Pandinus (Pandinus) mazuchi Kovařík, 2011

Kovařík, František, 2011, A review of the subgenus Pandinus Thorell, 1876 with descriptions of two new species from Uganda and Ethiopia (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae), Euscorpius 129 (129), pp. 1-18 : 3-10

Pandinus (Pandinus) mazuchi Kovařík , sp. n.

( Figs. 1–9 , 35, 39 , 42 )

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Ethiopia, Jijiga env., 09°20'15.8"N 42°42'17.5"E, 2100 m a.s.l.; the author´s collection ( FKCP).

TYPE MATERIAL. Ethiopia, Jijiga env., 09°20'15.8"N 42°42'17.5"E, 2100 m a.s.l. ( Figs. 8–9 ), 16.VII.2011, 1♀ (holotype) 1♀ 7juvs. (paratypes, still alive), leg. F. Kovařík and D. Hegner. All types are in the author´s collection ( FKCP).

ETYMOLOGY. Named after Tomáš Mazuch, a Czech herpetologist and my friend, who visited Ethiopia and Somaliland with me.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 92.5 mm. Color uniformly brown to reddish black, only legs, telson and chela reddish brown. Chelicerae brown, reticulate, with black fingers and anterior margin. External trichobothria on patella number 16 (5 eb, 3 esb, 2 em, 1 est, 5 et); ventral trichobothria on chela number 10. Accessory trichobothrium ea on chela is present and located between trichobothria esb and eb on the base of the fixed finger. Carapace lacking carinae and smooth (without granules), with very fine and shallow punctures. Dorsal carinae on first throught fourth metasomal segments terminate in a larger tooth most conspicuous on fourth segment. Spiniform formula of tarsomere II = 7/4: 6-7/4: 6-7/5-6: 8/5. Tarsomere II with 2 spines on inclined anteroventral surface. Pectinal teeth number 15–17. Pedipalps sparsely hirsute, mainly chela. Granules on dorsal surface of chela not conical and pointed, their summits sometimes confluent. External surface of chela smooth, with several conical granules in anterior part and without carinae. Length to depth ratio of 4th metasomal segment = 1.85.

DESCRIPTION. The adult female holotype is 92.5 mm long. The habitus is shown in Figs. 1–2 . For position and distribution of trichobothria of pedipalps see Fig. 5 . External trichobothria on the patella number 16 (5 eb, 3 esb, 2 em, 1 est, 5 et); ventral trichobothria on the chela number 10. Trichobothrium ea ( Fig. 5a ) on the chela is present and located between trichobothria esb and eb on the base of the fixed finger ( Fig. 5 versus Fig. 29 ). Sexual dimorphism is unknown.

COLORATION ( Figs. 1–5 ). The carapace, mesosoma, metasoma and femur and patella of pedipalp are uniformly brown to reddish black. The chela is reddish brown and its fingers are black. The legs and telson are brown. The juveniles are entirely black, including the legs. The chelicerae are brown, reticulate, with black fingers and anterior margins.

CARAPACE. The carapace ( Fig. 1 ) lacks carinae but has a deep sagittal furrow with a forked, Y-shaped furrow on each side in the posterior part. The surface is smooth, without granules and with very fine and shallow punctures. The anteromedial margin of the carapace is strongly concave. Present are a pair of median eyes and three lateral eyes with a furrow behind the lateral eyes. The distance ratio of the pair of median eyes from the anterior or the posterior margin of the carapace is, respectively, 0.53 or 0.47.

MESOSOMA. The tergites are smooth, each with an incomplete, smooth sagittal carina and symmetrical shallow furrows. The sternites are smooth, lack carinae and each bears two pronounced furrows that reach neither anterior nor posterior margins. The pectinal teeth number 15–17. The pectines have three marginal lamellae and three middle lamellae, all with numerous reddish setae. The characteristic fulcra are long and bear usually four or five white setae on the tip.

METASOMA AND TELSON ( Fig. 35 ). The first throught fourth segments bear eight carinae. The first throught third segments bear smooth ventral and lateral carinae; the fourth segment bears these carinae with several smooth teeth. The dorsal carinae on the first throught fourth segments terminate in a larger tooth most conspicuous on the fourth segment. The fifth segment bears five carinae and a row of granules on the lateral surfaces, which may form an incomplete carina. All carinae on the fifth metasomal segment bear strong granules. The surface between the carinae is granulate on the fifth segment and smooth on the other segments. The telson is elongate, with aculeus shorter than the vesicle. The surface of the telson is unevenly granulated and bears an incomplete carinae.

LEGS. The legs are smooth, without carinae and granules, and unevenly hirsute. Tarsomere I is hirsute and with two or three spinae. Tarsomere II has two spines on the inclined anteroventral surface. The spiniform formula of tarsomere II is 7/4: 6-7/4: 6-7/5-6: 8/5 ( Fig. 39 ).

PEDIPALPS ( Fig. 5 ). The pedipalps are sparsely hirsute, mainly the chela. The femur and patella of pedipalp are smooth with several large granules and with punctures as fine as on the carapace. The femur bears four carinae composed of several large, round granules, only the externoventral carina is smooth.The patella bears four to five smooth and incomplete carinae without granules. Two large and several small granules are only on the external surface of the patella. The chela bears only two smooth ventral carinae. The dorsal surface of the chela bears granules that are neither conical nor pointed and whose summits may be confluent. The external surface of the chela is smooth, with several conical granules in anterior part and without carinae. The chela of pedipalp has a lobe. The dentate margins of the movable and fixed fingers are armed with two parallel rows of denticles extending the entire length of the finger, without external and internal granules but with larger granules which indicate six subrows on the movable finger ( Fig. 4 ) and five subrows on the fixed finger.

MEASUREMENTS IN MM. Female holotype. Total length 92.5; carapace length 12.2, width 12.3; metasoma and telson length 42.4; first metasomal segment length 5.3, width 5.4, depth 4.2; second metasomal segment length 5.7, width 4.7, depth 3.9; third metasomal segment length 6.2, width 4.3, depth 3.8; fourth metasomal segment length 7.0, width 3.9, depth 3.8; fifth metasomal segment length 8.9, width 3.8 depth 3.8; telson length 9.3; telson width 3.9; pedipalp femur length 8.1, width 4.1; pedipalp patella length 8.8, width 4.8; chela length 18.7; manus width 11.5; movable finger length 10.6.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish P. mazuchi sp. n. from all other species of the subgenus Pandinus Thorell, 1876 . P. mazuchi sp. n. is characterized by 7/4: 6-7/4: 6-7/5-6: 8/5 spiniform formula of tarsomere II and only two spines on the inclined anteroventral surface of tarsomere II ( Fig. 39 ). These two characters distinguish P. mazuchi sp. n. from all species except P. phillipsii , which however differs in shape of spines of tarsomere II ( Fig. 40 versus Fig. 39 ), bigger total length (100–125 mm), more and different pilosity of dorsal carinae of metasomal segments, more granulated external surface of pedipalps ( Fig. 13 ), and yellow legs ( Fig. 10–13 ). P. mazuchi sp. n. has the total length less than 95 mm and the legs brown ( Fig. 1 ). Other differences are apparent in the number and positions of the trichobothria. In P. mazuchi sp. n., a trichobothrium ea ( Fig. 5a ) is present on the chela, located between trichobothria esb and eb on the base of the fixed finger ( Fig. 5 versus Fig. 29 ). The ventral trichobothria on the chela number 10 in P. mazuchi sp. n. ( Fig. 5 ) and P. gambiensis (fig. 10 in Vachon, 1967 and specimens in the author‘s collection), eight in P. ugandaensis sp. n. ( Fig. 29 ), 9–14 in P. imperator (fig. 7 in Vachon, 1967 and specimens in the author‘s collection), and 13–15 in P. smithi and P. phillipsii (specimens in author‘s collection).

DISCUSSION. Within the subgenus Pandinus there are two types of sexual dimorphism. Males of P. smithi and P. phillipsii have more pronounced tooth on the movable fingers of pedipalps than females ( Figs. 10–11 ) and relatively larger telsons. Both sexes of these two species have yellow legs ( Figs. 10–13 ). P. mazuchi sp. n. appears to be closer to P. gambiensis , P. imperator and P. ugandaensis sp. n., which lack the noted sexual dimorphism and do not have yellow legs. On the other hand, it is closer to P. smithi and P. phillipsii in the higher number of spines on tarsomere II. The sexual dimorphism of P. mazuchi sp. n. is currently unknown, for which reason I am keeping the juveniles (paratypes) alive in the hope that some of them are males and the species can be propagated in captivity.

Figures

Figure 29: Pandinus ugandaensis sp. n., ♂ (97 mm) holotype, trichobothrial pattern. For explanation of trichobothrial nomenclature see Vachon (1974) and Kovařík (2009: 28, plate J).

Figure 42: Distribution map of the subgenus Pandinus. Localities of P. imperator and P. gambiensis are after Prendini (2004: 255, fig. 13), localities of other species are new records except Hargeysa (type locality of P. smithi). Type locality of P. phillipsii corresponds with new records (Goolis Mts.). Other localities of P. phillipsii and P. smithi cited by older authors (Borelli, 1919; Pocock, 1896, 1897, and 1900) are not included in the map. Exact distributions of these species need to be further investigated.

Figures 1–5: Pandinus mazuchi sp. n., ♀ (92.5 mm) holotype. 1–2. dorsal and ventral views. 3. Pectinal area. 4. Movable fin-

Figures 6–9: Pandinus mazuchi sp. n., ♀ holotype photographed at the type locality (6–7) and the type locality, Ethiopia, Jijiga env., 09°20'15.8"N 42°42'17.5"E, 2100 m a.s.l. (8–9).

Figures 33–41: 33–36. Metasoma and telson in lateral views. 33. Pandinus ugandaensis sp. n., ♂ holotype. 34. Pandinus ugandaensis sp. n., ♀ allotype. 35. Pandinus mazuchi sp. n., ♀ holotype. 36. Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841), ♂ (115 mm), Ghana, FKCP. 37–41. Tarsomere II of 4th leg. 37. Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841), ♂ (115 mm), Ghana, FKCP. 38. Pandinus ugandaensis sp. n., ♂ holotype. 39. Pandinus mazuchi sp. n., ♀ holotype. 40. Pandinus phillipsii (Pocock, 1896), ♀ (109 mm), Somaliland, Sheikh, 09°57'25.9"N 45°09'52.2"E, 1492 m a.s.l., FKCP. 41. Pandinus smithi (Pocock, 1897), ♂ (107 mm), Ethiopia, 55 km of Degehbur, 07°49'27.2"N 43°41'56.3"E, 1053 m a.s.l., FKCP.

Figures 10–13: Pandinus phillipsii (Pocock, 1896). 10–11. ♂ (125 mm), dorsal and ventral views, Somaliland, 15 km N of Sheikh, Goolis Mts., 09°58.927'N 45°10.377'E, 1247 m a.s.l. 12–13. ♀ (109 mm), dorsal and ventral views, Somaliland, Sheikh, 09°57'25.9"N 45°09'52.2"E, 1492 m a.s.l.