Androctonus tihamicus, Alqahtani & Yağmur & Badry, 2023

Alqahtani, Abdulaziz R., Yagmur, Ersen Aydin & Badry, Ahmed, 2023, Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. from the Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia (Scorpiones, Buthidae), ZooKeys 1152, pp. 9-34 : 9

Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15

Buthus australis citrina (incorrect spelling)- Gough and Hirst 1927: 4.

Androctonus crassicauda - Vachon 1979: 31-34, figs 1, 2, 4.

Androctonus australis - Levy and Amitai 1980: 36, 40; Alqahtani et al. 2019: 21: fig. 2a; Al-Asmari et al. 2013: fig. 7.

Androctonus crassicauda - Hendrixson 2006: 38-43, figs 1, 2, pl. 1.

Androctonus amoreuxi - Al-Asmari et al. 2013: table 1.

Type materials.

Holotype ♂: Saudi Arabia, Mecca Province, Al-Gunfuda, 1.xi.2018, 19.166389°N, 41.099806°E, 10 m a.s.l., Alqahtani A.R. leg. (AZMM/Sco-2018:01). Paratypes (10 ♀, 10 ♂): Saudi Arabia, Mecca Province, Al-Gunfuda, 19.1674°N, 41.0999°E, 8 m a.s.l., 1.xi.2018, 1♀, Alqahtani A.R. leg. (AZMM/Sco-2018:02). Mecca, Province, Al Baydayn, 19.1836°N, 41.2334°E 45 m a.s.l., xi.2018, 2♀, 1♂, Alqahtani A.R. leg. (AUZC/Sco-2018:3-5). Mecca Province, Keyad, xi.2018, 18°42'00.1"N 41°24'00.4"E, 40 m a.s.l., 1♀, 1♂, Alqahtani A.R. & Badry A. leg. (AUZC/Sco-2018:6-7). Mecca Province, Al-Gunfuda, 19.1674°N, 41.0999°E, 8 m a.s.l., 4.I.2022, 6♀, 8♂, Alqahtani A.R. & Badry A. leg. (AUZC/Sco-2022:8-21).

Comparative material.

Androctonus australis , Egypt, Bir El-Abd , north of Sinai Peninsula, 31.0142°N, 32.7486°E, 1♀, 1♂ (AZMM/Sco-2003:03-04) .

Etymology.

The new species is named after the Tihamah Plain, the coastal plain along the Red Sea.

Diagnosis.

Medium-sized scorpion with average length 76.15 mm in females and 77.06 mm in males. General color light brown to reddish brown; chela reddish yellow. Legs completely yellow, without any spots in both males and females. Fixed and movable fingers with 13-15 (mostly 14) and 13-15 (mostly 14) principal rows of denticles, respectively. Carapace coarsely granulose; granules at anterior corners larger. Posterior median and central median carinae coarsely granulose and strong. Ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V moderately developed, with granules gradually and slightly increasing in size posteriorly. Dorsolateral carinae of segments III-IV strong, with large, serrate, gradually increasing in size granules posteriorly and two large granules posteriorly. Dorsolateral carinae of metasomal segment V with rounded, distinct, large granules anteriorly, and without granules posteriorly. Pectines with 31-33 teeth in males and 23-31 in females.

Description based on holotype.

Coloration: general color light brown to reddish brown. Prosoma: carapace reddish brown; carinae and surrounds of eyes marked by black pigmentation. Mesosoma: reddish brown, slightly lighter than carapace. Metasoma: segments I-V light brown, ventral surfaces of reddish brown; carinae marked with brown or black pigmentation; vesicle reddish brown anteriorly, light brown posteriorly; aculeus reddish at base and blackish at extremity. Venter yellowish to reddish yellow; pectines pale yellow. Chelicerae yellowish, without variegated spots in male and with diffused variegated spots in females; fingers yellowish, with dark teeth. Pedipalps: femur and patella brownish yellow, with dark reddish brown carinae; chela reddish brown, fingers reddish brown but dark yellow posteriorly, denticles black. Legs uniformly dark yellow, without spots.

Prosoma: carapace trapezoidal, wider than long; all carinae strong and coarsely granular. Larger, anterior and posterior median and central median carinae coarsely granulose; strong intergranular area with medium-sized and large granules, anteriorly with very large granules; anterior margin nearly straight, with some stout macrosetae; all furrows moderate to weak; median ocular tubercle slightly anterior to center of carapace; eyes separated by two ocular diameters; five pairs of lateral eyes, first three pairs of moderate size and aligned, last two pairs vestigial; sternum triangular, narrow, slightly longer than wide. Cheliceral dentition typical for genus, as defined by Vachon (1963); surface smooth, with coarse granules arranged in longitudinal ridges.

Mesosoma: tergites densely granular; pretergites finely granular, posttergites coarsely granular; posterior margins with a row of distinct strong granules; I-VI with three moderate to strong, granulose carinae (median and submedians), projecting beyond posterior margin. Tergite VII pentacarinate, with scattered fine granules (median, submedians, and laterals). Venter: sternum standard for the genus: type 1, triangular; genital operculum divided longitudinally, forming two semi-oval plates; pectines long, reaching leg IV coxa/trochanter joint, narrow, densely setose; tooth count 31/33; basal plate heavily sclerotized and wider than long, with anterior margin with strong, median indentation and posterior margin widely convex. Sternites sparsely setose, without granules, smooth with very elongated spiracles and slit-like without granulation; sternites III-VI carinate, with two vestigial furrows; sternite VI with fine, very scattered granules; sternite III without carinae; sternite VII with two pairs of strong granular carinae.

Metasoma: very sparsely setose, with all segments robust. All segments longer than wide; segments I-III very slightly longer than wide; wider than deep; inter-carinal tegument of dorsal surface without granulation and smooth, lateral surface slightly roughened, with scattered fine and moderately sparse granules, ventral surface rough with moderately dense fine granules and scattered large granules on segments I-V; dorsal furrow moderately deep and wide on all segments; segment I with 10 carinae, lateral infra-median carinae complete and moderate, segment II with 10 carinae, lateral infra-median incomplete, present on posterior quarter, strongly granular, with three granules; segment III with 10 carinae, lateral infra-median incomplete with two granules; segment IV with eight, and segment V with five carinae. Dorsolateral carinae of segments I-IV strong, with serrate granules that gradually increase posteriorly. Granules small on segment I, moderate on segment II, and large on segments III-IV. Segment V with strong, rounded carinae, posteriorly smooth with very rounded, shallow granules anteriorly. Lateral supra-median carinae strong on segment I-IV, with moderate, rounded and crenulate granules on segment I, large, rounded, crenulate granules on II-V, and more swollen and one very large, rounded granule at the posterior end of segment IV. Ventrolateral carinae on segments I-IV strong, with large, rounded granules; strong with gradually and slightly increased granules posteriorly on segment V. Ventral submedian carinae moderate on segments I-V, with moderately rounded granules. Anal arch laterally with three rounded lobes, the inferior lobe twice as large as the other two lobes. Telson slender, elongate, densely setose; vesicle small somewhat globose, tegument glossy and essentially smooth, with only some coarse granules and a coarse but very poorly defined ventro-median carinae; setal pair subaculear; aculeus very long and thick, as long as vesicle, and moderately curved.

Legs: long, slender, covered by several macrosetae. Basitarsus of legs I-III bear bristle combs; basitarsus of leg IV without bristle comb. Proventral and retroventral basitarsal (pedal) spurs present but tibial spurs present on legs III and IV. Tarsus of legs I-IV ventrally with spine-like setae arranged in two rows: tarsal spurs basally bifurcate, bearing 1-3 macrosetae (four on legs I-II, eight or nine on leg III-IV). Basitarsus of legs I-III with bristle combs; basitarsus of legs IV without bristle combs.

Pedipalps: stocky, moderately long, densely setose. Type A trichobothrial pattern; orthobothriotaxic. Dorsal trichobothria of femur arranged in beta-configuration with d2 situated on dorsal surface. Femur pentacarinate, slender, straight; all carinae strong and moderately granulose; intercarinal tegument finely granulose, with irregular, coarse granules dorsally; inner surface with a few coarse granules; dorso-internal carinae with distinct spinoid granules. Patella with seven carinae, moderately slender and straight; surfaces smooth with scattered fine granules; all carinae moderately strong, dorsomedian, dorsoexternal, ventromedian, ventroexternal, ventrointernal carinae granulose, external smooth, dorsointernal with seven spinoid granules; dorsointernal and ventrointernal carinae distally terminate at one spinoid granule. Chela smooth, without carinae, stocky. Manus wider than patella (chela width/patella width = 1.13); internal surface of manus with scattered fine granules; fingers moderately elongate (movable finger length/manus length = 1.76), evenly curved. Movable fingers of pedipalps bear 15 rows of granules and external and internal granules; fixed fingers bear 14 rows of granules, with external and internal accessory granules and three distal granules.

Comparison.

Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. can be distinguished from other Androctonus species in the Middle East by following characters: A. tihamicus sp. n. has stocky chela whereas A. bicolor Ehrenberg, 1828 has elongate chela. Ventrolateral carinae of 5th segment of A. tihamicus sp. nov. lacks large granules and the general color is light to reddish brown, whereas ventrolateral carinae of the 5th segment of A. turkiyensis Yağmur, 2021 bears large granules, The general color is brown or black in A. crassicauda . The new species has stockier metasoma segments, whereas A. amoreuxi (Audouin, 1826) has elongated metasoma segments, and especially the 5th segment, which is remarkably more elongate. The length/width ratios of metasomal segments I-V from the measurements provided by Levy and Amitai (1980) are 0.90-1.12-1.15-1.38-1.71 in males and 0.91-1.12-1.19-1.38-1.71 in females. These ratios in A. tihamicus sp. nov. are 0.91-1.06-1.02-1.26-1.38 in males and 0.99-1.12-1.16-1.37-1.55 in females (Table 1 ). Additionally, A. amoreuxi is yellow or olive-yellow. The new species can be distinguished from A. australis by the following characteristics: (a) general coloration light to reddish brown with legs uniformly yellow (vs yellow in A. australis ); (b) pedipalp less robust and movable finger with a small recess and hump (vs more robust and movable finger with a larger recess and hump at base of the fingers in in A. australis ) (Fig. 14 ); (c) metasomal segments smaller than A. australis ; (d) dorsolateral carinae of metasomal segment III has one separate spinoid granule in posterior of segments IV (vs two rounded granules in A. australis ; Fig. 15 , indicated by arrows); (e) ventral carina of 5th metasomal segment without bifurcation (vs bifurcated in A. australis ); and (f) anal arch with three lateral lobes (vs two lateral lobes in A. australis ; Fig. 15A, B, E, F ).

Ecology.

Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. is an arenicolous species of scorpion from the Tihamah plain in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The sampling sites are all at low elevations along the coast, where temperatures are high, around 40 °C daily. Southern sites are in the coastal fog desert zone, with high temperatures of 43 °C and a relative humidity of 40-60%.

Genetic analysis.

Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. forms a monophyletic clade distinct from A. crassicauda (from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran), and other related Androctonus species analyzed (Fig. 16 ). The new species differs from A. crassicauda by a raw genetic distance of 4.0-9.0%, and from A. amoreuxi by 13.0%; it differs from A. australis , A. liouvillei (Pallary, 1924), and A. mauritanicus (Pocock, 1902) by a raw genetic distance of 16.0% (Table 2 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus of Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype and female paratype A male in dorsal view B male in ventral view C female in dorsal view D female in ventral view. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 2. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype A, C carapace and mesosoma B, D sternopectinal area and ventral of mesosoma (A, B under white light; C, D under UV light). Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 3. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., female paratype A, C carapace and mesosoma B, D sternopectinal area and ventral of mesosoma (A, B under white light; C, D under UV light). Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 4. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., metasoma and telson of male holotype A, D lateral view B, E dorsal view C, F ventral view (A-C under white light; D-F under UV light). Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 5. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., metasoma and telson of female paratype A, D lateral view B, E dorsal view C, F ventral view (A-C under white light; D-F under UV light). Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 6. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype A, B carapace C, D sternopectinal area (A, C under white light; B, D under UV light).

Figure 7. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., female paratype A, B carapace C, D sternopectinal area (A, C under white light; B, D under UV light).

Figure 8. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype A ventral view of chela B dorsal view of chela C external view of chela D internal view of chela E ventral view of pedipalp F dorsal view of pedipalp G fixed finger dentition H movable finger dentition (trichobothrial pattern is indicated by red circles).

Figure 9. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype, under UV light A ventral view of chela B dorsal view of chela C internal view of chela D external view of chela E ventral view of pedipalp F dorsal view of pedipalp G fixed finger dentition H movable finger dentition.

Figure 10. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov, female paratype A ventral view of chela B dorsal view of chela C internal view of chela D external view of chela E ventral view of pedipalp F dorsal view of pedipalp G fixed finger dentition H movable finger dentition (trichobothrial pattern is indicated by red circles).

Figure 11. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., female paratype, under UV light A ventral view of chela B dorsal view of chela C internal view of chela D external view of chela E ventral view of pedipalp F dorsal view of pedipalp G fixed finger dentition H movable finger dentition.

Figure 12. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., male holotype, right legs I-IV, retrolateral aspect.

Figure 13. Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., female paratype, right legs I-IV, retrolateral aspect.

Figure 14. Comparison of chela between male holotype and female paratype of Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. and male and female of A. australis A, C, E, G A. australis B, D, F, H A. tihamicus sp. nov. A-D male E-H female A, B, E, F dorsal C, D, G, H external.

Figure 15. Comparison of metasoma III-V and telson between male holotype and female paratype of Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. and male and female of A. australis A, C, E, G A. australis B, D, F, H A. tihamicus sp. nov. A-D male E-H female A, B, E, F lateral C, D, G, H ventral (arrows: see Comparisons in text).

Figure 16. Neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree of Androctonus species based on 16 S rRNA sequences. Numbers above and below branches indicate maximum parsimony bootstrap values / Bayesian posterior probabilities / NJ distance values.