Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911

Lv, Heyu & Di, Zhiyong, 2022, Scorpiops lourencoi sp. nov., the revalidation of Scorpiops atomatus Qi, Zhu & Lourenco, 2005, and the redescription of Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911 (Scorpiones, Scorpiopidae) from China, ZooKeys 1132, pp. 189-214 : 189

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1132.87364
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B4388BBD-BD51-40F6-8341-ADA7CF276E4B
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scientific name	Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911
status

Treatment

Figs 33-36 View Figures 33–36 , 37-46 View Figures 37–46 , 47-56 View Figures 47–56 , 57-64 View Figures 57–64

Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911: 472-473; Kovařík 2000: 196, figs 47, 68, 69, tab. 1-3; Fet 2000: 495; Kovařík et al. 2020: 126, figs 46, 143, 239-240, 799, tab. 9.

Scorpiops pococki Qi, Zhu & Lourenço, 2005: 14, figs 47-61; Di et al. 2013: 72, 75, figs 64-84, tab. 3; Di et al. 2014: 12.

Type locality.

China, Xizang, Tsangpo Valley, Chaksam Ferry.

Material examined.

1 male and 1 female, China, Xizang, Lasa City ( Lhasa City ), Qushui County ( Chushur County ), Caina Town ( Saena Town ), 20/7/2019, Zhiyong Di leg, (Ar. -MHBU-ScXZQS1907200101, Ar. -MHBU-ScXZQS1907200102) ; 1 male and 2 females, China, Xizang, Shannan City ( Lhoka City ), Jiacha County ( Gyaca County ), Jiacha Town ( Gyaca Town ), 12/8/2021, Zhiyong Di leg, (Ar. -MHBU-ScXZJC 21081206, 01-03) .

Diagnosis.

Adult body length 50-57 mm. Base color uniformly reddish black. Patella of pedipalp with 17 (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 4 est, 4 et) external and 6-8 (usually seven) ventral trichobothria. Chelal trichobothria Eb3 is located in proximal half of manus between trichobothria Dt and Db. Chela with four ventral trichobothria. Chela with an average length/width ratio of 2.0 in both sexes, pedipalp movable finger with ca. four or five ID, 10-25 IAD, 45-62 MD, and eight or nine OD present, chela fingers on adult males and females scalloped, usually more strongly in males. Pectinal teeth count 4-7, fulcra absent. Pectinal with two marginal and one middle lamellae. Telson bulbous and granulate, annular ring present.

Description

(based on male specimen: Ar.-MHBU-ScXZQS1907200101).

Coloration (Figs 33 View Figures 33–36 , 34 View Figures 33–36 ; after three years of preservation in alcohol): Carapace reddish black. Median and lateral ocular tubercles dark brown. Tergites and metasomal segments dark brown. Vesicle dark brown, with dark brown aculeus. Chelicerae unevenly dark brown and fingers uniformly dark reddish. Pedipalps dark reddish brown. Legs dark brown. Tarsal claws brown. Sternum reddish brown. Genital operculum and sternites brown. Pectinal teeth light brown.

Morphology.

Prosoma (Figs 37 View Figures 37–46 , 38 View Figures 37–46 ): Integument coarse, carapace with dense, fine granules; anterior median furrow broad and deep; lateral furrow broad; posterior median furrow broad and deep. Median eyes situated anteriorly compared to center of carapace; three pairs of lateral ocelli with posterior-most the smallest. Median ocular tubercle with granules and median furrow. Lateral ocular tubercle with some coarse granules around lateral eyes.

Mesosoma: Tergites densely covered with fine granules, tergites II-VII with median carina barely visible at first and gradually becomes distinct; tergite VII with two pairs of lateral carinae with large granules present only on posterior half (Fig. 44 View Figures 37–46 ). Pectinal teeth count 7/7, fulcra absent (Fig. 43 View Figures 37–46 ). Genital operculum subtriangular with genital papillae protruding (Fig. 43 View Figures 37–46 ). Sternum pentagonal (Fig. 43 View Figures 37–46 ). Sternite segments III-VI entirely smooth and shiny with few setae; segment VII with four ventral carinae and few setae.

Metasoma: Integument coarse, segments II-V longer than wide; segments I-V with respectively 10-8-8-8-8 granular carinae; segment V with pair of vestigial lateral carinae; all ventral carinae crenulated, gradually becoming more strongly crenulated. Vesicle with dense granules and few setae (Fig. 47 View Figures 47–56 ).

Pedipalps: Integument smooth with smooth granules and few setae. Femur with dorsointernal, dorsoexternal, external, ventroexternal, ventrointernal carinae granulated, and internal carinae crenulated (Fig. 48 View Figures 47–56 ). Patella with large granules on dorsointernal, dorsoexternal, ventrointernal, ventroexternal, and smooth external carinae; two spinoid granules present on internal surface (Figs 49-51 View Figures 47–56 ). Trichobothrial pattern C, neobothriotaxic (Vachon, 1974); patella with 17 external trichobothria (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 4 est, 4 et), 4 (right, dysplastic) and 7 (left) ventral trichobothria (Figs 50 View Figures 47–56 , 51 View Figures 47–56 ). Chela with granules forming the indistinct reticulated pattern, ventral with four trichobothria, all carinae are granular and coalesced except the subdigital, dorsal internal, interomedian, and ventromedian carinae vestigial; movable and fixed fingers with scalloped margins, a pronounced lobe in movable finger and corresponding notch in fixed finger (Figs 57-60 View Figures 57–64 ).

Legs: Integument coarse with few setae. Trochanter dorsal surface with few granules. Femur dorsal surface densely granular. Patella dorsal surface densely granular, with dorsoexternal and dorsal granular carinae. Tibiae without spurs (Fig. 64 View Figures 57–64 ). Basitarsus with more setae, spurs, and two lateral pedal spurs (Fig. 64 View Figures 57–64 ). Tarsus ventrally with single row of spinules (Fig. 64 View Figures 57–64 ). Tarsal ungues curved and hook-like (Fig. 64 View Figures 57–64 ).

Chelicerae (Fig. 39 View Figures 37–46 ): Dorsally with irregular pattern, ventrally with long hairs. Fixed finger of chelicera with three large triangular teeth on inner margin; ventral of movable finger with five teeth on inner margin, dorsal of movable finger with four teeth on inner margin.

Variation.

Figures of adult females are provided (Figs 35 View Figures 33–36 , 36 View Figures 33–36 , 40-42 View Figures 37–46 , 45 View Figures 37–46 , 46 View Figures 37–46 , 52-56 View Figures 47–56 , 61-63 View Figures 57–64 ). Number (left/right) of trichobothria on the ventral surface of the pedipalp patellae: females with 8/8 (n = 1), 7/7 (n = 1), and 6/6 (n = 1), males with?/7 (n = 1) and 7/7 (n = 1). Number of pectinal teeth: females with 5/4 (n = 2) and 6/5 (n = 1), males with 7/7 (n = 2). Chela with an average length/width ratio of 2.0 in males (n = 2) and 2.0 in females (n = 3), male pedipalp chela fingers stronger curved than females. The measurements are provided in Table 1 View Table 1 . Holotype (male, not examined; Kovařík, 2000): body length 60.4 mm, patella with eight ventral trichobothria, pectinal teeth count seven or eight. Holotype (male) of S. pococki (= S. tibetanus ): patella with 17 external and eight ventral trichobothria, pectinal teeth count 8/7; paratype (female) of S. pococki (= S. tibetanus ): pectinal teeth count 6/6, telson is smaller than that of male in Qi et al. (2005).

Distribution.

China (Xizang) (Fig. 97 View Figure 97 ).

Remarks.

Hirst (1911) erected S. tibetanus based on a male specimen from "Tsangpo Valley, Chaksam Ferry", for which the species information is brief, and no figures provided.

The type locality is therefore the most crucial information on the species. Followed the Internet and literature information for "Chaksam Ferry": “Chaksam” means "iron bridge", located in Dagar village and under the Quwori Mountain, Qushui County. It was created by the famous bridge designer, Tangdongjiebu, and is the first cable bridge across the Brahmaputra River, completed in 1420 or 1430. "Chaksam Ferry" subsequently became a famous place, also called "Qushui Ferry" or "Daga Ferry" in ancient times (Fig. 97 View Figure 97 ). However, with the disappearance of the "iron bridge" and the construction of Qushui Bridge (Qushuidaqiao) near where the ancient "iron bridge" used to be in 1966, "Chaksam Ferry" has now been replaced by Qushui Bridge and is the probable type locality of S. tibetanus .

In recent years, we found S. atomatus distributed near the "iron bridge", and found S. pococki 28 km away from this "iron bridge" (Fig. 97 View Figure 97 ).

The list of taxa included in the S. hardwickii “complex” proposed by Kovařík and Ahmed (2009) included S. tibetanus . Kovařík (2000) examined the holotype (male) of S. tibetanus and recorded some important information: "length 60.4 mm, ventral trichobothria on the patella number 8, and pectinal teeth number 7 or 8". Kovařík (2000) concluded that the characters of S. tibetanus were "length 50-65 mm, ventral trichobothria on the patella number 7-10 (usually 9, in one young of 37 specimens, 7 on one side), pectinal teeth number 5-11". In his revision, the new localities of S. tibetanus included Lhasa, Shigatse, and Kambu batsi. Kovařík et al. (2020) proposed S. pococki as a junior synonym of S. tibetanus and provided figures of S. tibetanus (one male identified as " S. pococki " and donated by Di).

During several surveys in Shigatse and the surrounding counties, we found S. lourencoi sp. nov. and S. luridus. The body length of S. lourencoi sp. nov. is no more than 50 mm, while S. luridus is a distinctive species. Scorpiops pococki (from Chaksam Ferry 28 km away) has the diagnosis as followed: fulcra absent, body length ~ 55 mm, the ventral trichobothria on the patella number seven or eight, and the pectinal teeth number 4-7. Scorpiops pococki fits the characteristics of S. tibetanus , and we agree that S. pococki is a synonym of S. tibetanus .