Orthochirus masihipouri, Kovařík & Navidpour, 2020

Kovařík, František & Navidpour, Shahrokh, 2020, Six new species of Orthochirus Karsch, 1892 from Iran (Scorpiones Buthidae), Euscorpius 312, pp. 1-41 : 21

Orthochirus masihipouri sp. n.

( Figures 128–153 , 225 , 228 , 232 , Table 3 )

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:397424AB- 6BFE-4E25-917F-E23E1368C0D8

Orthochirus stockwelli: Navidpour et al., 2008b: 17 , figs. 6, 23, 69–72.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Iran, Bushehr Province, Behbahan–Genaveh road, 29°40.71'N 50°24.04'E, 17 m a. s. l.; FKCP .

TYPE MATERIAL ( FKCP). Iran, Bushehr Province, Behbahan– Genaveh road, 29°40.71'N 50°24.04'04E, 17 m a. s. l. (Locality. No. B-G803, Fig. 232 ), VII.2007, 1♀ (holotype), leg. Navidpour & Masihipour.

ETYMOLOGY. The species epithet is a patronym honoring Behzad Masihipour, who helped the second author in the field studies of scorpions of Iran for about 15 years.

DIAGNOSIS (♀). Total length 40 mm of female holotype. Trichobothrium d 2 at the dorsal surface of pedipalp femur reduced. Moderate tibial spurs present on third and fourth legs. Pectinal teeth number 22–23 in female. Movable finger of pedipalps with 8 rows of denticles, 8–9 ID and 8–9 OD. Dorsal carinae on pedipalp patella present and smooth. Pedipalp femur dorsal granulated. Metasoma V dorsal surface mesially smooth or with only several granules present. Metasoma I –II with 10 carinae, metasoma III with 8 carinae, metasoma IV–V with 2 dorsolateral carinae; ventrolateral carinae indicated on metasoma V. Ventral carinae of metasoma I–III consist of a row of large granules. Metasoma IV –V ventrally and laterally with fine punctation developed, spaces among punctae smooth ventral and granulated lateral; metasoma II–III ventrally and laterally granulated and bumpy with punctation reduced. Tergites roughly to finely granulated. Sternite VII densely granulated, with granulated carinae developed. Pedipalp, metasoma and telson densely hirsute. Tarsomere I of legs with 6–9 long bristles in female. Ratio length/width of metasoma V 1.14 in female holotype. Pedipalp femur length/width ratio 3 in female holotype.

DESCRIPTION. Total length of adult female 40.5 mm. Measurements of the carapace, telson, segments of the metasoma and segments of the pedipalps are given in Table 3 . For habitus, see Figs. 128–129 .

Coloration ( Figs. 128–129 ). Carapace, tergites, and metasoma black. Femur of pedipalps and legs yellowish brown, other segments of pedipalps and legs yellow. Sternite VII black, other sternites yellowish brown with yellow median area in posterior margin of sternites IV–VI indicated. Telson reddish brown.

Mesosoma and carapace ( Figs. 135–138 ). Mesosoma with a median carina and is roughly to finely granulated. Carapace without carinae, roughly granulated except smooth interocular triangle. The seventh sternite densely granulated and with four granulated carinae, the other sternites are granulated but smooth in middle and posteriorly. Pectinal teeth number 22– 23 in female holotype.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 130–134 , 225 ). The metasoma I–II with 10 granulated carinae. The metasoma III–V lacks lateral carinae, ventromedian and ventrolateral carinae are present on metasoma I–III, dorsolateral carinae are present on all metasomal segments but reduced to absent on metasoma V. Ventral carinae of metasoma I–III consist of a row of large granules. Metasoma I–III and partly metasoma IV are granulated laterally, metasoma III–V laterally punctae; granulation absent on dorsal surfaces of all metasomal segments except several fine granules on metasoma V dorsal mesially. Fine punctation on metasoma IV–V ventrally developed, spaces among punctae are smooth. The entire metasoma and telson are densely hirsute. The telson shallowly punctate, without granules.

Pedipalps ( Figs. 143–153 ). Trichobothrium d 2 on the dorsal surface of pedipalp femur is present; trichobothrium e 1 is situated between trichobothria d 3 and d 4. Femur of pedipalps with five granulate carinae and is dorsally granulated. Patella has seven smooth carinae, and the chela has smooth carinae which may be discernible throughout the length of the fixed finger. The entire pedipalps are hirsute. Movable fingers with 8 rows of denticles, 8–9 ID and OD.

Legs ( Figs. 139–142 ). Moderate tibial spurs present on third and fourth legs. Femur with four partly granulated carinae; patella with five rather smooth carinae; tibia smooth. Patella with only a few bristles. Tibia with bristles on the outer side of legs I–II. Tarsomere I of first to third legs with 6–9 long bristles, fourth legs with 3 or 4 bristles. Tarsomeres I–II of all legs with two rather irregular rows of bristles.

Measurements. See Table 3 .

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish O. masihipouri sp. n. from all other species of the genus. They are recounted in the key below. O. masihipouri sp. n. is similar to O. stockwelli (Lourenço & Vachon, 1995) with which it was initially confused (see Navidpour et al., 2008b). These two species are possible differentiate according to several characters. In the key below, we used difference in granulation of pedipalp femur and sternites but these two species differ also in the shape of metasoma, which is wider in O. masihipouri sp. n., and in the shape of pedipalp patella, which is narrower in O. stockwelli . Ratio length/width of pedipalp patella is 2.9 in O. masihipouri sp. n. vs. 3.2–3.9 in O. stockwelli . Punctation of metasoma IV–V is finer in O. masihipouri sp. n. ( Fig. 225 ) than in O. stockwelli (fig. 54 in Kovařík et al., 2019: 10).

Figures

Figure 228. Geographic distribution of the Orthochirus spp. in Iran, Turkey and Iraq.

Figures 128–129. Orthochirus masihipouri sp. n., holotype female, dorsal (128) and ventral (129) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 130–134. Orthochirus masihipouri sp. n., holotype female, metasoma IV–V and telson lateral (130), metasoma and telson, lateral (131), ventral (132), and dorsal under white light (133) and UV light (134). Scale bar: 10 mm (131–133).

Figures 135–136. Orthochirus masihipouri sp. n., holotype female, carapace and tergites (135), and sternopectinal region and sternites (136) under UV light.

Figures 137–153: Orthochirus masihipouri sp. n., holotype female. Figures 137–138. Carapace and tergites (137), and sternopectinal region and sternites (138). Figures 139–142. Left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect. Figures 143–153. Segments of pedipalps. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (143), external (144), and ventral (145) views. Pedipalp patella, dorsal (146), external (147), and ventral (148) views. Pedipalp femur and trochanter, dorsal (149), internal (150), and ventral (151) views. Pedipalp chela, movable (152) and fixed (153) fingers dentate margins. The trichobothrial pattern is indicated in Figures 144–147, 149–150 (white circles).

Figures 222–227: Metasoma and telson in ventral views under UV light, holotypes of newly described species. Figure 222. Orthochirus hormozganensi sp. n., male. Figure 223. O. kermanensis sp. n., male. Figure 224. O. kucerai sp. n., male. Figure 225. O. masihipouri sp. n., female. Figure 226. O. semnanensis sp. n., male. Figure 227. O. vignolii sp. n., male.

Figures 229–234: Localities of Orthochirus spp., Iran. Figures 229–230. O. hormozganensis sp. n., Hormozgan Province, Bandare Jask- Bashagard road, 25°50'11.4"N 57°50'14.6"E, 146 m a. s. l. (229) and Jask to Minab road, 25°52'34.9"N 57°29'47.4"E, 46 m a. s. l. (230). Figure 231. O. kucerai sp. n., Kerman Province, Jamalizadeh and Ebrahimi; Shahdad, 30°29'06"N 57°48'28"E, 331 m a. s. l. Figure 232. O. masihipouri sp. n., Bushehr Province, Behbahan–Genaveh road, 29°40.71'N 50°24.04'E, 17 m a. s. l. Figure 233. O. semnanensis sp. n., Semnan Province, Garmsar, Ghasre-Bahram, 36º22'23"N 50º23'08"E. Figure 234. O. vignolii sp. n., Yazd Province, Kosk Abad village, 31º43'52"N 53º17'12"E, 2023 m a. s. l.