Centruroides granosus (Thorell, 1876)

de Armas, Luis F., Teruel, Rolando & Kovařík, František, 2011, Redescription of Centruroides granosus (Thorell, 1876) and identity of Centrurus granosus simplex Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius 127 (127), pp. 1-11 : 2-7

Centruroides granosus (Thorell, 1876)

( Figs. 2A–F , 3A–F , 4A–G , 5 ; Table 1)

Centrurus granosus Thorell, 1876: 155–157 ; Kraepelin, 1891: 121, 127–128 (in part); Kraepelin, 1899: 88, 90 (in part).

Centruroides margaritatus : Pocock, 1902: 32 (misidentification: Panama records). Lourenço & Méndez, 1984: 86 (in part?); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 112 (in part); Armas & Maes, 2000: 27 (misidentification: Panama record only); Quintero, 2005: 373 (misidentification: Panama records).

Centruroides granosus : Armas & Trujillo, 2010: 235, 239.

Type data. We examined three syntypes from NHRS: One large but immature male [herein designated as lectotype ( Fig. 2A–F )], and two smaller juveniles of unknown sex (herein designated as paralectotypes), “ Ins. St. Joseph, Kimberg”, no other data. Note: Thorell (1876) identified the lectotype as female, but the specimen is actually a male with 27/28 pectinal teeth (not 26/27 as stated in the original description). Based on the shape of the pectines and genital operculum, and according to its size (56 mm), we suspect the specimen is a subadult. The paralectotypes are 18 and 33 mm long, and have pectinal tooth count of 26/25 and 25/25, respectively .

Distribution. This species is known from Panamanian localities only: Bocas del Toro Province; Archipiélago de las Perlas (Gulf of Panama); Chitré, Herrera Province; Panama City, Panama Province, and Punta Patiño, Darién Province ( Fig. 5 ).

Diagnosis. A moderately large species (60–80 mm in total length). Body dark yellowish brown; legs paler than the body; pedipalps and metasoma with carinae moderately infuscate; chelicerae reticulate with dark brown. Pedipalp only sparsely setose; chela with manus ovate, 1.2–1.3 times wider than patella, with strong carinae on dorsal and external surfaces, most of them subgranulose; fingers with eight rows of denticles, movable finger with a well-developed basal lobe. Pectinal tooth count 24–26 in females, 26–28 in males. Metasoma: segments I–IV with two pairs of ventrolateral macrosetae; vesicle globose, coriaceous; subaculear spine directed towards approximately the median region of the aculeus.

Female ( Fig. 3A–F ). General color dark brown; pedipalp femur, tergite VII and metasomal segments I– III, slightly paler; chelicerae strongly reticulated of dark brown; carinae on pedipalp and metasoma darker.

Carapace very strongly granulose; superciliary and posterior median carinae strong, granulose. Anterior median furrow wide, moderately deep; posterior median furrow narrow, deep; posterior marginal furrow narrow, deep. Pectines with 24–26 teeth; basal plate rectangular in shape, without central pit or depression. Sternites III– VI coriaceous, with a whitish lustrous posterior area on V; VI with two obsolete submedian carinae; VII finely granular, with two pairs of strong, smooth carinae.

Metasoma with 10-8-8-8-5 carinae, intercarinal spaces mostly coriaceous, with scarce fine granules, mainly on dorsal surface; segment V finely granulose, mainly on lateral and ventral surfaces; I–IV with two pairs of ventrolateral macrosetae, and three pairs of ventral submedian macrosetae. Carinae: dorsal, lateral supramedians, and lateral inframedians strong and serrate on I–III; ventrolateral I–IV subserrate; ventral submedians strong and smooth on I, but subserrate on II–IV. Segment V: surfaces finely and scarcely granulose, carinae poorly developed, with traces of submedian carinae on basal one-half of the segment. Telson globose, mostly coriaceous, with rudimentary granules, and a conic, spinoid subaculear tooth. Measurements are given in Table 1.

Pedipalp only sparsely hirsute, orthobothriotaxic A. Femur with surfaces very finely granulose; dorsal carinae crenulated, with moderate granules; ventral external carina subserrate, with larger granules. Patella with surfaces very finely granulose; dorsal carinae crenulated, with moderate granules; ventral external carina strong, rim-like. Chela: dorsal, external and ventral surfaces coriaceous; internal surface very finely granulose. Carinae: dorsal internal obsolete; dorsal marginal moderate, subgranulose; dorsal secondary strong, mostly smooth, with some vestigial granules on its basal portion; digital moderate, weak and subgranulose on the first one-half of the hand, being smooth on the last one-half; ventroexternal strong, smooth; ventrointernal indistinct. Fixed finger with eight rows of denticles; basal notch conspicuous. Movable finger with eight rows of denticles more a distal subrow composed by four granules; basal lobe strong.

Male ( Fig. 5A–G ). Differs from female by the following characters: Mesosoma slender, pectines with higher pectinal tooth counts (27–28 vs. 24–26 in females) and basal plate shorter; metasoma elongate (ratio segment III length/width = 2.3 in male and 1.7–1.8 in females); sternite V with the whitish area more definite. Measurements are given in Table 1.

Comparisons. Centruroides granosus clearly differs from C. margaritatus by having two pairs of ventrolateral macrochaetae on metasomal segments II– IV, and a globose telson in both sexes ( C. margaritatus has four pairs of ventrolateral macrochaetae on metasomal segments II–IV, and male with an elongate telson).

Natural history. This is a synanthropic species, common indoor houses, as well as in yards and other anthropic areas. It is the most common scorpion in Panama City, and other urban areas (Quintero, 2005).

Variation. Pectinal tooth count varied as follows: females = 24/24, 24/24, 26/23; males = 28/26, 27/28 (lectotype), 27/27, 26/26. Morphometric data of two females from Chitré in Table 1.

Comments. The lectotype of C. granosus has left pedipalp chela slightly narrower than patella, but right chela is slightly wider. According to available data, this specimen seems to be a preadult (ultimate immature instar).

Masi (1912: 108) recorded C. margaritatus from Taboga Island, Gulf of Panama. We suspect his material corresponds to C. granosus because Taboga is only 15 km SW of Panama City. A similar situation is that of the specimens recorded by Lourenço & Méndez (1984: 86), and Quintero (2005), most of which are from Panama City and neighboring localities.

Other material examined. PANAMA: Two females, one male ( IES), “Depósito de Vectores Chitré” [ Chitré District (7º57’59”N 80º26’00”W), Herrera Province], March 10, 2006, collected by Vector Control staff; identified as Centruroides margaritatus by an unknown person. One female and one male ( FKCP), Punta Patiño (near Colombian border), Darien Province, January 17, 1995, leg. Bužga. One female and two males ( FKCP), Bocas del Toro, November 2000 , no other data. Additional specimens from additional Panamanian localities (most of them from Panama City), were examined by LFA during his visit to the Gorgas Institute , in September 2009 .

Identity of Centrurus granosus simplex Thorell, 1876

As mentioned above, Pocock (1902) regarded C. granosus as a potential junior synonym of C. margaritatus , but he explicitly did not refer to C. g. simplex .

The holotype of C. g. simplex is a dry mounted, very fragile specimen deposited at NHRS (G. Lindsay, e-mail to F. Kovařík, on February 02, 2011). We received a series of high-resolution color photos of this specimen ( Figs. 6A–C ), from which we were able to recognize it as an adult male conspecific with Centruroides testaceus arubensis (Bakker, 1963) . For such reason, we propose the following nomenclatural actions:

Figures

Figure 2: Centruroides granosus. Preadult male lectotype. A, dorsal aspect; B, ventral aspect; C, left pedipalp, dorsal aspect; D, pectines; E, telson, lateral aspect; F, labels. Scale in millimeters only for A and B.

Figure 3: Centruroides granosus. Female from Chitré. A, prosoma and first tergites; B, femur and patella of pedipalp, dorsal aspect; C, pedipalpal chela, dorsal aspect; D, coxasternal area and first abdominal sternites; E, metasomal segments I–IV, ventrolateral aspect; F, metasomal segment V and telson, lateral aspect.

Figure 4: Centruroides granosus. Male from Chitré. A–C, pedipalp, dorsal aspect: A, femur; B, patella; C, chela. D, pectines; E, sternites V–VII and metasomal segment I; F, metasomal segment II, ventrolateral aspect, showing two pairs of ventrolateral macrochaetae (arrows); G, metasomal segments IV–V and telson, lateral aspect.

Figure 5: Geographical distribution of Centruroides granosus, including type locality (red square).

Figure 6: Centruroides simplex. Male holotype, dorsal (A), and ventral aspects (B); C, labels from Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm, Sweden. Photos courtesy of G. Lindberg.