taxonID	type	description	language	source
03BC87E9FFF5FF80CDD6CA3CFB600C56.taxon	materials_examined	Type material: Holotype: ñ (Figs. 3, 4), IRAN, Hormozgan Province, Bandar Abbas County, Baghu village, 27 ° 19 ' N, 56 ° 27 ' E, 15 m a. s. l (Fig. 1), daytime excavation, 09 March 2013, leg. M. Shahi (RIZ- Odo- 015). Paratypes: Hormozgan Province: 1 ñ (RIZ- Odo- 012), Bandar Abbas County, Baghu village, 27 ° 19 ’ N, 56 ° 27 ’ E, 15 m a. s. l, 2014, leg. H. Ahmadi; 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 004), 26 August 2015, leg. A. Jafari; 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 065) (Figs. 5, 6), 06 January 2023, leg. M. Moradi and M. Shahi; 1 ñ subadult (RIZ-Odo- 113), 04 March 2023, leg. M. Shahi - 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 063), Jallabi village, 27 ° 20 ’ N, 56 ° 31 ’ E, 22 m a. s. l, 14 June 2022, leg. M. Shahi; 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 059) (Fig. 7), 13 August 2022, leg. M. Shahi; 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 058), 14 September 2022, leg. M. Ghoreyshi; 2 ñ, 1 ò (RIZ-Odo- 057), 27 October 2022, H. Barahoei and M. Shahi. Etymology: The species name is derived from the term ‘ Persia’ that has been used for centuries and originated from a region of southern Iran formerly known as Persis. Diagnosis: Scorpions of small to medium size, adults ranging from 48.7 – 57 mm in females and 55.1 – 62.5 mm in males; general colouration light yellow; dentate margins of fixed and movable fingers of pedipalps with 10 – 12 rows of oblique denticles; pectinal teeth 31 – 33 in males and 21 – 23 in females; ventrosubmedian carinae of metasomal segments II – III with two pairs of large tooth-like processes; metasomal segment IV L / W 1.62 – 2.05; ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V with two strong lobate denticles; lateral anal arch armed with three strong lobes; posterior ventral margin of metasomal segment V with two large lobes; small and wide telson (L / W 2.38 – 2.72; L / D 2.48 – 2.85), oval vesicle (L / W 1.25 – 1.59; L / D 1.33 – 1.66; W / D 1.03 – 1.07) (Table 3). Description: Female holotype (ZMFUM-Odo- 015) (Figs. 3, 4) Colour: Light brown to yellow, median and lateral eyes and end of telson dark, other parts yellow (Fig. 3). Chelicerae: Two basal denticles on the ventral surface of the fixed finger, with equally sized external and internal distal denticles. Pedipalps: Femur: three times longer than wide with four complete granular carinae; intercarinal surfaces smooth. Patella: 2.71 times longer than wide. Chela: three times longer than manus; manus wider than patella; fingers not very long, 1.9 times longer than manus; number of primary denticle subrows: fixed finger 10 right, 10 left; movable finger 10 right, 10 left; all oblique rows of denticles except proximal flanked by external and internal accessory granules; movable finger with five subdistal granules, one internal and four external; trichobothrium et adjacent to the mid part of denticle subrow 6; est adjacent to proximal end of denticle subrow 8. Carapace: Trapezoid shaped; ocular tubercle located on anterior half of prosoma, five pairs of lateral ocelli; wider than long (CWA / CL: 0.71; CWP / CL: 1.15); carination developed, central lateral and posterior median carinae completely aligned; anteromedian and posteromedian sulcus shallow; posterolateral furrow wide and curved (Fig. 4 A). Mesosoma: Tergites I – VI tricarinate; tergite VII pentacarinate, median carinae on tergite VII granulate, incomplete in posterior one-third (Fig. 4 A); sternites III – VI without carinae; sternite VII with four moderately developed carinae (Figs. 3 B, 4 B); pectines not extending beyond the coxa-trochanter joint of the leg IV; with three marginal and seven median lamellae; fulcra present; pectinal tooth count 23 | 23; sternum type I sub-pentagonal and longer than wide with a deep median depression; genital operculum completely divided longitudinally (Figs. 3 B, 4 B). Legs: Ventral surface of tarsi with two rows of fine setae, legs III – IV with tibial spurs, legs III – IV with 17 – 18 and 4 – 5 long setae on the tarsus, respectively (Fig. 3). Metasoma: Segment I with 10 carinae; segment II – IV with eight carinae; median lateral carinae of segment II nearly complete; lateral inframedian carinae of segment III incomplete and present only on posterior half with four separate granules; ventral carinae on segments II – III strongly dentate with two distinct posterior conical denticles (Fig. 4 C – E); anterior ventral margin of segments III – IV with six large and conical denticles; segment V with five carinae; ventrolateral carinae on segment V dentate without large posterior denticles; ventral posterior margin of metasomal segment V with two large conical denticles; lateral anal arch with three large separate conical lobes (Fig. 4 D – E). Telson: Oblong-ovoid, with dorsal surface flat (TD / TL: 0.40; TW / TL: 0.41); ventral surface of telson smooth; not wider than metasomal segment V (TW / Mt (V) W: 0.84) (Fig. 4 D – E). Measurements (holotype: ZMFUM-Odo- 015): Given in the table 3. Male (paratype: RIZ-Odo- 065) (Figs. 5, 6) Same as female [holotype] with differences below: Femur: 3.5 times longer than wide; patella: 3.1 times longer than wide; manus wider than patella; fixed finger, 11 left; movable finger 12 right, 12 left; trichobothrium et adjacent to denticle subrow 7; est adjacent to denticle subrow 9; Carapace wider than long (CWA / CL: 0.68; CWP / CL: 1.13) (Fig. 6 A); pectinal tooth count 31 | 32 (Figs. 5 B, 6 B, Table 3); Telson narrower than female (TD / TL: 0.39; TW / TL: 0.40); wider than metasomal segment V (dorsal part wide) (TW / Mt (V) W: 1.03) (Fig. 6 C, Table 3). Measurements: Given in the table 3. Distribution: Hormozgan province, south of Iran. Affinities: Odontobuthus persicus sp. nov. is separated from O. baluchicus, O. doriae, O. kermanus, and O. tirgari by having three long triangular lobes (Figs. 4 D, 6 C) in the lateral part of the anal arch (against two lobes, figs. 7 A, 13 A, 20 A, 20 C, 20 F in Barahoei et al. 2022). This species can be distinguished from O. bidentatus and O. tavighiae by having two large lobes in the ventral part of the 5 th metasomal segment (Fig. 4 E) against four to six short lobes (figs. 21 A, 21 E in Barahoei et al. 2022). In addition, this species has 10 – 12 rows of oblique teeth on the movable finger of the manus, while the above two species have 13 – 14 rows of oblique teeth. Odontobuthus persicus sp. nov. is smaller than all the species mentioned above and lives in low altitudinal, coastal areas, whereas all other species mentioned above are found in mountainous areas. This species can be distinguished from O. brevidigitus by having a narrow manus and a relatively long movable finger (Fig. 3) against a short and wide movable finger in O. brevidigitus (fig. 16 A – D in Barahoei et al. 2022). O. brevidigitus is also distributed in Oman and UAE, but there are no records from Iran (Lowe 2010). The anal arch of metasomal segment V of O. odonturus has six reduced lobes (figs. 16 E and 21 D in Barahoei et al. 2022) and is distributed in India and Pakistan, while the anal arch has two distinct lobes in O. persicus sp. nov. (Fig. 4 E), which is only distributed in southern Iran.	en	Barahoei, Hossein, Shahi, Mehran (2024): Positive association between PTN polymorphisms and schizophrenia in Northeast Chinese Han population. Zoological Studies 63 (48): 141-149, DOI: 10.6620/ZS.2024.63-48, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/YPG.0000000000000262
