Mesobuthus kirmanensis (Birula, 1900)

Kovařík, František, Fet, Victor, Gantenbein, Benjamin, Graham, Matthew R., Aydin, Ersen, Yağmur, Šťáhlavský, František, Nikita, Poverennyi & Novruzov, Nizami E., 2022, A revision of the genus Mesobuthus Vachon 1950 with a description of 14 new species (Scorpiones Buthidae), Euscorpius 348, pp. 1-189 : 70-80

Mesobuthus kirmanensis (Birula, 1900) , stat. n.

( Figures 455–521 , 1155, 1157, Table 6) http: //zoobank. org/urn: lsid: zoobank. org: act: 45F38FCF-

F56F-45CA-83DC-A69770381AF

Buthus eupeus kirmanensis Birula, 1900a: 364–366 .

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Iran, Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Kaskin (27.50°N 60.33°E, estimated) ; ZISP.

SYNONYMS:

= Buthus pachysoma Birula, 1900a: 370–372 (type locality and type repository: Iran, Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Bampur (27.13°N 60.28°E, estimated); ZISP), syn. n.

http: //zoobank. org/urn: lsid: zoobank. org: act: 3307E190-

C14A-46AA-BF2D-54AB7C2FC0BE

REFERENCES (selected):

Buthus eupeus kirmanensis: Birula, 1903: 69 ; Birula, 1905a: 122, 124, 129–130; Birula, 1917a: 41.

Buthus eupeus pachysoma: Birula, 1905a: 119 , 122–123, 128–131; Birula, 1917a: 42.

Mesobuthus eupeus kirmanensis: Vachon, 1958: 155 ; Fet, 1994: 527; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 173 (complete references list until 1998); Mirshamsi et al., 2010: 2867 (in part); Mirshamsi et al., 2011a: 9 (in part), fig. 7.

Mesobuthus eupeus pachysoma: Vachon, 1958: 155 ; Fet, 1994: 527; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 174 (complete references list until 1998).

Mesobuthus eupeus: Mirshamsi et al., 2011b: 20 (in part).

? Mesobuthus eupeus persicus: Navidpour et al., 2011: 9–13 , figs. 12, 41–42 (in part).

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Iran, Sistan and Baluchistan Province [formerly Kerman Province], Kaskin (27.50°N, 60.33°E, estimated), 6 [18] July 1898, 1♂ (lectotype of Buthus eupeus kirmanensis Birula, 1900 , designated here, Figs. 455–466 ), leg. N. A. Zarudny, ZISP No. 333; “Ost Persien, Sarghad Province“, 1♂ 1♀ (paralectotypes, Figs. 486–495 ), ZMHB No. 10234 (not mentioned in Moritz & Fischer, 1980); Bampur (27.13°N 60.28°E, estimated), 1♀ (holotype of Buthus pachysoma Birula, 1900 , Figs. 467–485 ), leg. N. A. Zarudny, 15–23 July [27 July –5 August] 1898, ZISP No. 364 .

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. Iran, Fars Province, Rustai Kanj , 28°10'N 55°43'E (28.17°N 55.72°E), 760 m a. s. l., 19 April 2000, 1♀ juv., leg. M. Kaftan ; pass 140 km NE Siraaz , 20–21 April 2002, 1♀ 1juv., leg. P. Kabátek ; Hormozgan Province, Hasan Langi , E of Bandar-e-Abbas, 27º23'N 58º50'E (27.38°N 58.83°E), 155 m a. s. l., 1♀, 17–19 July 2004, leg. P. Kabátek ; Kerman Province, Deh Bahri , 29°05'N 57°55'E (29.08°N 57.92°E), 7 April 2000, 6422 ft., 1♀, leg. M. Kaftan , NMPC; 45 km NNE Sabzvaran ( Jiroft ), 28º58'N 57º54'E (28.96°N 57.90°E), 2231 m a. s. l., 2♀ 1juv., 19 July 2004, leg. P. Kabátek , NMPC; Jiroft, Tavakol Abad vil., 28°26'25"N 56°49'37"E (28.43°N 56.82°E, 580 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-07), April 2009, 1♂ 1♀, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Jiroft, Rumrez vil., 28°30'03"N 57°47'01"E (28.50°N 56.78°E), 577 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-09), April 2009, 1♂ 1♀ ( Figs. 496–521 ), leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Ghaleh Ganj, Bolbol Abad vil., 27°38'38"N 57°56'22"E (27.63°N 57.93°E), 419 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-15), April 2009, 2♂, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Rafsanjan road, Sarcheshmeh ( Gode Ahmar ), 30°02'53"N 55°53'54"E (30.03°N 55.88°E), 2316 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-41), May 2009, 1♂ 2♀ 1juv., leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Shahre Babak, Marza , 30°01'43"N 55°05'41"E (30.02°N 55.08°E), 1789 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-54), May 2009, 1♀, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Baft-Kerman road, 29°14'31"N 56°40'50"E (29.23°N 56.67°E), 2398 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-75), May 2009, 1♂, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Baft, Nanook vil., Rabar , 29°20'45"N 56°50'19"E, 2798 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-78), May 2009, 1♂ 1♀, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Baft-Orzouyeh road, 29°06'56"N 56°36'52"E (29.10°N 56.60°E), 2228 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-79), May 2009, 1♂ 1♀ juv., leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; Baft-Orzouyeh road, 29°08'19"N 56°36'55"E (29.13°N 56.60°E), 2250 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-80), May 2009, 2♂, leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi ; Baft-Orzouyeh road, 29°09'21"N 56°37'14"E (29.15°N 56.62°E), 2174 m a. s. l. (Locality No. KE-81), May 2009, 1♂ 1♀ juv., leg. Koohpaye, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi , NMPC; 8 km N Bardsir (29.95°N 56.58°E), 2050 m a. s. l., 6 June 2010, 1♀ 2♂ juvs., leg. W. Grosser , NMPC.

DNA DATA. This species, in our opinion, was represented among the populations studied by Mirshamsi et al. (2010) in their DNA survey of Iranian Mesobuthus . It corresponds to their three DNA sequences from the Sistan & Baluchistan Province, Bampur, Bampur River (27.17°N 60.46°E) (Bampur is the type locality of Buthus pachysoma ) as well as to a single DNA sequence from the Kerman Province, vicinity of Jiroft (28.60°N 57° 71°E); this point is not far from the type locality of Buthus eupeus kirmanensis ( Table 16).

DIAGNOSIS. Total length of adults 38 mm (male) to 55 mm (female). Trichobothrium db on fixed finger of pedipalp situated between trichobothria est and esb, near to est or with level with est. Male with fingers proximally more twisted than in female. Pedipalp chela length/width ratio 2.9–3.4 in both sexes. Pectinal teeth number 22–27 in male, 17–21 in female. Chelicerae yellow, without reticulation. Pedipalps and metasoma sparsely hirsute. Carapace and tergites yellowish to reddish brown, black pigmented; metasoma, telson, pedipalps and legs yellowish brown, only part of metasomal segment V black. Femur of pedipalp with 4–5 granulated carinae. Patella with 8 usually smooth carinae, both dorsal are granulated. Chela lacks carinae. Movable fingers of pedipalps with 11–12 cutting rows of denticles and 5 terminal denticles. Central lateral and posterior lateral carinae of carapace not joined to form a continuous linear series of granules to posterior margin. Sternite VII finely granulated, with 4 well marked granulated carinae. Metasomal segment I with 10 carinae; segments II to IV with 8 carinae, other two carinae are indicated by incomplete row of denticles on metasomal segments II and III; segment V with 5 carinae. Metasoma with all carinae granulated. Intercarinal surfaces on metasoma I laterally finely granulated. Length to depth ratio of metasoma III 1.2–1.3, metasoma IV 1.45–1.65 in both sexes. Telotarsus III ventral setation represented by short and strong spiniform setae. Tarsi hirsute, in adults with 5–9 retroinferior macrosetae on basitarsus III. Telson rather elongated, mainly in male. Anal lobe divided into three or four parts.

HISTORY OF STUDY. Type specimens of both Buthus eupeus kirmanensis Birula, 1900 and Buthus pachysoma Birula, 1900 were collected in Iran (then Persia) by the famous Russian ornithologist and traveler Nikolay A. Zarudny (1859–1919) who brought numerous scorpions for A. Birula’s ZISP collection. Zarudny visited Persia several times between 1896 and 1904. His travelogues were published in Russian (Zarudny, 1900, 1901, 1916) and analyzed by modern scholars (Roselaar & Aliabadian, 2007); in most instances we can locate, or at least approximate, his collection sites.

Syntypes of Buthus eupeus kirmanensis published by Birula (1900a: 364) were collected in summer 1898 and deposited at ZISP. The syntype series included five separate labels (lots) (all dates below, Old Style) listed as: "Eastern Kerman (Persian Baluchistan)”: (1) 1 ♂, Kaskin , 6 July 1898; (2) 33♂ ♀, Basman town , 8 July 1898; (3) 6 specimens, Basman, Gualgir Pass, 10.5 verst [ca. 10 miles] from Basman , 9 August 1898 ; and “Sargad [part of eastern Kerman]”: (4) 10 specimens, road between Tamin and Ljaadis Villages , 24–28 August 1898; (5) 6 specimens, road between Sia-Kugi Pass and Dusab Village , 30 August–1 September 1898 ”. The syntypes were entered into Birula’s handwritten catalog under numbers 333–337, correspondingly. A few other lots from Iran (not types) were added later, among them additional specimens collected by Zarudny in 1901 and 1903 .

We designate a ZISP male from Kaskin (No. 333) as a lectotype ( Figs. 455–466 ). In addition, two syntypes from “Sarghad”, which were found in ZMHB, are designated here as paralectotypes ( Figs. 486–495 ).

Buthus pachysoma was published in the same paper ( Birula, 1900a: 370). Its single type specimen, the holotype ♀ (ZISP 364), was collected by Zarudny in "Eastern Kerman (Persian Baluchistan), excursion along the Bampur River”, on 15–23 July 1898. This holotype was never studied by anyone; from the time of Birula to our study in 2019 it was still in the original vial sealed with wax. Additional specimens identified by Birula as Buthus eupeus pachysoma were collected by Zarudny in 1901 ( Birula, 1905a: 128) and are deposited in ZISP collection (Nos. 375–372). Birula (1917a: 41–42) noted that B. e. pachysoma differed from all other “subspecies of B. eupeus ” by “a coarse granulation of carapace, ocular tubercle, and all the interspaces of metasomal carinae.”

Before Birula’s type materials became available for our study in 2019, Buthus eupeus kirmanensis was tentatively considered a synonym of Mesobuthus eupeus persicus ( Pocock, 1899) ( Navidpour et al., 2011) or M. persicus (see KovařÍk, 2019). Our current analysis, however, shows that this is a separate, species-level taxon, and that B. pachysoma is its synonym.

DISTRIBUTION. Iran (Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman, and Sistan & Baluchistan Provinces) (Figs. 1155, 1157) .

Figures

Figures 455–456. Mesobuthus kirmanensis, male lectotype. Dorsal (455) and ventral (456) views. The labels (ZISP 333) say, in Russian and Latin, left to right: (1) 333. Buthus eupeus kirmanensis Bir. Det.: A. Birula. Coll.: East Persia, East Kirman, Kaskin env., 6.VII.1898, N. Zarudny”; (2), N. Zarudny, East Persia, 6.VII.1898”; (3) East Kirman, Kaskin env., 6.VII.1898”. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 457–466. Mesobuthus kirmanensis, male lectotype. Chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III, (457), sternopectinal region and sternite III (458), telson lateral (459), pedipalp chela, dorsal (460), and external (461) views. Pedipalp patella dorsal (462), and femur and trochanter dorsal (463), left legs III–IV, retrolateral aspect (464–465). Metasoma and telson lateral (466). Scale bar: 10 mm (466).

Figures 467–471. Mesobuthus kirmanensis, female holotype of Buthus pachysoma. Dorsal (467) and ventral (468) views. Metasoma and telson, lateral (469), dorsal (470), and ventral (471) views. The labels (ZISP 364) say, in Russian and Latin, left to right: (1) Buthus pachysoma n. sp. ♀ ad., Bampur River, 15–23.VII.1898”; (2) “364. Buthus eupeus pachysoma Bir. spec. orig. Det.:A. Birula. Coll.: South-East Persia, East Kirman, Bampur River., 15–23.VII.1898, N. Zarudny”; (3) “det. A. Birula, Zarudny, E. Persia, East Kirman”. Scale bars: 10 mm (467–468, 469–471).

Figures 472–485. Mesobuthus kirmanensis, female holotype of Buthus pachysoma. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (472), external (473) and ventral (474) views. Patella, dorsal (475), external (476) and ventral (477) views. Femur and trochanter, dorsal (478) and ventral (479) views. Movable finger (480). Chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III, (481), sternopectinal region and sternites III–IV (482). Telson lateral (483) and left legs III–IV, retrolateral aspect (484–485).

Figures 486–489: Mesobuthus kirmanensis, paralectotypes, ZMHB. Figures 486–487. Male paralectotype, dorsal (486) and ventral (487) views. Figures 488–489. Female paralectotype, dorsal (488) and ventral (489) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 490–495: Mesobuthus kirmanensis, paralectotypes, ZMHB. Figures 490–492. Male paralectotype, metasoma and telson, lateral (490), dorsal (491), and ventral (492) views. Figures 493–495. Female paralectotype, metasoma and telson, lateral (493), dorsal (494), and ventral (495) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 496–499: Mesobuthus kirmanensis from Iran, Kerman Province, Jiroft, Rumrez vil., NMPC. Figures 496–497. Male, dorsal (496) and ventral (497) views. Figures 498–499. Female, dorsal (246) and ventral (247) views. Scale bars: 10 mm.

Figures 500–521: Mesobuthus kirmanensis from Iran, Kerman Province, Jiroft, Rumrez vil., NMPC, pedipalp. Figures 500–510. Male, chela, dorsal (500), external (501), and ventral (502) views. Patella, dorsal (503), external (504) and ventral (505) views. Femur and trochanter, internal (506), dorsal (507), and ventral (508) views. Movable (509) and fixed (510) fingers.Figures 511–521. Female, chela, dorsal (511), external (512), and ventral (513) views. Patella, dorsal (514), external (515) and ventral (516) views. Femur and trochanter, internal (517), dorsal (518), and ventral (519) views. Movable (520) and fixed (521) fingers.The trichobothrial pattern is indicated in Figures 500–504, 506–507.