Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XXXVI. Compsobuthus starhai sp. n. from Somalia (Puntland) (Buthidae) Author Kovařík, František text Euscorpius 2025 408 1 14 journal article 10.5281/zenodo.16963160 1536-9307 16963160 F58C85A9-4167-4D3E-BA35-257209562FFB Compsobuthus abyssinicus (Birula, 1903) ( Figures 1–6 , 35 , 37 ) Buthus acutecarinatus abyssinicus Birula, 1903: 108 . Buthus acutecarinatus abyssinicus : Kraepelin, 1913: 127 Compsobuthus abyssinicus : Vachon, 1949: 99 (1952: 219); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 124; KovařÍk, 2003a: 88–89; KovařÍk, 2003b: 138; KovařÍk & Whitman, 2005: 107 (in part); KovařÍk & Ojanguren, 2013: 146–147, figs. 777–782, 921–925; KovařÍk et al., 2016: 3 , figs. 1–4, 15–16, 19–22, 77. ? Compsobuthus acutecarinatus : Sissom, 1994: 9 (in part, record from Assab, Eritrea ) Compsobuthus maindroni : KovařÍk, 2003b: 138, fig. 1 (misidentification). TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY . Ethiopia (Abyssinia), Kachenuha [ 09º04'N 40º12'E ; see below] ; ZISP . TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED . Abyssinia , Kachenuha , 31.I.1899 (“Old [Julian] Style”), leg. N. A. Dmitriev , 1♂ 1♀ ( lectotype and paralectotype , hereby designated, Figs. 1–6 ) , ZISP 47 (see comments below) . OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED ( FKCP ). Djibouti , Ali Sabieh District , 4km W of Ali Adeh , 23.X.2023 , 11°07'30.678''N 42°50'55.456''E (11.12,42.85), 580 m a. s. l. , 23DL, 5♂ 1♀ juv. (2580), leg. F. KovařÍk. Ethiopia , 30 km W Metahara , VIII.1982 , 2♀ ; Awash , Metahara env., 08°54'N 39°54'E , 960-1050 m a. s. l. (11EA), 2008, 1♀ , leg. Trailin , 19.-22. VII.2011 , 3♂ 1♀ 3ims., leg. F. KovařÍk; Awash , 09°00'34.5''N 40°17'56.5''E , 1012 m a. s. l. (11 EW ), 19.VII.2011 , 1♂ 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Awash n. p., 08°52'N 40°05'E , 981 m a. s. l. (11 EX ), 20.VII.2011 , 1♀ 2juvs before first ecdysis, leg. F. KovařÍk ; 13°43'10''N 39°55'34''E , 879 m a. s. l. (12 EI ), 18.XI.2012 , 1im. 1juv. , leg. F. KovařÍk ; 11°29'47''N 40°25'07''E , 766 m a. s. l. (12 EL ), 20.XI.2012 , 1♂ 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Gewane , 10°09'38''N 40°39'45''E , 631 m a. s. l. (12 EO ), 23.XI.2012 , 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; 09°34'06''N 40°23'45.9''E , 601 m a. s. l. (12 EQ ), 24.XI.2012 , 1♂ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Awash , 09°00'34.5''N 40°17'56.5''E , 1012 m . a. s. l. (12 EW ), 1♀ , 25.XI.2012 , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Awash , Metahara env., 08°54'N 39°54'E , 960-1050 m a. s. l. (12 EX ), 25.XI.2012 , 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Afar State , Awash , 09°09'03.6''N 40°31'38.8''E , 1378 m a. s. l. (14 ES ), 26.XI.2014 , 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Afar State , 09°34'06''N 40°23'45.9''E , 601 m a. s. l. (14EU =12 EQ ), 27.XI.2014 , 1♀ , leg. F. KovařÍk ; Oromia State , East Shewa , Fantale zone, volcanic crater Fantale near Metahara , 09°00'56.2''N 39°51'21''E , 1050 m a. s. l. (14 EV ), 29.XI.2014 , 4♂ 3♀ 3juvs., leg. F. KovařÍk.Jiri , 9.7610586°N 42.6800703°E , VI .2024 , 1♂ 1♀ ( Figs. 33–34 , ETH099 , ETH082 ), leg. H. Elmii. Somaliland , 4 km S of Borama , Awdal , 09°53'01''N 43°11'56''E , 1662 m a. s. l. , 17.I.2015 , 1♂ , leg. T . Mazuch ; 5 km of Jidhi village , 10°35'04''N 43°02'16.9''E , 515 m a. s. l. (19SF), 1.VII.2019 , 1♂ ( No. 1683) 1♀ leg. F. KovařÍk ; Habas village , 10°24'42.6''N 42°48'40.1''E , 866 m a. s. l. (19SD), 30. VI .2019 , 1♂ ( No. 1679), leg. F. KovařÍk ; 5 km W of Bown , 10°11'50.9''N 43°03'46.6''E , 1340 m a. s. l. (21 SM ), 16.X.2021 , 1♂ (2036), leg. F. KovařÍk. DIAGNOSIS ( ♂ ♀ ). Total length 28–40 mm . Sexual dimorphism minor, adult males with chela of pedipalps broader and fingers of pedipalps flexed proximally; there is no difference in length and width of metasomal segments. Base color uniformly reddish to gray. Pedipalps with or without spots. Movable finger of pedipalp bears 10 rows of granules, all without external and with internal accessory granules ( acutecarinatus group). Pedipalp chela length/width ratio 3.7–3.8 in males and 4.4–4.6 in females. Manus of chela shorter than fixed finger. Trochanter of pedipalps with numerous long setae. Anterior margin of carapace bears eight symmetrically distributed spinae. First to third metasomal segments bear 10 carinae, fourth bears 8 or 10 carinae. All metasomal segments longer than wide. Pectinal teeth number 19–24. Sternites and ventral surface of metasoma granulated and with numerous small black setae. Seventh sternite bears four crenulate carinae. Telson bulbous, aculeus shorter than vesicle. Subaculear tubercle present but not spinoid. HISTORY OF STUDY . Birula (1903) mentioned only the type series that included 12 specimens , all collected by N. A. Dmitriev in “ Abyssinia , Kachenuha” on 31.01.1899 [Old Style, the Gregorian calendar used in Russia until 1918]. We examined the two syntypes deposited in ZISP , lot No. 47. Birula’s handwritten, unpublished collection catalog, which is preserved in ZISP , lists their provenance, in Russian, as “Kachenuha” ( Fig. 37 ). The catalog also mentions additional, unpublished Abysssian specimens (not types, number unspecified), their locality listed (in Russian) as “vill.[age] Kachin-Uokha on the r[iver] Khavash, ZISP 48, 19.03.1903 [Old Style], leg. Dr. Brovtsyn.” Khavash is the modern Awash River, and the Ethiopian gazetteer online lists a locality called Kassin Uha or Cassin Ua at 09º04’N 40º12’E , not far from the Awash town. The collector of 1903 specimens was Dr. Nikolay Petrovich Brovtsyn, a well-known Russian medical doctor in Abyssinia since 1896, a personal physician of Negus Menelik II since 1899, and an author of an early book on Abyssinian anthropology (Brovtsyn, 1909). Birula’s catalog also lists one specimen from Addis Ababa collected by Brovtsyn earlier, in 1898-1899 ( ZISP 1518), as well as a single specimen from the Egyptian Sudan in 1914 collected by Franz Werner ( ZISP 49). We accept “Kachenuha’ as a type locality although it is not entirely clear why the 1899 lot collected by Dmitriev (the types) and 1903 lot collected (independently?) by Brovtsyn have the same locality label. Both Dmitriev and Brovtsyn were later mentioned as zoological collectors for ZISP by Birula (1927: 175-176) in his work on the rich ZISP collection of Solifugae ( Arachnida ): “…Part of this material was composed of the collections of some members of the official Russian Missions in Abyssinia , as well as of private persons travelling independently in that country. These persons collected the Solifugae chiefly along the usual caravan route from Dshibuti or Zeyla at Tadshurabay on the Red Sea, through Dshildessa in the northern part of the Somalian desert, and Harar in East Abyssinia to the chief town of Abyssinia , Addis-Abbeba, and the residence of the late emperor Menelik, Antoto. The Zoological Museum is especially grateful for the valuable and careful collections of the order Solifugae to the folowing persons: G. V . Kachovskij, Figures 1–2 . Compsobuthus abyssinicus (Birula, 1903) , male lectotype (1) and female paralectotype (2) in dorsal views. Scale bar: 10 mm. Figures 3–6 : Compsobuthus abyssinicus (Birula, 1903) . Figures 3–4 . Male lectotype (4) and female paralectotype (3) in ventral views. Figure 5 . Movable finger dentition of female paralectotype. Figure 6 . Original label. attaché to the Russian mission in Abyssinia in 1897-1898, N. A. Dmitriev (1899), Dr. Lukjanov (1890), dresser Mr. Sjedov (1903—1905), Dr. Brovzyn (1905), and Dr. I. N. Lebedinskij (1906).”