Neobuthus gubanensis, Kovařík & Lowe & Awale & Elmi & Abdi, 2018

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Awale, Ahmed Ibrahim, Elmi, Hassan Sh Abdirahman & Abdi, Ali, 2018, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XVII. Revision of Neobuthus, with description of seven new species from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somaliland (Buthidae), Euscorpius 271, pp. 1-82 : 37-47

Neobuthus gubanensis sp. n.

( Figs. 213–262, 268–269, 411, 419, 423, 428, 431–434, 438, Tables 2, 5) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:997D71

E3-AC37-4677-BC81-1046C9CFE6A1

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Somaliland , Gerissa, N of Borama, 10°36'01"N 43°26'07"E, 245 m a.s.l. ; FKCP.

T YPE MATERIAL. Somaliland , Gerissa, N of Borama, 10°36'01"N 43°26'07"E, 245 m a.s.l. (Locality No. 17ST, figs. 76–77 in Kovařík et al., 2018: 19), 11.- 12.IX.2017, 1♂ (holotype) 35♂ 18♀ 6juvs. (paratypes) , FKCP, 4♂ 2♀ (paratypes) , GLPC ( Nos. 1298, 1299, 1 300, 1322, 1331), leg. F. Kovařík ( UV detection).

ETYMOLOGY. Named after the Guban area (guban in Somali language means "burnt land"). It is the zone of hot and dry land along the sea between Djibouti and

Puntland ( Somalia). Gerissa village belongs to the Guban area.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 15–19 mm (males), 24–28 mm (females); carapace with area between anterior median carinae yellow to orange; tergites with 3 dark stripes, median stripe flanked on either side by broad longitudinal yellow bands that may be broken by fuscosity extending across anterior tergites; pedipalp relatively slender, males with femur L/ W 2.38 –2.50, patella L/ W 2.34 –2.44, chela L/ W 4.30 –4.84; chela movable finger with 5 subrows of primary denticles, 4 external accessory denticles flanking proximal end of each subrow; trichobothria d 2 present or absent on dorsal surface of femur and usually absent from patella; dorsoexternal and ventroexternal carinae on pedipalp patella in female absent; posterior margins of tergites usually without or rarely with 1–2 pairs of macrosetae; pedipalps, legs, metasoma and telson with moderately short, not spiniform macrosetae in males, and long, fine setae in females; males with sternites III–VI with dense, fine granulation, sternite VII finely granulated with 4, granulated carinae; females with sternites III–VI smooth, sternite VII with 4 weak granulated carinae; metasoma I–III with median lateral and dorsal carinae present in both sexes; lateral surface of metasoma V granulated in both sexes, with granules separated; soles of telotarsi with relatively sparse setation, leg III of adults with 12– 16 ventral macrosetae on telotarsus; pectine teeth: 15–19 (males), 13–16 (females).

D ESCRIPTION. Total length of adult males 15–19 mm, of adult females 24–28 mm; measurements of carapace, telson, segments of metasoma and pedipalps given in Table 1; positions and distribution of trichobothria of pedipalps shown in Figs. 237–240 and 243–244; trichobothrium d 2 present or absent on pedipalp femur, usually absent from patella; base color pale yellow to light orange with variable fuscous pigmentation and extensive patterns of dark maculation on metasoma, partially on pedipalps and legs; chelicerae yellow with dark reticulation on anterior manus, dentition reddish. Sexual dimorphism: strong, adult males substantially smaller, but without differences in shapes of pedipalps, metasoma and telson; pedipalp patella and femur granulate and matte in males, smooth and glossy in females; sternites smooth in females and granulated in males; macrosetae on pedipalps, legs, metasoma and telson much longer and finer in females than males; other sex differences cited below.

Pedipalp ( Figs. 236–254). Pedipalp mostly sparsely hirsute; finely granulated in males and smooth in females; femur with five conspicuously granulose carinae, more strongly developed in males; patella with seven granulose carinae, weakly developed in males and smooth to absent in females; dorsoexternal carinae on pedipalp patella in female absent; chela with carinae missing or weakly indicated.

Carapace ( Figs. 217, 219, 221–222). Strongly trapezoidal (narrower anteriorly), wider than long (L/ W 0.82 –0.91); posterior median postocular area flat, anterior median preocular area gently sloped downwards towards anterior margin; lateral flanks steeply sloped; ocular tubercle broad, prominent, located slightly anterior to middle of carapace; anterior margin straight, finely microdenticulate, with coarser granules overlapping edge, bearing 6–8 macrosetae; anterior median carinae present, coarsely granular, other carinae indistinct; dense granulation covering most of carapace.

Chelicera ( Figs. 255–257). Fingers with typical buthid dentition ( Vachon, 1963, Lowe & Kovařík, 2016); fixed finger with large distal denticle, 1 subdistal denticle and 2 basal denticles fused into bicusp, single denticle on ventral surface at level of bicusp; dorsal margin of movable finger with 5 denticles: 1 large distal denticle, medium-sized subdistal and medial, and 2 small, partially fused basal denticles; ventral margin with 2 denticles.

Mesosoma ( Figs. 217–224). Tergites I–VI bear three carinae of which the lateral pair may be less conspicuous mainly on tergites I–IV; tergite VII bears five welldefined carinae (median, submedians and laterals); tergites I–VI densely granular, with coarser granules on posterior lateral areas; tergite VII densely granular; sternites III–VI smooth in females, and dense finely granulated in males; sternite VII granulated in both sexes, more so in males, with four well-defined carinae; sternum type 1, triangular in shape, smooth, with deep posteromedian invagination; genital opercula smooth; genital papillae present; pectines extending to around a quarter of sternite V in male and around a quarter of sternite IV in female; pectine teeth 15–19 in males, 13– 16 in females; combs with 3 marginal lamellae and 7–8 middle lamellae; marginal lamellae, middle lamellae and fulcra with dense cover of short dark reddish macrosetae; fulcra with 2–4 setae.

Hemispermatophore ( Figs. 258–262). Typical of the genus.

Legs ( Figs. 225–229). Coxa, femora, patella and tibia of all legs bearing variable numbers of short to medium length, straight, dark-reddish macrosetae; tarsi with mix of short and longer, dark-reddish macrosetae; basitarsi I– III slightly compressed with flat retrolateral surfaces, with bristle combs consisting of retrosuperior series of longer macrosetae, plus retroinferior and proinferior series of shorter macrosetae; telotarsi with two rows of short macrosetae on ventral aspect, 12–16 macrosetae on telotarsus III; moderate tibial spurs present on legs III and IV.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 230–235). Metasoma and telson sparsely hirsute, macrosetae moderately short in male and longer in female, straight and reddish; metasomal segments I–III with 10 carinae, IV with 6–8 carinae, V with 2 carinae; segments I–III with moderate, granulate dorsolateral carinae, other carinae relatively well developed; segment IV with weakly indicated dorsolateral carinae; segment V with strong, granulate to dentate-lobate ventrolateral carinae; segments I–IV with dense granulation on all intercarinal surfaces except dorsal surfaces which are sparsely granulated, mainly in females; segment V densely granular on lateral and ventral surfaces, more coarsely so on ventral surface, granules not arranged along any traces of carinae; telson smooth, ventral surface sparsely, weakly granular; vesicle slightly elongated; aculeus stout, shorter than vesicle, tip of aculeus almost vertically directed.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish N. gubanensis sp. n. from all other species of the genus. They are recounted in the key below. According to the distribution (see Fig. 438) the type locality of N. gubanensis sp. n. is near to the locality of N. amoudensis sp. n. and these two species are quite similar. However, the two can be unequivocally separated by the dorsoexternal carinae on the pedipalp patella which are present in females of N. amoudensis sp. n. ( Fig. 46) and absent in females of N. gubanensis sp. n. ( Fig. 249).

COMMENTS ON LOCALITIES AND LIFE STRATEGY. The type locality, 17ST is sandy semi-desert (figs. 76–77 in Kovařík et al., 2018: 19). The types of Neobuthus gubanensis sp. n. were recorded at night during UV collecting together with Buthus berberensis Pocock, 1900 , Compsobuthus somalilandus Kovařík, 2012 , Gint gubanensis Kovařík et al., 2018 (type locality), Hottentotta polystictus (Pocock, 1896) , Orthochirus afar Kovařík et al., 2017 (first record for Somaliland), and Parabuthus granimanus Pocock, 1895 (Buthidae) . The first author arrived at the locality at night on 11th September 2017 at 23.00. At this time, the temperature was 32.7 ºC and the humidity 58%. He recorded a mini- imum temperature 29.9 ºC and humidity 47% on 12th September 2017 in the early morning.