Scorpiops neera, Sulakhe & Deshpande & Dandekar & Padhye & Bastawade, 2021

Sulakhe, Shauri, Deshpande, Shubhankar, Dandekar, Nikhil, Padhye, Anand & Bastawade, Deshabhushan, 2021, Four new lithophilic species of Scorpiops Peters 1861 (Scorpiones Scorpiopidae) from peninsular India, Euscorpius 337, pp. 1-49 : 23-32

Scorpiops neera sp. n.

( Figures 65–95 , 129, 133, 137 , 141, 151 , 153–157 , Tables 3, 5–7) http: //zoobank. org/urn: lsid: zoobank. org: act: AE9645C6-

B61C-401E-9DB0-FAFF60505BAE

TYPE LOCALITY AND AND TYPE REPOSITORY. India, Maharashtra State, Pune District, Varandha Ghat , 18°05'52"N 73°39'14"E, 693 m a. s. l. BNHS.

TYPE MATERIAL. India, Maharashtra State, Pune District, Varandha Ghat , 18°05'52"N 73°39'14"E, 693 m a. s. l., 1♂ (holotype, BNHS SC 258 ), 13 November 2020, leg. N. Dandekar, S. Deshpande, S. Bhave & A. Marathe , 1♂ (paratype, INHER-251), 9 July 2020, leg. S. Sulakhe, S. Deshpande, M. Ketkar & A. Marathe, 1♂ (paratype, BNHS SC 260 ), 2 March 2021, leg. S. Deshpande & A. Date , 2♀ (paratypes, INHER- 255, BNHS SC 261 ), 11 July 2020, leg. S. Deshpande, M. Ketkar, A. Marathe & O. Oak , 1♀ (paratype, BNHS SC 259 ), 13 November 2020, leg. N. Dandekar, S. Deshpande, S. Bhave & A. Marathe.

ETYMOLOGY. The specific epithet is a noun in opposition, named after the famous river Neera, which flows very close to the type locality. Neera River originates in the Western Ghats in Pune district and flows through the Satara and Solapur Districts to finally meet the Bhima River. The type series of the new species was collected from the rock walls and huge boulders along the road which leads from the Bhor town to Varandha Ghat.

DIAGNOSIS (♂ ♀). Total length 43–50 mm. Base color uniformly blackish brown. Pectinal teeth number 6–7 in both sexes, fulcra reduced to absent. Pectine morphology of type P4. Anterior margin of carapace between lateral ocelli and U shaped anterior median notch straight. Patella of pedipalp with 21–23 (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 7–8 est, 5–6 et) external and 14–15 ventral trichobothria. Chela of pedipalp with 4 ventral trichobothria located on ventral surface. Chelal trichobothrium Eb 3 is located in proximal half of manus between trichobothria Dt and Db. Fingers of pedipalps strongly undulate in male and margins undulate in female. Chela length to width ratio 3.1 in males. Pedipalp movable finger with ca 50–55 IAD, which form second row, parallel with MD (ca 65–70 in number); there are also 2–3 ID and 11–12 OD present. Tarsomere II of legs with 4–6 stout median ventral spinules. Metasoma I with ten, metasoma II–IV with eight and metasoma V with 7 carinae. Dorsal lateral carina on II-IV metasomal segments ending posteriorly into a short spine. Telson elongate and smooth, length to depth ratio 2.9–3.2; annular ring absent.

DESCRIPTION (♂ holotype, measurements in Table 3).

Coloration (in preservation) ( Figs. 65–67 , 73, 74 ). Overall body color blackish brown. Legs blackish brown. Telson orangish brown on vesicle and dark brown on aculeus. Ventral portion of body dark brown. Carapace and fingers of manus blackish. Pedipalps blackish brown, darker on carinae. Chelicera basal segment blackish brown. Fingers of chelicera blackish brown.

Carapace ( Figs. 77–80 ).Anterior margin of carapace moderately granular with deep U shaped anterior median notch.Anterior sub margin coarsely granular. Anterior margin of carapace between lateral eyes and U shaped anterior median notch straight. Entire surface of carapace with fine granules. Anterio-lateral ocular tubercles granular provided with type 3A lateral ocelli. Two pairs of large major ocelli and one pair of minor ocelli. Median ocular tubercle smooth on dorsal portion with a pair of median ocelli situated in the ratio of 1:2.1 (ratio of median ocelli to anterior margin and median ocelli to posterior margin).

Chelicerae ( Fig. 70 ). Proximal portion with reticulated mosaic design. Fixed finger of chelicera with 3 large triangular teeth on inner margin. Ventral fang of movable finger with a row of 6 minute teeth on inner margin. Dorsal fang of movable finger with 4 teeth on inner margin.

Pedipalp ( Figs. 81–86 , 129, 137 , 151 ). Femur and patella dorsoventrally flattened. Femur with 6 carinae (dorsal retrolateral, dorsal prolateral, retrolateral dorsosubmedian, prolateral ventrosubmedian, ventral retrolateral and ventral prolateral). Ventral prolateral carina strong and present only on 1/3rd proximal portion. Intercarinal space with coarse and fine granules. Patella with 5 carinae (dorsal retrolateral, dorsal prolateral, retrolateral dorsosubmedian, ventral retrolateral and ventral prolateral). Internal surface of patella with one large posterio-ventral tubercle with one small, thick adjacent bulge and one adjacent small posterio-dorsal tubercle and small anterio-ventral tubercle ( Fig. 137 ). Manus stout with 5 carinae (dorsal retrolateral, retrolateral median, ventral retrolateral, dorsal prolateral and ventral prolateral). Dorsal retrolateral and dorsal prolateral carinae running anteriorly up to the tip of fixed finger. Intercarinal space coarsely granular on inner and outer surface. Both fingers scalloped deeply at the base. Trichobothrial pattern neobothriotaxic.

Legs ( Figs. 66, 67 , 71–74 , 87–90 ). Femur and patella carinated, intercarinal space with coarse and fine granules. Tarsomere I provided with three to four rows of spinules and tarsomere II with single ventral row of spinules.

Sternum, genital operculum and pectines ( Figs. 68 , 75 ). Broad, pentagonal and finely granular only on anterior middle portion. Genital operculum with a pair of strongly protruding genital papillae. Basal piece with slight depression on middle portion. Pectine morphology of type P4 with –/7 pectinal teeth. Mesosoma ( Figs. 66, 67 , 71–74 ). All tergites finely granular. Median carina present on all tergites. Tergite VII additionally with two pairs of lateral granular carinae present only on half posterior portion. Sternites III-VI entirely smooth. Sternite VII finely granular.

Metasoma ( Figs. 66, 67 , 71–74 , 133 , 141 ). Metasomal segments I with 5 pairs of carinae (dorsal lateral, lateral supramedian, lateral inframedian, ventral lateral and ventral submedian), metasomal segments II & IV with 4 pairs of carinae (dorsal lateral, lateral supramedian, ventral lateral and ventral submedian) and segment V with 3 pairs (dorsal lateral, lateral inframedian and ventral lateral) and 1 single ventral median carinae. Intercarinal space with coarse granules. Dorsal lateral carination on segments III and IV ending posteriorly into a short spine. Anal rim of segment V evenly crenulated. A pair of dorsolateral granules of anal rim strongly tuberculate.

Telson ( Figs. 69 , 76 ). Elongated and finely granular.

Hemispermatophore ♂ paratype, BNHS SC 260 ( Figs. 91–93 ). Lamelliform; distal basal carina (bc) with a plate like structure present, sclerotized, crown-like structure (cls) with distal margin smooth whose internal surface is attached to terminal membrane of the sperm duct (tmsd) on the inner concave side of the capsule with numerous spicules; pointed lateral hook (lh); a long, inwardly twisted distal posterior lobe (dpl) close to the distal lamina, with denticulate margin; short and stout trunk; long and slender distal lamina (dl) narrow at the base and sharply bent and tapered apex. Total length 8.0 mm; pedicel 1.44 mm long; trunk 1.47 mm long; capsule 1.19 mm long; dpl length 0.30 mm; dl length 3.89 mm long.

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM. Male genital operculum with pair of genital papillae. In females, the genital operculum medially sutured. Pedipalp manus slender in males and stouter in females ( Figs. 66–69 , 71–80 ).

AFFINITIES. Scorpiops neera sp. n. is closely related to S. deccanensis , S. satarensis and S. phaltanensis . It is separated by a raw genetic divergence of 6.1–7.1% from S. deccanensis , 7.3% from S. satarensis and 9.6–9.8% from S. phaltanensis .

The new species also differs from its close congeners based on following set of morphological characters:-

Telson total length to telson vesicle depth ratio in males 2.9– 3.2 as opposed to 3.3 in S. deccanensis ; total pedipalp length to mesosomal tergite length in males 1.5–1.6 as opposed to 2.2 in S. satarensis and 1.7–2.0 in S. phaltanensis ; internal surface of patella with anterio-ventral tubercle small as opposed to medium to almost equal in S. phaltanensis ; dorsal lateral carina on II-IV metasomal segments ending posteriorly into a short spine as opposed to large tuberculate spine in S. satarensis .

The new species also differs from all the remaining species of Scorpiops from the northern Western Ghats and northern Maharashtra ( INDIA) by a raw genetic divergence of 10.2– 13.8 % ( Table 5). It is also distinguished from all the species of Scorpiops from peninsular India based on the key of morphological characters (See below).

DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT AND ECOLOGY. Presently Scorpiops neera sp. n. is known only from its type locality, Varandha Ghat , Pune District , Maharashtra, India. The type series was collected from rock wall on hill side of the road leading to Varandha Ghat from Bhor town. The type locality is surrounded by mix of degraded and semi-evergreen forest .

Any further road widening work may be a direct threat to the species. Our surveys around the type locality on the hill slopes and surrounding regions did not yield any success. Scarce population of the new species was observed at the type locality. Interestingly the habitat from the crest line of Western Ghats down the Varandha Ghat road leading towards Raigad district boundary is densely occupied by Chiromachetes ramdasswamii . The new species is not sympatric with Chiromachetes ramdasswamii . Individuals were found to be active at night sitting at the openings of rock crevices and occasionally in the open. The ecology and morphology of the new species is congruent with the lithophilic scorpions ( Figs. 94, 95 , 153 ).

Figures

Figure 65. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype in vivo habitus.

Figures 66–70. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype, dorsal (66) and ventral (67) views, sternopectinal area (68), metasomal segment V and telson in lateral view (69) and chelicera in dorsal view (70).

Figures 71–72. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype in dorsal (71) and ventral (72) views under UV light.

Figures 73–76. Scorpiops neera sp. n., female, paratype, BNHS SC 259, in dorsal (73) ventral (74) views, sternopectinal area (75) and metasomal segment V and telson in lateral view (76).

Figures 77–80: Scorpiops neera sp. n. Figures 77–78. Male, holotype, carapace under white light (77) and UV fluorescence (78). Figures 79–80. Female, paratype, BHNS SC 259, carapace under white light (79) and UV fluorescence (80).

Figures 81–86. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 81–86. Pedipalp chela dorsal (81), ventral (82) and dorsoexternal (83), patella external (84), dorsal (85) and ventral (86) views under UV fluorescence. Trichobothrial pattern indicated by yellow circles.

Figures 87–93. Scorpiops neera sp. n. Figures 87–90. Male, holotype, left legs I-IV, retrolateral aspect. Figures 91–93. Male, paratype, BNHS SC 260, hemispermatophore internal (91), external (92) views and capsular region in internal view (93). Abbrevations: distal lamina (dl), capsule (c), trunk (t), pedicel (p), distal posterior lobe (dpl), lateral hook (lh), terminal membrane of the sperm duct (tmsd) and basal carina (bc).

Figures 94–95. Type locality of Scorpiops neera sp. n., view of Neera river backwaters very close to the type locality (94) and basaltic rock wall at the type locality from where the type series is collected (95).

Figure 153. Distribution of Scorpiops species from Peninsular India. Localities with a star indicate new species described in this study.

Figure 154. Boxplots showing variations in ratios of pedipalp chela length to width in males for all Scorpiops species from Peninsular India (except S. pachmarhicus due to unavailability of sufficient males).

Figure 155. Projection of first two Principal Component factors explaining 81.89% variation among the nine species of the genus Scorpiops from Peninsular India (except S. pachmarhicus and S. satarensis due to unavailability of sufficient males).

Figure 156. Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree (ML) for Scorpiops. Values along the nodes are bootstraps for 1000 iterations.

Figure 157. Bayesian phylogenetic tree for Scorpiops. Values along the nodes are Bayesian posterior probabilities for Bayesian Inference and Bayesian Poisson Tree Process (bPTP) respectively. Vertical bars represent delimitation analyses results.

Figures 127–138: Figures 127–130: Comparison of left pedipalps. Figures 131–134: Comparison of metasomal segments II-IV in lateral view. Figures 135–138: Comparison of pedipalp patella dorsal view with internal aspect tubercles. Figures 127, 131, 135. Scorpiops vrushchik sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 128, 132, 136. Scorpiops nagphani sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 129, 133, 137. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 130, 134, 138. Scorpiops lioneli sp. n., male, holotype.

Figures 139–152: Figures 139–142: Comparison of dorsolateral granules on anal rim of metasomal segment V in dorsal view. Figures 143–152: Comparison of dentition on movable finger of chela with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images in dorsal view. Figures 139, 149. Scorpiops vrushchik sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 140, 150. Scorpiops nagphani sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 141, 151. Scorpiops neera sp. n., male, holotype. Figures 142, 152. Scorpiops lioneli sp. n., male, holotype. Figure 143. S. tenuicauda, male, INHER-214. Figure 144. S. satarensis, male, INHER-213. Figure 145. S. deccanensis, male, INHER-86. Figure 146. S. maharashtraensis, male, INHER-179. Figure 147. S. phaltanensis, male, paratype, INHER-64. Figure 148. S. telbaila, male, paratype, INHER-123.