Euscorpius niciensis (C.L. Koch, 1841) Tropea & Parmakelis, 2022

Tropea, Gioele & Parmakelis, Aristeidis, 2022, Reconsideration of some populations of Euscorpius concinnus complex (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae), ZooKeys 1100, pp. 117-164 : 117

Euscorpius niciensis (C.L. Koch, 1841) stat. nov.

Figs 28 , 29 , 30

Type material.

Holotype: by C.L. Koch (1841), France, from the region/zone of Nice, is lost.

Neotype: ♂, France, Col de Braus (Nizza), 22 August 1975, leg. A. Valle, (MSNB 10234), here designated according to ICZN Article 75 as it is required for the purposes of clarifying the taxonomic status and type locality of a specific taxon.

Other examined specimens.

France: Same data as neotype but 4 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀ (MSNB 10232, 10233, 1035, 10605-10613); Colle dei Signori (Alpi Liguri), 2100 m, 1 August 1966, leg. A. Vigna, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (MSNB 7375, 7376); Curbans (04), 20 August 2010, leg. E. Iorio, 1 ♂ (GTC); Entrevaux, 27 August 2018, leg. G. Ourliac, 2 ♂♂ (GTC); Gorges Daluis, 27 August 2018, leg. G. Ourliac, 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀♀ (GTC); Guillaumes, 25-27 August 2018, leg. G. Ourliac, 6 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (GTC); Guillaumes (06), 11 August 2018, leg. G. Ourliac, 1 ♂ (GTC); Meounes, Pes Montrieux, [ Méounes-lès-Montrieux], 17 February 1973, leg. R. Bianchi et C. Fenaroli, 1 ♂ (MSNB 11354); Montrauraux (83), ZE1819, cheraie pierres, 19 May 2013, leg. E. Iorio, 1 ♀ (GTC); prov. Reotier (05), ZE RTE P3, 27 July 2010, leg. E. Iorio, 1 ♀ (GTC); St. Jeannet (6), 20 July 2018, 1 ♀ (GTC); Italy: Alassio (SAVONA), Valle ovest della Solva, 19 July, 1958, A. Valle, 7 ♀♀ (MSNB 832-835, 837-839); Andagna, Molini di Triora (IM), 30 May 1973, leg. R. Bianchi, 1 ♀ (MSNB 9823); Bardineto (SV), 26 August 1967, leg. A. Vigna, 1 ♂ (MSNB 7371); Castellaro (IM), 8 October 1969, leg. G.P. Rallo, 1 ♂ (MSNB 8032); Castellaro (IM), 8 October 1969, leg. Rallo, 1 ♂ (MSNB 8030); Celle Ligure (SV), 9 July 1956, leg. A Valle, 2 ♀♀ (MSNB 14, 16); Cesio (IM), 29 May 1973, leg. R. Bianchi, 1 ♂, 7 ♀♀ (MSNB 9802-9808, 9890); Chiusanico (IM), surroundings Di Torria, 7 March 1976, leg. M. Bologna, 1 ♂ (MSNB 10589); Chiusanico (IM), leg. 07 March 1976, leg. M. Bologna, 1 ♀ (MSNB 10588); Cosio d’Arroscia (IM), 27 June 1971, leg. R. Bianchi, 3 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀ (MSNB 8633-8641); Molini di Triora (IM), 30 May 1973, leg. R. Bianchi, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (MSNB 9736, 9737, 9812); Monte Bardellini, (IM), 28 March 1970, leg. M. Bologna, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (MSNB 9996, 9997); Sanremo (IM), 9 October 1969, leg. G.P. Rallo, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (MSNB 8035-8037); Taggia (IM), 7 October 1969, leg. G.P. Rallo, 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (MSNB 8026-8028, 8034); Taggia (IM), 30 March 1970, leg. G.P. Rallo, 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (MSNB 8488-8492); Valdieri (CN), Andonno, 720 m, 26 August 1964, leg. A. Vigna, 1 ♀ (MSNB 4600); Ormea (CN), Ponte di Nava, 27 June 1971, leg. R. Bianchi, 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (MSNB 8642-8646).

Geographic range.

France and Italy (Fig. 32 ).

Diagnosis.

Medium Euscorpius species, total length 27-45 mm. Colour in adults usually brown to dark brown with darker brownish red pedipalps, and legs, chelicerae, and telson yellow or yellowish, but with sometimes legs and especially the telson brownish, with marbling especially on chelicerae, carapace, mesosoma, and metasoma. The number of trichobothria on the pedipalp manus ventral surface is four (V 1-3 + Et 1). Trichobothria est and dsb on fixed finger are respectively located distally and proximally to the notch of the fixed finger, although they can sometimes be only slightly distal or proximal. The number of trichobothria on the pedipalp patella ventral surface is usually nine and eight (mostly nine). The number of trichobothria on pedipalp patella external surface is usually: eb = 4, eba = 4, esb = 2, em = 4, est = 4, et = 6. The pectinal teeth number in males is usually nine and eight (nine in 60.26% and eight in 32.05%) and in females seven and eight (seven in 61.46% and eight in 33.33%). Dorsal patellar spur well developed. Femur approximately as long as patella but usually is slightly shorter. Carapace approximately as long as wide, but it usually is slightly wider than long. Carinae V1 follows an external direction to the trichobothria Et1, without forming a Y-shape. Spinules on legs ending with a Y-shape. Ventrolateral and ventromedian carina on metasomal segment V well formed by small serrulated granules.

Trichobothrial and pectinal teeth count variation.

The variation observed in 90 examined specimens (39 ♂♂ and 51 ♀♀) is given below.

Pectinal teeth in males (n = 78): 7/8 (1), 8/8 (8), 8/9 (8), 9/9 (18), 10/9 (3), 10/10 (1); in total, 7 in 1.28% (1), 8 in 32.05% (25), 9 in 60.26% (47), and 10 in 2.56% (5); mean = 8.72, SD = 0.60.

Pectinal teeth in females (n = 102):?/? (3), 6/6 (1), 7/6 (2), 7/7 (24), 7/8 (9), 8/8 (11), 8/9 (1); in total, 6 in 4.17% (4), 7 in 61.46% (59) and 8 in 33.33% (32), 9 in 1.04% (1); mean = 7.31, SD = 0.57.

Pedipalp patella trichobothria Pv (n = 180): 7/7 (1), 7/8 (2), 8/8 (13), 8/9 (17), 9/7 (1), 9/9 (51), 10/9 (4), 10/10 (1); in total, 7 in 2.78% (5), 8 in 25% (45), 9 in 68.89% (124), and 10 in 3.33% (6); mean = 8.73, SD = 0.57.

Pedipalp patella trichobothria Pe (n = 180): et = 5/5 (4), 5/6 (3), 6/6 (68), 6/7 (6), 7/5 (1), 7/6 (2), 7/7 (6); in total, 5 in 6.67% (12), 6 in 81.67% (147) and 7 in 11.67% (21); mean = 6.05, SD = 0.43;

est = 3/4 (1), 4/4 (89); em = 3/3 (1), 4/3 (2), 4/4 (86), 5/4 (1); esb = 2/2 (90); eba = 4/4 (90); eb = 4/4 (90).

Description of the male neotype

(MSNB 10234). Colouration. A general reddish brown base colour, with blackish marbling or reticulation especially on the metasoma, mesosoma, carapace, pedipalp femur, patella, and chelicerae; telson mostly black with two ventrally longitudinal pale brown stripes and one for each side, with pale yellowish brown sting; pale brown chelicerae with dark brown reticulation; chelae dark reddish brown; legs orangish; pectines, genital operculum, and sternites yellowish.

Carapace. Almost completely covered by dense fine granules, especially on the dark marbling. The granules in the lateral anterior part are larger; the anterior edge is straight and slightly granulate; deep posterior lateral furrows; two pairs of lateral eyes, and a pair of median eyes; length from centre of median eyes to anterior margin is 43.75% of carapace length.

Mesosoma. Mostly of the tergites are very granulated, especially laterally; sternites glossy and punctuated; small spiracles inclined to ~ 45° downward towards outside.

Metasoma. Dorsal carinae on segments I-IV granulated; ventrolateral carinae on segment I absent, on segments II and III smooth or obsolete, on segment IV with some granules, on segment V well marked with small serrulated granules; ventromedian carinae absent on segments I-IV, on segment V it consists of small, serrulated granules; intercarinal surfaces on segments I-IV are from finely granulated (e.g., dorsally) to smooth (e.g., ventrally), segment V is mostly granulated.

Telson. Vesicle mostly smooth, with ventral setae of different size, especially near the vesicle/aculeus juncture.

Pectines. Teeth number 9/8; middle lamellae number 5/5; several microsetae on proximal area of teeth, marginal lamellae, and middle lamellae.

Genital operculum. The genital operculum is formed by two longitudinally divided subtriangular sclerites with genital papillae protruding.

Sternum. Pentagonal in shape, type 2; wider than long, with a deep posterior emargination.

Pedipalps. Coxa and trochanter with tuberculated carinae. Femur: dorsal internal and external and ventral internal carinae tuberculated; irregular ventral external carinae formed by tubercles just on 1/3 or 1/2 of femur length; external median carinae formed by lightly serrulated tubercles; anterior median carinae formed by some spaced conical tubercles with three macrosetae; intercarinal spaces granulated. Patella: dorsal and ventral internal carinae tuberculated; ventral external carinae crenulated; dorsal external carinae slightly crenulated to rough; intercarinal surfaces finely granulated, especially on the dark reticulations near the carinae. Dorsal patellar spur well developed. Chela: chelal carina D1 is distinct, strong, dark and smooth with a few flat tubercles proximally; D4 is rounded with a few spaced granules; V1 is distinct, strong, dark, from rough to crenulated, following an external direction to the trichobothria Et1; V3 is rounded with scattered granules; external carina granulated; intercarinal tegument granulated; the fixed and movable fingers with little marked notch and lobe, respectively.

Finger dentition. In the most distal part is present a DD on the tip; MD is formed by very small denticles closely spaced forming an approximately straight line discontinued at level of the OD; fixed finger has 6/6 OD and 11/11 ID; movable finger has 8/7 OD and 13/13 ID.

Trichobothria. Chela: trichobothria on the pedipalp manus ventral surface V = 3/3 (V1-3) + Et1 = 1/1; trichobothrium V4 is situated on the external surface of the chela, near the carina V1 well-spaced from it; trichobothrium ratio et-est/est-dsb is 1.31/1.17. Trichobothrium dsb is located slightly proximal at the centre of the notch. Patella: Pv = 9/9; et = 6/6, est = 4/4, em = 4/4, esb = 2/2, eba = 4/4, eb = 4/4. Femur: trichobothrium d is slightly proximal, almost on the same level, to i, while trichobothrium e is well distal to both d and i, and situated on dorsal surface on dorsal external carina.

Legs. Two pedal spurs present; no tarsal spur; ventral row of tarsus with a total of eleven spinules, of increasing size from proximal to distal, ending with a Y-shape; three main flanking tarsal setae present. Tubercles present on ventral and dorsal surfaces of all leg femora, they are more marked and darker ventrally.

Chelicerae. Typical of the genus Euscorpius .

Description of the hemispermatophore.

Type A. It has a well-developed lamina tapered distally; well-developed basal constriction present; truncal flexure present; median projection with lde, ldi, and lb, the latter with rounded tip; internal projection distally with 7-9 tines in its crown. The number and the shape of tines of the crown varied between specimens and between the right and the left hemispermatophores.

Comments.

Euscorpius niciensis stat. nov. was described by C.L. Koch (1841) under the genus Scorpius from the region or zone of Nice, France. As explained by Tropea (2013, 2017), according to Koch the locality could be up to at least 50 km from Nice, so the exact type locality cannot be known. This species was described using only a few characters useful for identifying the species, and relying on a single specimen. In our study, several specimens from the surrounding areas of Nice and beyond were examined, and we found that those populations have significantly higher average and percentage values of Pv, Pe-et, and Dp than the closely related species, as can be seen in Tables 3 and 4 . In fact, E. niciensis stat. nov. has an average Pv value of 8.73 with a percentage of 68.89% of Pv = 9, compared to an average ranging from 7.60 to 8.19 and a percentage of Pv = 9 ranging from 0% to 27.12% in the other species treated here. In addition, it is the only species (of the E. concinnus group) that, although with a limited percentage, showed a Pv = 10. The Pe-et percentages are also much higher than of other populations, with only some populations of E. concinnus approaching it. In fact, E. niciensis stat. nov. has a percentage et = 7 of 11.67%, compared to 1.23% of E. latinus sp. nov., 4.40% of E. trejaensis sp. nov., 5% of E. stefaniae sp. nov., and 9.32% of E. concinnus . To infer the phylogenetic trees, we have used only 16S (see Table 5 ). In the 16S+COI concatenated tree, it is placed between E. latinus sp. nov. and ( E. stefaniae sp. nov. + E. trejaensis sp. nov.). Regarding the genetic divergence in 16S, E. niciensis stat. nov. is the most distant species from E. stefaniae sp. nov. with 3.8%, and 2.7% of divergence from all the other species, except E. latinus sp. nov. from Circeo, with which it has a divergence of 3.1%.

With these findings, the validity of E. niciensis stat. nov. is unquestionable, even if it is not excluded that further taxonomic divisions exist in it, as well as for E. concinnus , which need to be confirmed with further studies.

Figures

Figure 28. Dorsal and ventral view of Euscorpius niciensis stat. nov. male neotype. Scale bar: 5.00 mm.

Figure 29. Dorsal and ventral view of Euscorpius niciensis stat. nov. female topotype. Scale bar: 5.00 mm.

Figure 30. Euscorpius niciensis stat. nov. male neotype except Figs C and N, that are of a female topotype. A carapace B external view of chela of adult male C external view of chela of adult female D ventral view of pedipalp patella E dorsal view of pedipalp patella F external view of pedipalp patella G dorsal view of chela H ventral view of chela I ventral view of metasomal segment V J lateral view of metasomal segment V K telson of adult male L telson of adult female.

Figure 32. Maps of the known geographic ranges of the species treated herein.