Scorpiops kautti, Kovařík & Lowe & Stockmann & Šťáhlavský, 2020

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Stockmann, Mark & Šťáhlavský, František, 2020, Revision of genus-group taxa in the family Scorpiopidae Kraepelin, 1905, with description of 15 new species (Arachnida Scorpiones), Euscorpius 325, pp. 1-140 : 63-70

Scorpiops kautti sp. n.

(Figures 96–97, 158, 179, 186, 360, 443–485, 799, 804, Tables 4, 9) http: //zoobank. org / urn: lsid: zoobank. org: act: DC589A21-

354C-47A3-9293-3C2E786918AC

Alloscorpiops / Dasyscorpiops sp. 1 : Šťáhlavský et al., in press.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Thailand, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khao Wang Tong Cave , 9.204476°N 99.774275°E ; FKCP.

TYPE MATERIAL ( FKCP). Thailand, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khao Wang Tong Cave , 9.204476°N 99.774275°E, 40 m. a. s. l 03.XII.2017 , UV detection, at rock face close to the cave, primary forest, full moon, 1♂ (holotype, 1631) 1♀ (paratype), leg. Peter Kautt ; Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khao Wang Tong Cave , 9.204476°N 99.774275°E, 40 m. a. s. l., captive bred, 2♂ (paratypes, 1844), leg. M. Stockmann.

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED ( FKCP). Thailand, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khao Wang Tong Cave , 9.204476°N 99.774275°E, 40 m. a. s. l., exuviae of 10 siblings captive by M. Stockmann .

ETYMOLOGY. The species epithet is a patronym honoring Peter Kautt, the collector of types of the new species.

DIAGNOSIS (♂ ♀). Adults from 53 mm (male) to 75 mm (female). Base color uniformly reddish black to black. Telson and tarsomere II of legs reddish brown. Pectine teeth number 13–14 in males, 11–12 in females; fulcra reduced to absent; 3 marginal and 3–5 middle lamellae. Patella of pedipalp with 46–58 external and 23–26 ventral trichobothria. Chela of pedipalp with 13–16 V series trichobothria of which the 2–3 most proximal are located on external surface near Eb 1. Chelal trichobothrium Eb 3 located in distal half of manus between trichobothria Dt and Est. Fingers of pedipalps undulate in male and almost straight in female. Chela length to width ratio 4.05 in male, 4.57 in female. Pedipalp movable finger with 53–62 IAD, which have the same size as MD (> 100 in number) and create a second row; there are also 5 ID and 15 OD present. Tarsomere II of leg III with four stout median ventral spinules and two pairs of flanking setae. Metasoma I with 10 carinae and metasoma II–IV with 8 carinae. Telson elongate and granulate, length to depth ratio 3.17 in male and 3.51 in female; annular ring developed in both sexes.

DESCRIPTION. Total length 53 mm (male) to 75 mm (female). Habitus as shown in Figs. 443–446 . For position and distribution of trichobothria on pedipalps, see Figs. 457–463 . Sexual dimorphism: adult males have larger pectines than females; fingers of pedipalps undulate in male and almost straight in female ( Figs. 465 and 456 ).

Coloration ( Figs. 482–483 ). Base color uniformly reddish black to black. Telson and tarsomere II of legs reddish brown, sternites lighter, yellowish to reddish brown. Chelicerae reddish brown and reticulate, fingers black.

Carapace and mesosoma ( Figs. 443–446 , 474–477 ). Entire carapace covered with large granules; carinae absent. Anterior margin of carapace with a deep median notch. Carapace with 3 pairs of lateral eyes of which two are normal and one is reduced. Mesosoma granulated, with one median carina. Tergite VII is pentacarinate. Sternites smooth to very finely granulated with two parallel furrows except sternite VII which has four granulate carinae. Pectine teeth number 13–14 in males and 11–12 in females. Pectines with 3 marginal and 3–5 middle lamellae; fulcra reduced to absent.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 447–454 ). Metasoma sparsely hirsute and granulated, with sparse, relatively large granules. Metasomal segment I with 10 carinae, II–IV with 8 carinae, and V with 5 carinae. Median lateral carinae of metasoma II indicated by isolated granules that may coalesce into carinae. Dorsolateral carinae of segments II–IV terminate posteriorly in a pronounced tooth. Telson elongate and granulate with annular ring developed in both sexes.

Pedipalps ( Figs. 455–473 ). Pedipalps very sparsely hirsute. Patella with 46–58 external trichobothria (which cannot be assigned to standard eb, esb, em, est, and et territories) and 23–26 ventral trichobothria. Chela with 13–16 ventral trichobothria of which the 2–3 most proximal are located on external surface near Eb 1. Femur and patella granulated. Femur with 5 granulose carinae, and patella with 5 carinae and pronounced dorsal and ventral patellar spurs. Manus dorsally with fine, rounded granules, which in the central area form an irregular dorsal secondary carina. External surface of chela densely covered by minute granules, with an almost complete external secondary carina. Movable fingers bear 53–62 IAD, which have the same size as MD (> 100 in number) and create a second row; there are also 5 ID and 15 OD present.

Legs ( Figs. 478–481 ). Tibia and tarsomeres of legs with several setae not arranged into bristle combs on dorsal surfaces but with rows of spinules on dorsolateral surfaces and on legs I – II, and also partly on ventrolateral surface of leg III. Tarsomere II of leg I with 5–6 stout median ventral spinules and two pairs of flanking setae, legs II–IV with 4 stout median ventral spinules and two pairs of flanking setae. Femur with 3–4 and patella 4–5 carinae; both femur and patella granulated.

Measurements. See Table 4.

AFFINITIES. Morphologically, the closest species are S. krabiensis sp. n. and S. scheibeae sp. n. Both S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n. differ from S. scheibeae sp. n. in the shape and granulation of the metasomal segments, and in shape of the pronounced tooth at the posterior termination of dorsolateral carinae of metasoma IV (tooth is wide and divided into 3 peaks in S. scheibeae sp. n., but forms only one simple peak in S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n.). The pedipalp chela is more narrow in S. scheibeae sp. n. than in S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n. (pedipalp chela length to width ratio is 3.56 in S. scheibeae sp. n. vs. 3.17–3.4 in S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n.). Also, S. scheibeae sp. n. has pedipalp movable finger with 68 IAD ( Fig. 642 ) while S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n. have 53–62 IAD ( Figs. 473 , 505 ). Both S. kautti sp. n. and S. krabiensis sp. n. are close and difficult to differentiate morphologically, but S. krabiensis sp. n. has 19 V series trichobothria on the chela manus, and S. kautti sp. n. has 13–16. Moreover, the validity of these two species was clearly confirmed by DNA analysis and different numbers of chromosomes (2n= 87 in S. kautti sp. n. vs. 2n= 81 in S. krabiensis sp. n., see Šťáhlavský et al., in press). All three of these species display a unique neobothriotaxic trichobothrial pattern. They have 13–19 V series trichobothria on the chela manus, the diagnostic character for the genus Alloscorpiops (herein synonymized), and they also have 46–61 patellar external trichobothria, the diagnostic character for the genus Dasyscorpiops . The high variability in numbers of patellar external trichobothria among siblings shows that the precise number of accessory trichobothria is not a reliable generic character, and for species level taxonomy can only be used in combination with other characters.

DISTRIBUTION. Thailand ( Fig. 799 ).

Figures

Figure 482. Scorpiops kautti sp. n., male paratype, in vivo habitus.

Figures 483–485: Scorpiops kautti sp. n., female paratype, in vivo habitus (483), with newborns (484), and with juveniles after first ecdysis (485).

Figure 799. Geographic distribution of the family Scorpiopidae. The map plots locality

Figures 443–446: Scorpiops kautti sp. n. Figures 443–444. Male holotype in dorsal (443) and ventral (444) views. Figures 445–446. Female paratype in dorsal (445) and ventral (446) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 455–473: Scorpiops kautti sp. n., pedipalp segments. Figures 455–463. Female paratype, chela dorsal (455, 457), external (456, 458) and ventral (459) views. Patella dorsal (460), external (461) and ventral (462) views. Trochanter and femur dorsoexternal (463) view. Trichobothrial pattern is indicated by white circles (457–463). Figures 464–473. Male holotype, chela dorsal (464), external (465) and ventral (466) views. Patella dorsal (467), external (468) and ventral (469) views. Trochanter and femur dorsal (470) and ventral (471) views. Movable finger (472) dentition under white light (473) and UV light (473).

Figures 474–481: Scorpiops kautti sp. n. Figures 474, 476. Male holotype, carapace and tergites I–III (474), coxosternal area and sternites III–V (476). Figures 475, 477–481. Female paratype, carapace and tergites I–II (475), coxosternal area and sternite III (477), left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect (478–481 respectively).

Figures 447–454: Scorpiops kautti sp. n. Figures 447, 449–451. Male holotype, telson lateral (447), and metasoma and telson lateral (449), ventral (450), and dorsal (451) views. Figures 448, 452–454. Female paratype, telson lateral (448), and metasoma and telson lateral (452), ventral (453), and dorsal (454) views. Scale bar: 10 mm (449–454).

Figures 639–642: Scorpiops scheibeae sp. n., male holotype, pedipalp segments. Chela and patell dorsal (639), external (640) and ventral (641) views. Movable finger dentition (642). Trichobothrial pattern is indicated by white circles (639–641).

Figures 497–506. Scorpiops krabiensis sp. n., male holotype, pedipalp segments. Chela dorsal (497), external (498) and ventral (499) views. Patella dorsal (500), external (501 and 506) and ventral (502) views. Trochanter and femur dorsal (503) and ventral (504) views. Movable finger (505) dentition under UV light. Trichobothrial pattern is indicated by white circles (497–500, 503, 506).