Hottentotta Birula, 1908

Kovařík, František & Lowe, Graeme, 2021, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXVI. Records of Hottentotta polystictus (Pocock, 1896), with descriptions of H. haudensis sp. n. and H. nigrimontanus sp. n. (Buthidae) from Somaliland, Euscorpius 330, pp. 1-28 : 1-3

Genus Hottentotta Birula, 1908

( Figures 1–150 , Tables 1–2) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:71BE5C50-

A22A-4F06-9B54-449B203AD78F

Hottentotta: Fet & Lowe, 2000: 133–144 (complete reference and synonymy list until 1998); KovařÍk & Ojanguren Affilastro, 2013: 159–180, figs. 942–1250 (complete reference and synonymy list until 2013); KovařÍk et al., 2018b: 1–14, figs. 1–76, tab. 1; KovařÍk et al., 2019c: 1–30, figs. 2, 5–178, tabs. 1–3.

TYPE SPECIES. Scorpio hottentotta Fabricius, 1787 .

DIAGNOSIS. Medium to large buthids, adults 27–130 mm. Carapace subrectangular, with distinct carinae, entire dorsal surface nearly planar, weakly emarginate anteriorly; ocular tubercle with well-developed median eyes; five pairs of lateral eyes in ‘ type 5’ pattern (Loria & Prendini, 2014). Sternum type 1 (Soleglad & Fet, 2003), triangular in shape. Pectines long, pectinal tooth counts ♂ 16–43, ♀ 13–38, fulcra present. Hemispermatophore flagelliform, capsule with 3-lobed sperm hemiduct and hook-like basal lobe, flagellum folded with pars recta and pars reflecta, pars recta arising from base of sperm hemiduct, trunk elongate. Tergites I–VI granular, with three carinae; tergite VII with 5 carinae. Sternite III with two granulated lateral stridulatory areas, which may be reduced in some species (e. g. in H. pachyurus and H. trilineatus ). Sternites III–IV with slit-like spiracles. Metasoma elongate, segment I with 10 carinae, segments II-IV with 8–10 carinae; ventrolateral carinae of metasoma V with granules more or less equal in size, never lobate; posterior margins of tergite VII and metasoma I–III with fine fringes of microsetae. Telson vesicle bulbous, coarsely and finely granulate, without subaculear denticle. Chelicerae with typical buthid pattern of dentition (Vachon, 1963), fixed finger armed with two denticles on ventral surface. Pedipalps orthobothriotaxic, type A-β (Vachon, 1974, 1975), femur petite d 2 dorsal, patella trichobothrium d 3 located between dorsomedian and dorsointernal carinae; chela db usually located between est and et, or level with est, rarely between est and esb; chela eb located clearly on pedipalp fixed finger. Dentate margin of pedipalp chela movable finger with distinct denticles forming 11–16 linear, non-imbricated rows, each flanked by a single external and internal accessory denticle; 4–6 terminal and one basal terminal denticles. Legs III and IV with well-developed tibial spurs, first and second tarsomeres of all legs with paired ventral macrosetae.

REMARKS ON HEMISPERMATOPHORES.We examined and compared 2 hemispermatophores from H. haudensis sp. n. (paratype 1198), 6 hemispermatophores from H. nigrimontanus s p. n. (paratypes 1337, 1399 and 1547), and 8 hemispermatophores from a third closely related species, H. polystictus ( Pocock, 1896) (4 individuals, 1296, 1302, 1329 and 1335). Hemispermatophores from these species were similar to each other in their structural features and proportions, and we did not detect interspecies differences that could serve as diagnostic characters. Vachon & Stockmann (1968: 85–87) also reported a lack of reliable differences between hemispermatophores from different species of Hottentotta in sub-Saharan Africa. They remarked that intraspecific variation in some cases could be as great as interspecific variation. Allowing for variation, the shapes of the sperm hemiduct lobes, and the short, hook-like form of the basal lobe of the three species studied here are generally consistent with previously described hemispermatophore capsule lobes in the genus Hottentotta (from H. buchariensis (Birula, 1897) , H. conspersus (Thorell, 1876) , H. gentili (Pallary, 1924) , H. hottentotta (Fabricius, 1787) , H. judaicus (Simon, 1872) , H. minax occidentalis (Vachon & Stockmann, 1968) , H. pellucidus Lowe, 2010 , H. polystictus ( Pocock, 1896) , H. saulcyi (Simon, 1880) , H. saxinatans Lowe, 2010 , H. tamulus (Fabricius, 1798) and H. trilineatus (Peters, 1861) ; Levy & Amitai, 1980; Lowe, 2010; Vachon, 1940a, 1940 b, 1952, 1958; Vachon & Stockmann, 1968). In particular, the capsule lobes in our samples of H. polystictus closely matched the lobe profiles for this species illustrated by Vachon (1940a: 256, fig. 57).

Figures

Figures 1–2: Hottentotta polystictus, male from locality 17ST (1) and female from locality 17SD (2) in vivo habitus.

Figures 3–6: Hottentotta polystictus, topotypes, Somaliland, Hamas, between Hargeisa and Berbera, 10°02.267'N 44°47.299'E. Figures 3–4. Male, dorsal (3) and ventral (4) views. Figures 5–6. Female, dorsal (5) and ventral (6) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 7–14: Hottentotta polystictus, topotypes, Somaliland, Hamas, between Hargeisa and Berbera, 10°02.267'N 44°47.299'E. Figures 7, 9, 11–14. Male, chelicerae, carapace and tergites (7), sternopectinal region and sternites (9), and left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect (11–14). Figures 8, 10, Female, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–V (8), and sternopectinal region and sternites (10).

Figures 15–22: Hottentotta polystictus, topotypes, Somaliland, Hamas, between Hargeisa and Berbera, 10°02.267'N 44°47.299'E. Figures 15, 20–22. Male, telson lateral (15), and metasoma and telson lateral (20), dorsal (21), and ventral (22). Figures 16–19. Female, telson lateral (16), and metasoma and telson lateral (17), dorsal (18), and ventral (19). Scale bars: 10 mm (17–19, 20–22).

Figures 23–43: Hottentotta polystictus, topotypes, Somaliland, Hamas, between Hargeisa and Berbera, 10°02.267'N 44°47.299'E. Figures 23–33. Male, pedipalp chela dorsal (23), external (24) and ventral (25) views, patella dorsal (26), external (27) and ventral (28) views, femur and trochanter ventral (29), internal (30), and dorsal (31) views, movable (32) and fixed (33) fingers dentition. Figures 34–43. Female, pedipalp chela dorsal (34), external (35) and ventral (36) views, patella dorsal (37), external (38) and ventral (39) views, femur and trochanter ventral (40), internal (41), and dorsal (42) views, movable finger dentition (43). Trichobothrial pattern indicated in Figures 34–38 and 41–42 by white circles.

Figures 44–45: Hottentotta polystictus, female from locality 11SD, in vivo habitus at locality with newborns (44), and with juveniles after first ecdysis (45).

Figures 46–49: Hottentotta haudensis sp. n. Figures 46–47. Male holotype, dorsal (46) and ventral (47) views. Figures 48–49. Female paratype, dorsal (48) and ventral (49) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 50–59: Hottentotta haudensis sp. n. Figures 50, 52, 54–59. Male holotype, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (50), sternopectinal region and sternites III–IV (52), left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect (54–57), and right chelicera dorsal (58) and ventral (59) views. Figures 51, 53, Female paratype, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (51), and sternopectinal region and sternites III–IV (53).

Figures 60–67: Hottentotta haudensis sp. n. Figures 60, 62–64. Male holotype, telson lateral (60), and metasoma and telson lateral (62), ventral (63), and dorsal (64). Figures 61, 65–67. Female paratype, telson lateral (61), and metasoma and telson lateral (65), ventral (66), and dorsal (67). Scale bar: 10 mm (62–67).

Figures 68–88: Hottentotta haudensis sp. n. Figures 68–78. Male holotype, pedipalp chela dorsal (68), external (69) and ventral (70) views, patella dorsal (71), external (72) and ventral (73) views, femur and trochanter ventral (74), internal (75), and dorsal (76) views, movable (77) and fixed (78) fingers dentition. Figures 79–88. Female paratype, pedipalp chela dorsal (79), external (80) and ventral (81) views, patella dorsal (82), external (83) and ventral (84) views, femur and trochanter ventral (85), internal (86), and dorsal (87) views, movable finger dentition (88). Trichobothrial pattern indicated in Figures 68–72 and 75–76 by white circles.

Figures 89–90: Hottentotta haudensis sp. n., male (89) and female (90) paratypes from locality 17SC in vivo habitus.

Figures 91–94: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., paratypes from locality 17SL. Figures 91–92. Male, dorsal (91) and ventral (92) views. Figures 93–94. Female, dorsal (93) and ventral (94) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 95–104: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., paratypes from locality 17SL. Figures 95, 97. Male, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (95) and sternopectinal region and sternites (97). Figures 96, 98–104. Female, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (96), sternopectinal region and sternite III (98), left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect (99–102), and left chelicera dorsal (103) and ventral (104) views.

Figures 105–112: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., paratypes from locality 17SL. Figures 105, 107–109. Male, telson lateral (105), and metasoma and telson lateral (107), ventral (108), and dorsal (109). Figures 106, 110–112. Female, telson lateral (106), and metasoma and telson lateral (110), ventral (111), and dorsal (112). Scale bar: 10 mm (107–109, 110–112).

Figures 113–131: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n. Figures 113–122. Male holotype, pedipalp chela dorsal (113), external (114) and ventral (115) views, patella dorsal (116), external (117) and ventral (118) views, femur and trochanter internal (119), dorsal (120), and ventral (121) views, and movable finger dentition (122). Figures 123–131. Female paratype from locality 17SL, pedipalp chela dorsal (123), external (124) and ventral (125) views, patella dorsal (126), external (127) and ventral (128) views, femur and trochanter internal (129) and dorsal (130) views, and movable finger dentition (131).

Figures 132–133: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., male paratype from locality 18SD (132) and female paratype from locality 17SL (133) in vivo habitus.

Figures 134–135: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., female paratype from locality 17SL, in vivo habitus with newborns (134) and with juveniles after first ecdysis (135).

Figures 136–137: Collection localities. Figure 136. Hottentotta haudensis sp. n., type locality. Figure 137. H. polystictus, locality 11SH.

Figures 138–139: Figure 138. Map showing the distribution of Hottentotta in Somaliland checked during 2011–2019 expeditions, including records of H. polystictus from Djibouti and Ethiopia. Figure 139. Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., type locality (18SD).

Figures 140–146: Hemispermatophores. Figures 140–143: Hottentotta polystictus (Pocock, 1896), male from locality 17ST (1335). Figure 140. Whole right hemispermatophore, convex view. Figures 141–143. Capsule region of right hemispermatophore, anterior (141), convex compressed (142) and posterior (143) views. Scale bars: 1 mm (140), 200 μm (141–143). Figures 144–146: H. haudensis sp. n., paratype male (1198). Figures 144–145. Capsule regions of right (144) and left (145) hemispermatophores, convex views. Right capsule was fractured, split off lobes were positioned for display. Capsules compressed to separate the lobes. Figure 146. Whole left hemispermatophore, convex view. Trunk was fractured, pieces were positioned for display. Scale bars: 200 μm (144–145), 1 mm (146).

Figures 147–150: Hottentotta nigrimontanus sp. n., hemispermatophore, paratype male (1547). Figure 147. Whole left hemispermatophore, convex view. Figures 148–150. Capsule region of left hemispermatophore, posterior (148), convex (149) and anterior (150) views. Scale bars: 1 mm (147), 200 μm (148–150).