Ephippiochthonius hispanus ( Beier, 1930 ) Beier, 1930

Zaragoza, Juan A., 2017, Revision of the Ephippiochthonius complex in the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Macaronesia, with proposed changes to the status of the Chthonius subgenera (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae), Zootaxa 4246 (1), pp. 1-221 : 85-86

Ephippiochthonius hispanus ( Beier, 1930) , n. comb.

( Figs 152–153)

Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) hispanus Beier 1930: 323 –324, fig. 1. Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) aff. hispanus: Zaragoza 1990: 55 , fig. 4. Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) hispanus: Zaragoza 2007: 17 .

Type locality. Spain, Asturias, Peñamellera Baja, El Mazo, Cueva de la Loja (43°19′54′′N, 04°33′33′′W; 29 m a.s.l.) .

Distribution. Spain: Asturias.

Diagnosis (♀). A microphthalmic, hypogean, medium-sized Ephippiochthonius species of the gibbus -group. Movable cheliceral finger without isolated subapical tooth (di) and spinneret strongly prominent in female, unknown for male; anterior eyes with low lens, without posterior eyes or eye-spots, 1 preocular microsetae on each side, posterior margin of carapace with 2 macrosetae; chelal hand weakly depressed at level of ib / isb, with strong hump distad of ib / isb and an abrupt slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; fixed chelal finger with 22–23 teeth; movable chelal finger with 10 teeth at the distal half, without marginal lamina, basal half reduced to low undulations; pedipalpal femur (♀) 5.6 times longer than broad, length 0.62 mm; chela (♀) 5.0–5.2 times longer than deep, length 0.95–1.00 mm; ratio movable chelal finger/chelal hand (♀) 1.4–1.5; all chelal lyrifissure patterns present, most with their standard complements, except that ma2 is absent.

Type material examined. ♀ holotype ( MNCN), Spain, Asturias, Peñamellera Baja, El Mazo, Cueva de la Loja (43°19′54′′N, 04°33′33′′W; 29 m a.s.l.), 1 31.VIII.1924, leg. J. Escalera ; Panes, Cueva de los Torcos (43°19′01′′N, 04°34′59′′W; 117 m a.s.l.), 1 ♀ paratype ( MNCN), 20.VIII.1927, leg. C. Bolivar .

Description (♀; ♂ unknown). Medium-sized microphthalmic and hypogean species of weakly troglomorphic facies. Integument weakly depigmented.

Carapace almost as long as broad, slightly posteriorly constricted; medial part of anterior margin straight, without epistome, and strongly dentate; anterior pair of eyes with low convex lens, without posterior eyes or eyespots. Chaetotaxy: 18 macrosetae and 1 preocular microseta on each side, formula m 4m:6:4:2:2.

Cheliceral hand with 6 setae and 1–2 lateral microsetae, seta vb short (length 0.043 mm). Fixed finger with 7 teeth decreasing in size proximally, two distal teeth distinctly larger than others, with 4 proximal microtubercles. Movable finger ( Fig. 152) without an isolated subapical tooth (di), with 8 teeth decreasing in size proximally, the distal tooth slightly larger than others, 4 proximal microtubercles; spinneret prominent and apically rounded in female, unknown for male.

Chaetotaxy of tergites 4:4:4:4:6:6:6:6:1T2T1:4:1T2T1:0; tergites IX and XI each with 2 sublateral tactile setae. Chaetotaxy of sternites 7:(3)10(3):(2)7(2):7:6:6:6:6:2T1T2:0:2, lateral setae on sternite III microsetal in size, sternite X with 2 submedial tactile setae.

Pedipalpal coxa with 5 setae (including 2 on manducatory process), distal marginal seta of disk 0.11 mm long; coxa I 3 + 3 marginal microsetae, distal marginal seta 0.05 mm long; II 4 + 9–10 bipinnate coxal spines, III 5 + 3– 4 bipinnate coxal spines and IV 6; intercoxal tubercle bisetose.

Chela ( Fig. 153) with hand depressed at level of ib / isb, with strong hump distad of ib / isb and an abrupt slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; dorsal-antiaxial surface of the chelal hand between the hump and trichobothria eb / esb flattened, limited by a marked edge; ventral intercondylar bow-like protuberance (ip) present; width shorter than depth; chaetotaxy 4:5:3, seta ph3 lacking, setae ih1, ih3 and ih4 approximately level with trichobothria ib / isb; distal end of hand and bases of chelal fingers with sclerotized condylar complex. Fixed finger with 22–23 teeth with dental canals, mostly pointed, of these the 7–10 proximal teeth decreasing in size, 1–2 most proximal teeth rounded and tiny, 2 small distal teeth, dental row reaching up to halfway between trichobothria sb and b; tip of finger with an accessory tooth (td) on antiaxial face; one pair of short antiaxial sensory setae (as) at the base, on either side of lyrifissure fb, 0.045 mm long, distance between them 0.050 mm long and distinctly shorter than fixed finger depth (0.090 mm) at the base; 4 teeth at level of est / it occupying 0.1 mm, distance between successive apices 0.030 mm. Movable finger with 10 mostly pointed teeth, all with dental canals, distally no or one tiny tooth; proximal half without marginal lamina, with 6–7 vestigial teeth reduced to low undulations without dental canals, dental row reaching up to proximad of trichobothrium sb; basal apodeme long and apically indented; coupled sensilla pc level with sb or slightly distad. Trichobothria as in Fig. 153; trichobothrium ist level with or slightly distad of esb, proximad of lyrifissure fb; distance between ib / isb and esb 1.1–1.2 times that between ib / isb and the base of the hand; distance between st and sb 1.8–1.9 times longer than that between sb and b. All chelal lyrifissure patterns present, most with their standard complements, except that ma2 is absent.

Measurements and ratios. Female holotype, followed, when different, by female paratype in square brackets: Body 1.80. Carapace 0.50/0.49 (1.0) [0.46/0.47 (1.0)]. Chelicera 0.45/0.21 (2.2). Pedipalp: femur 0.62/0.11 (5.6), patella 0.29/0.14 (2.1), chela 0.95/0.19 (5.0) [1.0/0.19 (5.2)], hand 0.39 (2.0) [0.41 (2.1)], movable finger 0.54 [0.60]; ratio movable finger/hand 1.4 [1.5], femur/movable finger 1.1, femur/carapace 1.2, chela/carapace 1.9 [2.2], chela/femur 1.5.

Remarks. Within the gibbus -group, E. hispanus ( Beier, 1930) is related to the species without an isolated subapical tooth (di) on the movable cheliceral finger. It is easily distinguished from most of them by the dental row of the movable chelal finger having 10–12 distal pointed teeth with dental canals reaching closer to trichobothrium sb than to st, as opposed to only 7–9 distal pointed teeth, reaching closer to trichobothrium st than to sb, in E. andalucia n. sp., E. amatei , E. caceresi n. sp., E. galcerani n. sp. and E. vicenae n. sp. It is distinguishable from E. mayorali (Carabajal Márquez, García Carrillo & Rodríguez Fernández, 2001) by the presence of lensed anterior eyes (eyes absent in E. mayorali ), coxae II and III with 9–10 and 3–4 coxal spines, respectively, versus 13–14 and 6–7, respectively, in E. mayorali , and the stouter and shorter pedipalp [femur (♀) 5.6 times longer than broad, length 0.62 mm; chela (♀) 5.0–5.2 times longer than broad, length 0.95–1.00 mm in E. hispanus , versus femur (♀) 6.6 times longer than broad, length 0.89 mm; chela (♀) 5.5 times longer than broad, length 1.22 mm in E. mayorali ]. The above description incorporates in part those of Beier (1930, 1963). Previous records in the literature ( Zaragoza 2007) suggested that E. hispanus is a widespread species in mainland Spain. However, detailed study shows that the records from Alicante province ( Zaragoza 1990) are misidentifications, as in the case of the material from Vall de Laguart, described here as E. sevai n. sp. It is likely that records from other Spanish provinces except Asturias are also wrong, and that the distribution area of the species is limited to northern Spain.