Teuthraustes kuryi, Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017

Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017, The geographical patterns of distribution of the genus Teuthraustes Simon, 1878 in Ecuador and description of three new species (Scorpiones, Chactidae), ZooKeys 721, pp. 45-63 : 56-59

Teuthraustes kuryi sp. n. Fig. 7, 8, Table 1

Type material.

Ecuador, Esmeraldas Province (N00.88883, W078.53732), 873 m, in zone where rainforest was recently destroyed, under log, 17/III/2011 (A. Chagas, A. Giupponi, A. Kury, M. Vega). Female holotype and female paratype. Holotype deposited in the Museo de Zoologia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Quito, Ecuador; paratype deposited in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Etymology.

Specific name honours Prof. Adriano B. Kury, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for his important contribution to the study of arachnids.

Diagnosis.

Moderate to large scorpions with 60-61 mm in total length. Colouration dark brown to blackish. Body and appendages strongly granulated. Pectines with 7-7 teeth in females. Pedipalps bulk with short fingers; fixed and movable fingers of chela with 5-6 rows of granules. Metasoma long and strong; ventral carinae strongly marked on metasomal segments I to IV. Trichobothrial pattern of type C neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’.

Description.

Based on female holotype and female paratype.

Colouration.

General colouration basically dark brown to blackish. Prosoma: carapace dark brown; eyes blackish. Mesosoma: tergites reddish brown to dark brown, slightly paler than carapace; venter and sternites reddish brown to dark brown; pectines and genital operculum yellow. Metasoma: segments blackish brown, with darker zones over carinae; vesicle reddish brown with the base of the aculeus reddish yellow. Chelicerae: reddish yellow, with some diffuse variegated reddish spots at the base of the fingers; fingers dark reddish. Pedipalps dark brown to blackish; carinae blackish. Legs dark brown to blackish.

Morphology.

Prosoma: carapace almost acarinate, but with dense strongly marked granulations on the entire surface, except on the zone of furrows; furrows deep; sternum pentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites intensely granulated but less marked than carapace; sternites, smooth and shiny; spiracles oval-shaped and con spicuous; VII acarinate with granulations; pectinal tooth count 7-7 in both females, holotype and paratype, fulcra vestigial. Metasoma: segments I and II wider than long; metasomal tegument on segments I to IV strongly granulated including dorsal aspect; segment V with some spinoid granulations ventrally; carinae on segments I–V strongly developed; ventral present on all segments; telson strongly granulated; aculeus shorter than vesicle. Chelicerae: dentition typical of the family Chactidae ( Vachon 1963), and with dense setation ventrally and internally. Pedipalps: femur with dorsal internal, dorsal external and ventral internal carinae strongly marked; ventral external carina vestigial; dorsal, ventral and internal aspects granulated; patella granulated with well-marked carinae; chela strongly granulated and with most carinae well-marked; dentate margins on movable and fixed fingers with 5-6 rows of granules; trichobothriotaxy of type C; neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’ ( Vachon 1974). Legs: tarsi with short setae disposed in a single line.

Morphometric values.

Female holotype of T. kuryi sp. n. Total length (in mm) including the telson, 60.4. Carapace: length, 8.0; anterior width, 4.8; posterior width, 8.6. Mesosoma length, 16.2. Metasomal segments. I: length, 3.6; width, 4.9; II: length, 4.1; width, 4.6; III: length, 4.6; width, 4.5; IV: length, 5.6; width, 4.3; V: length, 9.4; width, 4.2; depth, 3.6. Telson length, 8.9; vesicle: width, 4.3; depth, 3.6. Pedipalp: femur length, 5.7, width, 2.4; patella length, 6.1, width, 2.8; chela length, 11.1, width, 5.1, depth, 7.2; movable finger length, 5.9.

Relationships.

The new species can be distinguished from the others congeners in particular from Teuthraustes atramentarius Simon, which is also distributed in Ecuador, but exclusively in the high central Andes, by the following features: (i) carapace, tergites, pedipalps, metasoma, and telson strongly granulated, (ii) metasomal segments I to V long and strong with well-marked ventral carinae, (iii) pedipalps bulk with short fingers on chela, (iv) ventral aspect with a darker pigmentation, reddish brown to dark brown.