Neobuthus haeckeli, Kovařík, 2019

Kovařík, František, 2019, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XXII. Two new species of Neobuthus from Somaliland (Buthidae), Euscorpius 294, pp. 1-16 : 3-7

Neobuthus haeckeli sp. n.

( Figures 1–26, 70, Table 1) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CC1873AB-

069D-49BD-8E2C-98CE9BA9672F

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Somaliland, Cali Haidh, 10°02'50.6"N 43°47'08.7"E, 1056 m a. s. l. ; FKCP.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Somaliland, Cali Haidh, 10°02'50.6"N 43°47'08.7"E, 1056 m a. s. l. (Locality No. 19SN), 8.VII.2019, 7♂ (holotype and paratypes, 1697, 1712, 1713, 1715, 1716), leg. F. Kovařík & T. Mazuch , FKCP.

ETYMOLOGY. The name honors Czech entomologist, my friend and physician Martin Häckel who visited Somaliland with me and knows my body from inside.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length of adult males 17–20 mm; female unknown; carapace with area between anterior median carinae pale, densely granular; tergites with 3 dark stripes; pedipalp relatively slender, males with femur L/ W 2.22 –2.36, patella L/ W 2.28 –2.36, chela L/ W 4.44 –4.58; chela movable finger with 5 subrows of primary denticles, 4 external accessory denticles flanking proximal end of each subrow; trichobothria d 2 present on femur and patella; dorsoexternal and ventroexternal carinae on pedipalp patella present, smooth; posterior margins of tergites usually lacking macrosetae; pedipalps, legs, metasoma and telson with moderately short, stout macrosetae in males; males with coxae sparsely granulated, sternites III–VI shagreened to smooth medially and granulate laterally, sternite VII densely granulated with 4 well-defined, granulated carinae; metasoma I–II with median lateral carinae present in males; lateral surface of metasoma V in males densely granulated, with granules separated; soles of telotarsi with relatively sparse setation, leg III of adults with 10–12 ventral macrosetae on telotarsus; pectine teeth 16–19 in males.

DESCRIPTION. Total length of adult males 17–20 mm, female unknown; measurements of carapace, telson, segments of metasoma and pedipalps given in Table 1; positions and distribution of trichobothria on pedipalps shown in Figs. 6–9, and 12–13; trichobothrium d 2 present on pedipalp femur and patella; base color pale yellow to light orange with variable fuscous pigmentation ( Figs. 1, 3–4) and extensive patterns of dark maculation on pedipalps, mesosoma, metasoma and partially on legs; chelicerae yellow with dark reticulation on anterior manus, dentition reddish.

Pedipalp ( Figs. 5–15). Pedipalp mostly sparsely hirsute; finely granulated in males; femur with five conspicuously granulose carinae, more strongly developed in males; patella with seven granulose carinae in males, and five smooth carinae in females; chela with dorsal and external carinae present. The chela movable and fixed fingers with 5 subrows of primary denticles, 4 external accessory denticles on movable and 4–5 on fixed fingers flanking proximal end of each subrow.

Carapace ( Fig. 19). Strongly trapezoidal (narrower distal denticle, medium-sized subdistal and medial, and 2 small, anteriorly), approximately wide as long (L/ W 0.96 –0.99); partially fused basal denticles; ventral margin with 2 denticles.

posterior median postocular area flat, anterior median Mesosoma ( Figs. 19–20). Tergites I–VI bear three carinae preocular area gently sloped downwards towards anterior of which the lateral pair may be less conspicuous mainly margin; lateral flanks steeply sloped; ocular tubercle broad, on tergites I–IV; tergite VII bears five well-defined carinae prominent, located slightly anterior to middle of carapace; (median, submedians and laterals); tergites I–VI densely anterior margin straight, finely microdenticulate, with coarser granular, with coarser granules on posterior lateral areas; tergite granules overlapping edge, bearing 6–8 macrosetae; anterior VII densely granular; sternites III–VI smooth medially and median carinae weak, coarsely granular, other carinae granulate laterally in males; sternite VII with four well-defined indistinct; dense granulation covering most of carapace. carinae, densely, finely granulated in both sexes; sternum Chelicera. Fingers with typical buthid dentition ( Vachon, 1963; type 1, triangular in shape, smooth, with deep posteromedian Lowe & Kovařík, 2016; Kovařík et al., 2018); fixed finger with invagination; genital opercula smooth; genital papillae present; large distal denticle, 1 subdistal denticle and 2 basal denticles pectines extending to around a quarter of sternite V in male; fused into bicusp, single denticle on ventral surface at level of pectine teeth 16–19 (2 x 16, 7 x 17, 3 x 18, 2 x 19) in males; bicusp; dorsal margin of movable finger with 5 denticles: 1 large combs with 3 marginal lamellae and 6–8 middle lamellae; marginal lamellae, middle lamellae and fulcra with dense cover of short dark reddish macrosetae; fulcra with 2–4 setae.

Legs ( Figs. 22–26). Coxa, femora, patella and tibia of all legs bearing variable numbers of medium length, straight, dark-reddish macrosetae; tarsi with mix of short and longer, dark-reddish macrosetae; basitarsi I–III slightly compressed with flat retrolateral surfaces, with bristle combs consisting of retrosuperior series of longer macrosetae, plus retroinferior and proinferior series of shorter macrosetae; telotarsi with two rows of short setae on ventral aspect, 10–12 macrosetae on telotarsus III; tibial spurs moderate on legs III–IV.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 16–18, 21). Metasoma and telson sparsely hirsute, macrosetae moderately short in male, straight and reddish to black; metasomal segments I–II with 10 carinae, III with 8 carinae, IV with 6–8 carinae, V with 2 carinae; segments I–III with well-defined, granulate carinae; segment IV with weakly indicated dorsolateral carinae; segment V with strong, granulate to dentate-lobate ventrolateral carinae; segments I–IV with dense granulation on all intercarinal surfaces including dorsal surfaces; segment V densely granular on lateral and ventral surfaces, more coarsely so on ventral surface, granules not arranged along any traces of carinae; telson smooth, ventral surface sparsely, weakly granular; vesicle slightly elongated; aculeus stout, shorter than vesicle, tip of aculeus almost vertically directed.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish N. haeckeli sp. n. from all other species of the genus. According to the characters used in the key published in Kovařík et al. (2018), the new species is most similar to N. amoudensis Kovařík et al., 2018 and N. gubanensis Kovařík et al., 2018 , which is also confirmed by DNA phylogeny (paper in preparation). All examined specimens of N. amoudensis have pedipalp movable finger with 6 subrows of denticles (figs. 42 and 52 in Kovařík et al., 2018: 11) while all type specimens of N. haeckeli sp. n. have pedipalp movable finger with 5 of these subrows ( Fig. 14). N. gubanensis could be characterized by the presence of a median lateral carina on metasoma III (figs 230 and 233 in Kovařík et al., 2018: 49). This carina is absent in N. haeckeli sp. n. ( Fig. 16).

COMMENTS ON LOCALITIES AND LIFE STRATEGY. N. haeckeli sp. n. inhabits rocky mountain area in central Somaliland ( Fig. 2). The types were collected at night in open terrain by UV detection together with Parabuthus abyssinicus Pocock, 1901 , Hottentotta polystictus (Pocock, 1896) , Pandinurus sp. , and Buthus sp.