Odontobuthus brevidigitus, LOWE, 2010

Barahoei, Hossein, Prendini, Lorenzo, Navidpour, Shahrokh, Tahir, H. Muhammad, Aliabadian, Mansour, Siahsarvie, Roohollah & Mirshamsi, Omid, 2022, Integrative systematics of the tooth-tailed scorpions, Odontobuthus (Buthidae), with descriptions of three new species from the Iranian Plateau, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195, pp. 355-398 : 371-372

ODONTOBUTHUS BREVIDIGITUS LOWE, 2010

( FIGS 1 , 3–5 , 16A, B , 20B , 21B , 22B, TABLES 1, 4, 5)

Odontobuthus brevidigitus Lowe, 2010: 2–15 , figs 1–30, 37–38, 49–57, 60–65; Mirshamsi et al., 2013: 153, 169; Azghadi et al., 2014: 169, 175, 178.

Type material: Holotype ♂ ( NHMB), OMAN: Batinah Plain , c. 4 km E of Seeb, 23°41.39′N 58°06.93′E, 0 m, 22.x.1993, G. Lowe & A. S. Gardner.

Diagnosis: Odontobuthus brevidigitus may be separated from other species of the genus by the following combination of characters. Scorpions of medium size, adults 50–65 mm ( Fig. 16A, B ). Colour golden yellow. Median ocular tubercle situated in anterior half of carapace, distance from anterior carapace margin, 0.34. Pedipalp chela movable finger short relative to manus (MFL/ML, 1.40–1.75). Median denticle rows of pedipalp chela fixed and movable fingers each comprising 10–12 oblique subrows of denticles. Pectinal tooth count, 29–36 (♂) and 20–25 (♀). Ventrosubmedian carinae of metasomal segments II and III each with two or three pairs of prominent tooth-like processes ( Fig. 22B ). Metasomal segment IV length to width (L/W), 1.67–1.96. Ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V with several prominent spiniform processes; anal arch with three lateral lobes; posteroventral margin of metasomal segment V with two large lobes. Telson small, narrow, length to width (TL/W), 1.86–2.40 and length to height (TL/H), 2.09– 2.40) ( Figs 20B , 21B ).

Distribution: Odontobuthus brevidigitus is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and has only been recorded from Oman and the United Arab Emirates ( Lowe, 2010).

Material examined: OMAN: Al Dakhiliyah Governate: Bahla Public Picnic Site, c. 3.5 km SW Bahla, 22°56′N 57°16′E, 533 m, 19–20.v.2017, L. Prendini & M. Roppo, arid savanna on alluvial floodplain near rocky hills, many large and smaller Acacia trees and spiny bushes on compact greyish alluvial silt, powdery with crust, somewhat degraded, specimens very common, mostly excavated during daytime from burrows, c. 30–50 cm deep in open ground and near bushes, others collected with UV light detection on warm, still, moonless night, many doorkeeping at burrow entrances, few collected sitting on ground surface, eight ♂♂, seven ♀♀ ( AMNH), one juv. ♀ [ AMCC ( LP 14256 )]. Al Wusta Governate: Wadi Rawnab , 18°49′N 56°24′E, 111 m, 15.v.2019, M. Stockmann, daytime excavation, one ♂ ( ZMFUM). Muscat Governate: Bimma, 22°58′N 59°10′E, 7 m, iii.2017, M. Seiter & A. Ullrich, one juv. ♀ [ AMCC ( LP 15780 )] .

Figures

Figure 1. Geographical distribution of the buthid scorpion genus Odontobuthus plotted on topography of the Middle East. A, known locality records obtained from fieldwork and the literature. Circles with black or white dots indicate type localites of each species. B, localities of material used in molecular phylogenetic analysis (see Table 1 for details).

Figure 3. Lineardiscriminant analysis (LDA) of38 metricand fivemeristic variables among18 populationsofOdontobuthus. Conspecific populations in same colour.

Figure 4. Neighbour-joining phenogram generated from morphometric Mahalanobis distance matrix of 18 populations of Odontobuthus. Conspecific populations in same colour.

Figure 5. Fifty per cent majority rule consensus obtained by analysis of partial DNA sequences of mitochondrial COI gene from Odontobuthus with Bayesian inference (BI). Nodal support values above branches represent posterior probability values from BI and bootstrap values from maximum likelihood analyses, respectively. Letters A and B refer to clades also recovered by Azghadi et al. (2014).

Figure 16. Odontobuthus. Habitus, dorsal aspect (A, C, E), ventral aspect (B, D). A, B, Odontobuthus brevidigitus, ♂ (ZMFUM 1438). C–E, Odontobuthus odonturus, ♀ (ZMFUM 1439). Scale bars = 10 mm (A, B), 5 mm (C–E).

Figure 20. Odontobuthus. Metasomal segment V, lateral aspect. A, Odontobuthus bidentatus ♀ (ZMFUM 2061) B, Odontobuthus brevidigitus ♂ (ZMFUM–1438). C, Odontobuthus doriae ♀ (ZMFUM 2014). D, Odontobuthus odonturus ♀ (ZMFUM 1439). E, Odontobuthus tavighiae ♀ (ZMFUM–2074). F, Odontobuthus tirgari ♂ (ZMFUM 1398). Scale bars = 2.5 mm.

Figure 21. Odontobuthus. Metasomal segment V, ventral aspect. A, Odontobuthus bidentatus ♀ (ZMFUM 2061) B, Odontobuthus brevidigitus ♂ (ZMFUM 1438). C, Odontobuthus doriae ♀ (ZMFUM 2014). D, Odontobuthus odonturus ♀ (ZMFUM–1439). E, Odontobuthus tavighiae ♀ (ZMFUM 2074). F, Odontobuthus tirgari ♂ (ZMFUM 1398). Scale bars = 2.5 mm.

Figure 22. Odontobuthus. Metasomal segments II and III, lateral aspect. A, Odontobuthus bidentatus ♀ (ZMFUM 2061). B, Odontobuthus brevidigitus ♂ (ZMFUM 1438). C, Odontobuthus doriae ♀ (ZMFUM 2014). D, Odontobuthus odonturus ♀ (ZMFUM 1439).E, Odontobuthus tavighiae ♀ (ZMFUM 2074).F, Odontobuthus tirgari ♂ (ZMFUM 1398).Scale bars = 2.5 mm.