Kovarikia oxy Bryson, Graham & Soleglad

Jr., Robert W. Bryson, Wood, Dustin A., Graham, Matthew R., Soleglad, Michael E. & McCormack, John E., 2018, Genome-wide SNP data and morphology support the distinction of two new species of Kovarikia Soleglad, Fet & Graham, 2014 endemic to California (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae), ZooKeys 739, pp. 79-106 : 92-98

Kovarikia oxy Bryson, Graham & Soleglad sp. n. Figs 8, 9, 10; Table 4

Type material.

United States: California: Los Angeles Co: male holotype (DMNS ZA.38178), Eaton Canyon Falls, San Gabriel Mountains. 34.19665°N, 118.10210°W, 475 m. 15 May 2014. R.W. Bryson Jr. and E. Zarza. Paratypes: Same locality. 15 May 2014. R.W. Bryson Jr. and E. Zarza, 2 ♂, 4 ♀ (DMNS ZA.38179-ZA.38184).

Etymology.

The specific name is a noun in apposition in reference to Occidental College, commonly referred to as Oxy, which lies at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains near Eaton Canyon, the type locality.

Diagnosis.

Large sized species for the family, with males up to 51.0 mm and females reaching 52.0 mm; pectinal tooth counts 12 for males and 11-13 for females. The species possesses the characteristics of genus Kovarikia : i.e. neobothriotaxy on ventral surface of chela, secondary lamellar hook on spermatophore, large crescent-shaped barb with a smooth edge on the mating plug, secondary exteromedian (EMc) carina on pedipalp patella. The holotype differs from the K. savaryi sp. n. holotype in the following: median eyes protrude well above carapace surface (only slightly above in K. savaryi ); median carinal pair on sternite VII obsolete (essentially obsolete except for a few scattered small granules in K. savaryi ); strongly granular intermediary carinae on metasomal segment I, the posterior 1/4 on segment II and posterior 1/5 of segment III (moderately granular on segment I, the posterior 1/5 of segment II, and posterior 1/6 of segment III in K. savaryi ); lateral carinae on metasomal segment V crenulate and connecting with dorsolateral carinae at posterior 1/4 of segment (posterior 1/3 in K. savaryi ); internal surface of femur with a few large granules arranged in a line along proximal 1/3 (scattered granules of various size, mostly on proximal 1/2 in K. savaryi ); basitarsus retroventral setae count of 4/4:7/7:7/7:8/7 (4/4:5/5:5/5:7/6 in K. oxy ). Differs from the other Kovarikia spp. by pectine counts and morphology of the chelal fingers and telson, as outlined below in the "Key to Species of Kovarikia ".

Description of holotype.

Color (Fig. 8): Carapace, trochanter, femur, patella, tergites, and metasoma have a brown base color with dark brown to black markings along the carinae of the pedipalp and metasoma. Legs are yellow brown with dark brown carinae. Pedipalp chelae are brown in color with darker reddish-brown coloration at the anterior portion of the palm where the fixed finger and movable finger meet. Chelicerae are light yellow with dark reddish-brown dentition. Vesicle portion of the telson is yellow-orange proximally, fading to cream on the distal third, with a dark reddish-brown to black aculeus. Pectines and genital operculum are light yellow to cream colored. Morphology: Carapace: trapezoidal with strongly emarginated anterior margin; surface with scattered granules; moderate median furrow traverses length of carapace; ratio of location of median eyes location (from anterior edge)/carapace length = 0.350; median eyes protrude well above carapace surface. Tergites: surface with small granules on distal 1/3-2/3 of tergites III–VI; tergite VII with two pairs of granular lateral carinae, and a moderate median hump. Sternites: III–VI smooth to very finely granular and without carinae; VII with granular ventral lateral carinae on posterior 2/3, median carinal pair obsolete (smooth). Spiracles: slightly ellipsoid and with median side rotated 30° away from posterior sternite margin. Genital Operculum: sclerites separated on posterior 1/5 exposing conspicuous genital papillae. Pectines: tooth count 12/12; middle lamellae 7/7; sensorial areas present on all pectine teeth. Metasoma: ratio of segment I length/width 1.02; segment II length/width 1.30; segment III length/width 1.54; segment IV length/width 2.07; segment V length/width 3.14. Segments I–IV: dorsal carinae are moderately denticulate on segments I–IV and have slightly enlarged distal denticles; dorsolateral carinae are moderately denticulate on segments I–IV with slightly enlarged posterior denticles; ventrolateral carinae are moderately crenulate on segments I–IV; strongly granular intermediary carinae occur on segment I, the posterior 1/4 on segment II and posterior 1/5 of segment III; ventromedian carinae are crenulate on segments I–IV; ventrolateral setae 2/2:2/2:2/2:2/2; ventral submedian setae 2/2:3/3:3/3:3/3. Segment V: dorsolateral carinae crenulate; lateral carinae crenulate and connecting with dorsolateral carinae at posterior 1/4 of segment; ventrolateral carinae crenulate; ventromedian carinae crenulate; intercarinal spaces with sparsely scattered granules; dorsolateral setation 2/2; lateral setation 2/2; ventrolateral setation 4/4; ventromedian setation 4/4. Telson: smooth to slightly granular with no subaculear tubercule and lacking LAS; posterior end of vesicle inflated toward the aculeus slightly forming a pair of smooth ventral grooves and carinae that stop at aculeus base; vesicle length/width 1.77; vesicle length/depth 2.30; vesicle length/aculeus length 2.66. Chelicerae: dorsal edge of fixed finger with four teeth, one distal, one subdistal, one median, and one basal, the latter two denticles formed as a bicuspid; ventral edge smooth; dorsal edge of movable finger has five teeth total comprised of one distal, two subdistal, one median tooth, and one basal tooth; ventral edge smooth; serrula with approximately 34 tines. Pedipalps (Fig. 9): trichobothrial pattern type C, neobothriotaxic: trichobothria ib-it positioned on very base of fixed finger, distance between positions of Dt and Est is less than that of Dt from palm base, Db dorsal of digital carina, Et1 is clearly closer to the movable finger than V1, five ventral trichobothria (V1-V5); ratio of chela length/width 3.37; femur length/width 3.03; patella length/width 2.51; fixed finger length/carapace length 0.67. Chela: median denticles (MD) of fixed finger aligned and divided into six subrows by five outer denticles (OD); flanked by six inner denticles (ID); movable finger with six subrows of MD, five OD and seven ID. Chela carinae: Digital carina strong and crenulate; subdigital carina strong and crenulate but obsolete on distal 7/8; dorsosecondary moderate and crenulate; dorsomarginal very rounded, with large scattered granules; dorsointernal obsolete; interomedian weak, rounded with scattered granules; external carina moderate and crenulate; ventroexternal strong and crenulate; ventromedian moderate and crenulate on proximal 1/5, fading to smooth granules and essentially obsolete on distal 3/5; ventrointernal moderate to weak, rounded, with small scattered granules. Femur: dorsointernal and ventrointernal strong, black in color, and crenate; dorsoexternal carinae crenulate, brown to burgundy in color; ventroexternal reddish orange with scattered granules of various size; internal surface has a few large granules arranged in a line along proximal 1/3. Patella: dorsointernal and dorsoexternal carinae are crenulate and dark brown to burgundy in color; ventral internal and ventroexternal carinae crenate and dark brown to burgundy; external median carinae dark brown to burgundy and crenulate; seconday external median carina strong and on proximal 3/4, obsolete on distal 1/4, dark brown to burgundy and crenulate; internal surface has a large spur flanked by a few large granules. Legs: Ventral surface of telotarsi with single median row of 16-23 spinules terminating distally with two pairs of spinules. Two rows of small spinules occur on all basitarsi, fading proximally, but are very weak on basitarsus IV. Basitarsus populated with large irregularly placed darkly pigmented setae as follows: vental setae 5/5:6/6:6/6:6/6, retroventral setae 4/4:7/7:7/7:8/7, retro median accessory setae 2/2:2/3:3/3:3/3, retrosuperior setae 2/2:2/2:2/2:2/2, and superior setae 3/3:3/3:3/3:3/3 (excluding DSM and DPS). Hemispermatophore (Fig. 10): Left hemispermatophore is 5.5 mm in length; lamina length 3.3, primary lamellar hook length 1.5, secondary lamellar hook length 0.5 (distance between tips of primary and secondary hooks), and trough difference (vertical distance between ventral and dorsal troughs) 1.0. Lamellar edges roughly parallel; terminus blunted with a very slight distal crest on the dorsal side. Primary lamellar hook extends somewhat from lamina base, is distinctly bifurcated, and is formed entirely from the dorsal trough. Secondary lamellar hook not bifurcated. A sclerotized mating plug with large asymmetric barb with a smooth edge was extracted from the ventrointernal aspect of the hemispermatophore median area.

Measurements of male holotype

(mm). Total L, 45.0; carapace L, 5.35; mesosoma L, 14.70; metasoma L (additive without telson), 20.10; telson L, 5.75. Metasomal segments: I L/W, 2.50/2.45; II L/W, 3.00/2.30; III L/W, 3.55/2.30; IV L/W, 4.45/2.15; V L/W, 6.60 /2.10. Telson: vesicle L/W/D, 4.25/2.40/1.85; aculeus L, 1.60. Pedipalps: femur L/W, 5.00/1.65; patella L/W, 4.90/1.95; chela L/W/D, 9.10/2.70/3.85; fixed finger L, 3.60; movable finger L, 4.90; palm L, 5.00.

Male and female variability.

Sexual dimorphism was evident in several morphological characters for K. oxy . Two-tailed Student’s t-tests indicated that the length of metasomal segment IV is significantly larger in males (p = 0.012) and that chelal palms are significantly wider (p = 0.019). One-tailed tests indicate that metasomal segment II is also longer in males (p = 0.048), telson vesicle widths are wider (p = 0.033), and that males have wider (p = 0.009) and deeper (p = 0.031) chelal palms. Larger sample sizes may reveal differences in additional characters, especially the lengths of the femur and metasomal segments I, III, and V.