE ( Fig. 3). Anterior edge essentially straight; smooth and lustrous, lacking any indication of carinae. There are two lateral eyes. Median eyes and tubercle are small in size, positioned anterior of middle with the following length and width ratios: 0.406 (anterior edge to medium tubercle middle / carapace length) and 0.167 (width of median tubercle including eyes / width of carapace at that point).

MESOSOMA ( Fig. 3). Tergites I–VII essentially smooth; tergite VII lacking lateral and median carinal pairs.

Sternites III–VII smooth and lustrous; VII lacking lateral and median carinae. Stigmata are very small, narrow ellipical.

METASOMA ( Fig. 4). Segment I wider than long, length to width ratio 0.864. Segments I–IV: dorsal carinae distinctively granulate to crenulate; dorsolateral carinae vestigial to smooth with trances of granulation at their base; lateral carinae obsolete; ventrolateral carinae obsolete to vestigial on I, smooth on II, smooth to irregularly granulate on III–IV; single ventromedian carina obsolete on I–III, vestigial to irregularly granulate with small granules on IV. Segment V: dorsolateral carinae rounded with scattered granulation, lateral carinae obsolete, ventrolateral and ventromedian carinae distinctively granulate. Anal arch with approximately 15 small pigmented granules. Intercarinal areas essentially smooth.

TELSON ( Fig. 4). Vesicle swollen and elongated, with short highly curved aculeus. Vesicle essentially void of granules, very lustrous. Vesicular tabs smooth.

PECTINES ( Fig. 3). Medium-developed segments exhibiting length / width ratio 2.028 (length taken at anterior lamellae / width at widest point including teeth). Sclerite construction complex, three anterior lamellae and four middle lamella; fulcra of medium development. Teeth number 8/8. Sensory areas developed along distal aspect on all teeth, including basal tooth. Basal piece large, with wide shallow indentation along anterior edge, length / width ratio 0.464.

CHELICERAE. Movable finger dorsal edge with two small subdistal (sd) denticles; ventral edge smooth; serrula not visible. Ventral distal denticle (vd) conspic- uously longer than dorsal (dd). Fixed finger with four denticles, median (m) and basal (b) denticles conjoined on common trunk; no ventral accessory denticles present.

PEDIPALPS ( Figs. 5, 7). Well-developed chelae, moderately carinated, scalloping of chelal fingers lacking,

including a proximal gap on the fixed finger when fingers are closed. Femur: Dorsointernal and ventrointernal carinae serrated, dorsoexternal lightly serrated, and ventroexternal rounded with scattered granulation, heaviest at base. Dorsal surface covered with small granules, ventral surface scattered with small granules, internal and external surfaces rough with a row of serrated granules. Patella: Dorsointernal and ventrointernal carinae crenulated, dorsoexternal and ventroexternal mediumly crenulated, and exteromedian carina developed lined irregularly positioned medium sized granules. Dorsal surface rough and ventral surface smooth proximally, rough distally; external rough; internal surface smooth with well-developed, pointed DPS and near obsolete VPS (single small granule). Chelal carinae: Complies to the “10-carinae configuration”. Digital (D1) carina strong, with low-profile granulation; sub-digital (D2) essentially obsolete, represented by two granules; dorsosecondary (D3) near obsolete, area quite flat, presented by one large basal granule; dorsomarginal (D4) well developed lined with medium-sized granules; dorsointernal (D5) highly rounded and covered with granules; ventroexternal (V1) strong, evenly granulated, curving to external condyle of movable finger; ventromedian (V2) obsolete; ventrointernal (V3) rounded with scattered with small granules; external (E) irregularly developed with scattered granulation. Chelal finger dentition: Median denticle (MD) row groups in straight line; 6/6 ID s fixed finger and -/7 on movable finger; 6/6 OD s on fixed and movable fingers; 4/4 and -/5 IADs on fixed and movable fingers, respectively. Trichobothrial patterns ( Fig. 5, paratype male): Type C, neobothriotaxic: chela ventral = 4/4; patellar eb = 4/4, eba =4/4, esb = 2/2, em = 4/4, est = 4/4, et = 6/6; patellar ventral = 9/9; est 2 –est 4 form a straight line.

LEGS ( Fig. 8). Both pedal spurs present on all legs, lacking spinelets; tibial spurs absent. Tarsus with single row of spinules on ventral surface, terminating distally with two essentially adjacent spinules. Unguicular spine well-developed and pointed.

HEMISPERMATOPHORE. Partially developed hemispermatophores were extracted, but due to their limited condition, they are not described or illustrated.

Sexual dimorphism. The adult female exhibits subtle chelal finger scalloping and the movable finger lobe is essentially absent, whereas they are slightly more developed in the male; the genital operculum sclerites in the female are connected along the middle, not separated as in the male; genital papillae are absent in the female, but present in the male. The pectinal tooth counts are smaller in the female, 6–7 (6.786) (±0.426) [14] as compared 8 [4] in the male, an 18 % difference in the means (see Table 1). Morphometric differences based on two males and females: The telson vesicle in the female is not as swollen as it is in the male; the telson length compared to its width is 2.833 in the female and 2.521 in the male, exhibiting a 12.4 % difference; the telson length compared to its depth is 3.188 in the female and 2.275 in the male, exhibiting a 40 % difference. Morphometrics involving the chelae show no significant differences between the genders, reflecting the lack of finger scalloping in both genders, which is typically seen in Euscorpius . Finally, the carapace is relatively longer in the female, dominating in most morphometric ratios when compared to 23 other morphometrics, the largest difference, when the carapace is compared to the vesicle depth, exhibited a significant 80.6 % mean value difference.

Variation. Pectinal tooth and trichobothrial counts are based on two males and seven females. Pectinal tooth counts: male 8 [4], female 6–7 (6.786) (±0.426) [14] mode = 7; patellar ventral (v) trichobothrial counts: 8–9 (8.353) (±0.493) [17], mode = 8; patellar external terminal (et) trichobothrial counts: 5–6 (5.889) (±0.323) [18], mode = 6.