Orthochirus tassili Lourenço et Leguin, 2011

Lourenço, Wilson R. & Leguin, Elise-Anne, 2011, Further considerations on the species of the genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1891 from Africa, with description of three new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius 123 (123), pp. 1-19 : 6-9

Orthochirus tassili Lourenço et Leguin , sp. n.

( Figs. 10−14 , 24 , 29 , 35 ; Tab. 1)

Type material: Algeria, 3 km E-NE Tin Taghirt , 115 km W. NW Djanet (25.1570°N, 8.5338°E), 1420 m, 2 2/IV/2009 (P. Geniez), male holotype. Tassili-N-Ajjer, 1.2 km E. NE Telou-Tedjert, 36 km NW Djanet (24.7 411°N, 9.1867°E), 1185 m, 19/IV/2009 (P. Geniez), female paratype. Deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris .

Etymology: The specific name is placed in apposition to the generic name and refers to ‘Tassili-N-Ajjer’, the location in which the new species was collected.

Diagnosis

Small to medium sized scorpions, reaching a total length of 25.1 mm for male and 2 3.7 mm for female. General coloration dark reddish-brown to blackish. Anterior margin of carapace moderately convex. Ventral aspect of metasomal segment V without granulations posteriorly. Fixed and movable fingers of pedipalps with 9/9 rows of granules; accessory granules present. Pectines with 18-18 teeth in male and 15-16 teeth in female. Trichobothriotaxy: A-β; neobothriotaxy ‘minorante’.

Relationships: Orthochirus tassili sp. n. can be distinguished from the other species of Orthochirus , and in particular from Orthochirus innesi by the following characters:

(i) smaller size (see Table 1), (ii) a distinct pigmentation pattern; much darker, (iii) a small, weakly elongated, oval to rounded genital operculum, (iv) ventral aspect of metasomal segment V without granulations.

Description based on male holotype and female paratype. Measurements in Table 1.

Coloration. Basically dark reddish-brown to blackish. Prosoma: carapace dark brown to blackish; median and lateral eyes surrounded by black pigment. Mesosoma: reddish-brown with some dark yellow spots; carinae and granulations blackish. Metasomal segments dark brown to blackish; telson reddish-brown aculeus reddish. Metasomal carinae marked with blackish. Venter reddish-brown; two triangular pale zones on sternites V− VI of male; pectines pale yellow. Chelicerae yellowish, with dark variegated spots; fingers blackish. Pedipalps, femur and patella dark brown to blackish; chela yellowish. Legs dark brown with three distal segments yellowish.

Morphology. Carapace weakly granular; anterior margin with a moderate convexity. Carinae and furrows weakly marked. Median ocular tubercle slightly anterior to the centre of the carapace; median eyes separated by more than one ocular diameter. Three pairs of lateral eyes. Sternum subtriangular to subpentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites with a weakly marked granulation, almost smooth; median carina moderate in all tergites. Tergite VII pentacarinate with strong carinae. Venter: genital operculum small, weakly elongated, divided longitudinally into two suboval to round plates. Pectines: pectinal tooth count 18- 18 in male, 15- 16 in female; basal middle lamellae of each pecten not dilated. Sternites almost smooth with small slit-like spiracles; VII with four carinae moderate and some minute granulations. Metasoma: segments rounded, with carinae moderately marked; granulations weakly mark- ed; segments I to III with ten carinae; segment IV− V with punctuations; ventral aspect of segment without granulations on the distal region. Intercarinal spaces smooth dorsally; weakly granular laterally and ventrally. Telson smooth; aculeus longer than the vesicle and moderately curved; subaculear tooth absent. Cheliceral dentition characteristic of the family Buthidae (Vachon, 1963) ; movable finger with well distinct basal teeth; ventral aspect of both finger and manus with thin setae. Pedipalps: femur with five moderate carinae, granular; patella with weakly marked carinae; chela without carinae, smooth. Fixed and movable fingers with 9/9 rows of denticles granules. Trichobothriotaxy: A-β; neobothriotaxy ‘minorante’ (Vachon, 1974, 1975). Legs: tarsus with two rows of setae ventrally. Tibial spur reduced; pedal spurs moderately marked.

Distribution: Only known from the type locality.

Figures

Figures 10−13: Orthochirus tassili sp. n., male holotype and female paratype, dorsal and ventral aspects.

Figure 14: Orthochirus tassili sp. n., female paratype (alive) in the field (photo by P. Geniez).

Figures 22−26: Disposition of the granulation over the dentate margin of the movable finger. 22. Orthochirus aristidis, female from Nubia. 23. Orthochirus innesi, female from Wadi Degla near Cairo. 24. Orthochirus tassili sp. n., female paratype. 25. Orthochirus cloudsleythompsoni sp. n., male holotype. 26. Orthochirus atarensis sp. n., female paratype.

Figures 27−32: Femur, dorsal aspect, showing trichobothrial pattern. 27. Orthochirus aristidis, female from Nubia. 28. Orthochirus innesi, female from Wadi Degla near Cairo. 29. Orthochirus tassili sp. n., female paratype. 30. Orthochirus cloudsleythompsoni sp. n., male holotype. 31−32. Orthochirus atarensis sp. n., male holotype and female paratype.

Figures 33−38: Sternum and genital operculum. 33. Orthochirus aristidis, female from Nubia. 34. Orthochirus innesi, female from Wadi Degla near Cairo. 35. Orthochirus tassili sp. n., female paratype. 36. Orthochirus cloudsleythompsoni sp. n., male holotype. 37. Orthochirus atarensis sp. n., female paratype. 38. Orthochirus innesi, female from Wadi Degla near Cairo. Ventral aspect of metasomal segments I−V and telson, showing granulations on segment V.