Euscorpius trichasi, Tropea & Fet & Parmakelis & Stathi, 2024

Tropea, G., Fet, V., Parmakelis, A. & Stathi, I., 2024, Two New Species Of Euscorpius (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae) From Bulgaria And Greece, Zoodiversity 58 (1), pp. 1-18 : 10-11

Euscorpius trichasi sp. n. ( figs 17–32 ; tables 1–3)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FE505CF2-D8C4-4CCA-B52F-56DE6064F36A

Euscorpius mesotrichus (part; Mt. Olympos): Kinzelbach, 1975: 37, fig. 15 , tab. 2; Kinzelbach, 1982: 63; Kritscher, 1993: 386;

Euscorpius sicanus (part; Mt. Olympos): Fet et al., 2003: 373, fig. 4 ;

Euscorpius sicanus (Clade E13; part): Parmakelis et al., 2013 a: 736, fig. 2 ;

Euscorpius sicanus complex (Clade E13; part): Fet et al., 2018: 127, fig. 2 ; Tropea et al., 2022: 317, fig. 25 ; Euscorpius aff. sicanus : Blasco-Aróstegui & Prendini, 2023: 2.

Type material (11 {, 11}). Holotype {. Greece: Thessaly, Mt. Olympos, Megali Lakka , 1610 m, 40°2'36.95" N 22°18'.72" E, 01 June 2007, leg. A. Trichas ( NHMC 10042 ) . Paratypes. Same label as holotype, 6 {(5 imm.), 5} (3 imm.) ( NHMC 10042 ) , 1 {, 1} ( GTC); Mt. Olympos, Kokkinopilos , 2 km N, 1200 m, 04 June 2007, leg. A. Trichas, 1 {imm., 3} ( NHMC 10055 ) ; Mt. Olympos, Bara Plateau , 4 km S of Petra, 40°09'50.04" N 22°20'42.00" E, 04 June 2007, leg. A. Trichas, 1 {, 1} ( NHMC 10057 ) ; Mt. Olympos, 10 km above Kalivia, 1500 m, under stones, 16 October 2000, leg. B. Petrov, P. Stoev, St. Beshkov , 1 {, 1} ( NMNHS 254 ) .

Etymology. The species epithet honours Apostolos Trichas (Natural History Museum, Crete, Greece), who collected most of the type specimens of the new species.

G e o g r a p h i c r a n g e. Known only from the Mt. Olympos massif in Thessaly, Greece (see map in fig. 26 ).

Diagnosis. A medium-sized Euscorpius species. Colour of adults medium brown/reddish, with or without reticulations or marbling on the carapace, mesosoma and metasoma and chelicerae. The number of trichobothria on the pedipalp manus ventral surface is 4 (V 1-3 +Et 1); trichobothria et and est on fixed finger are located distally to the centre of the notch of the fixed finger and dsb is located proximally to the notch centre. The number of ventral trichobothria on the pedipalp patella usually is Pv = 9–10; the number of external trichobothria on pedipalp patella usually is: eb = 5, eb a = 4 (rarely 5), esb = 2, em = 4, est = 4, et = 7 (rarely 8). The pectinal teeth number mostly is 8 (7-9) in females, and 10 in males. Chela carina V1 follows a direction toward the external of the trichobothrium Et 1. Dorsal patellar spur ( DPS) well developed. Femur of pedipalp slightly shorter than patella. Carapace usually slightly wider than long in females. Metasomal segment I from as wide as long to slightly wider than long. Ventrolateral and ventromedian metasomal carinae on segment V present with serrulated granules. Ventral row of tarsus III ending with two or more lateral spinule, forming a “Y” configuration. Average distance from centre of median eyes to the anterior margin of the carapace is 43 % of the carapace length in females. Telson higher than wide in males and slightly wider than high in females.

Description of the female holotype (NHMC 10042):

C o l o u r a t i o n. Whole colour is medium brown/reddish with a slight darker reticulation or marbling on chelicerae, with reddish carapace and pedipalps and yellow/orangish telson, chelicerae, legs, pectines, genital operculum and sternites.

Carapace. With a fine granulation on most of surface which becomes larger in the lateral area behind the lateral eyes; anterior edge straight; posterior lateral, anterior median and posterior median furrows are present, the latter less marked; two pairs of lateral eyes and a pair of median eyes, situated distally of the middle, are present; distance from centre of median eyes to anterior margin is 43.66 % of carapace length.

Mesosoma. Tergites finely granulated; sternites are smooth or very finely punctate. Spiracles small, oval shaped and inclined about 35° downward towards outside.

Metasoma. Dorsal carinae on segments I–IV tuberculated; ventrolateral carinae on segment I absent, on segment II and III smooth, on segment IV with a few small granules distally, on segment V present with serrulated granules; ventromedian carina on segment I absent, on segment II obsolete, on segment III little marked with some very small granules distally, on segment IV clearly visible with granules in the distal half, on segment V formed by serrulated tubercle; intercarinal spaces on segments dorsally very finely granulated, the remaining parts are almost smooth.

Telson. More or less as high as wide (crushed). Vesicle is rough, with ventral setae of different sizes, especially around the vesicle/aculeus juncture.

Pectines. Tooth number 10/10; middle lamellae 7/6; several microsetae on marginal lamellae, middle lamellae and fulcra.

G e n i t a l o p e r c u l u m. The genital operculum is formed by two longitudinally separated subtriangular sclerites; genital papillae protruding; a few microsetae are present.

Sternum. Pentagonal shape, type 2; longer than wide, deep posterior emargination.

Pedipalps. Coxa and trochanter with tuberculated carinae. Femur: dorsal and ventral internal carinae tuberculated; dorsal external carinae formed by tubercles slightly serrulated; ventral external carinae irregular, present mostly in the proximal 2/5; external median carinae serrulated; anterior median formed by about 7 or 8 more noticeable conical tubercles; intercarinal spaces granulated. Patella: dorsal and ventral internal carinae tuberculated; dorsal external carinae from smooth and rounded proximally to slightly crenulated distally; ventral external carinae crenulated; intercarinal surface ventrally and internal almost smooth, dorsally and external granulated. Dorsal patellar spur (DPS) well-developed. Chela: carina D1 is distinctly strong, dark, mostly smooth with two or three tubercles proximally; D4 formed by dark, very low and weakly marked tubercles; V1 is distinctly strong, dark and more crenulated in the proximal half, without forming a “Y” configuration; V3 is rounded, dark, with a few small and scattered granules; intercarinal internal and external tegument granulated, the remaining parts are from smooth to slightly and finely granulated; fixed finger has a large notch, on movable finger the lobe is shifted in a very distal position from the centre of the notch on fixed finger, this asymmetry forms a weak but wide notch on the movable finger. Finger dentition: in the most distal part is present a DD on the tip; MD is formed by very small denticles closely spaced forming a more or less straight line, discontinued at level of the OD; fixed finger has 6/6 OD and 11/11 ID; movable finger has 8/8 OD and 16/15 ID.

T r i c h o b o t h r i a. Chela: trichobothria on the pedipalp manus ventral surface V = 3/3 (V 1-3) + Et 1 = 1/1; the trichobothrium V 4 is situated on the external surface near to the carina V 1; the trichobothria et and est are located distally to the centre of the notch of the fixed finger and dsb is located proximally to the notch centre; et-est / est-dsb ratio is about 1.55 on the right chela and 1.16 on the left. Patella: ventral (Pv): 10/10; external (Pe): et = 7/8, est = 4/4, em = 4/4, esb = 2/2, eb a = 4/4, eb = 5/5. Femur: trichobothrium d on femur is at the same level or slightly proximal to i, while the trichobothrium e is distal to both, situated on dorsal external carina.

Legs. Legs with two pedal spurs; no tarsal spur; ventral row of tarsus III with 13/13 spinules; 3 larger flanking pairs of tarsal setae adjacent to the ventral spinules row are present. Tubercles present on ventral and dorsal surface of all leg femora; they are more marked and darker ventrally; on legs IV the tubercles are few and less evident.

C h e l i c e r a e. Typical of the subfamily Euscorpiinae .

T r i c h o b o t h r i a l a n d p e c t i n a l t e e t h c o u n t v a r i a t i o n. Pectinal teeth in males: 10/10 (10), 11/11 (1); in total, 10 in 90.91 % (20) and 11 in 9.09 % (2); mean = 10.09, SD = 0.29. Pectinal teeth in females: 7/7 (2), 8/7 (1), 8/8 (5), 9/8 (2), 9/9 (1); in total, 7 in 22.54 % (5), 8 in 59.09 % (13) and 9 in 18.18 % (4); mean = 7.95, SD = 0.65. Pedipalp patella trichobothria Pv: 9/8 (1), 9/9 (12), 9/10 (2), 10/10 (7); in total, 8 in 2.27 % (1), 9 in 61.36 % (27) and 10 in 36.36 % (16); mean =9.34, SD = 0.52. Pedipalp patella trichobothria Pe: et = 7/6 (2), 7/7 (18), 7/8 (1), 8/8 (1); in total, 6 in 4.54 % (2), 7 in 88.63 % (39) and 8 in 6.82 % (3); mean = 7.02, SD = 0.34; est = 2/4 (1), 4/4 (21); em = 4/4 (22); esb = 2/2 (22); eb a = 4/4 (16), 4/5 (5), 5/5 (1); eb = 5/5 (22).

Figures

Figs 17–18. Euscorpius trichasi sp. n. holotype {, dorsal and ventral views.

Figs 19–20. Euscorpius trichasi sp. n. paratype}, dorsal and ventral views.

Figs 21–32. Euscorpius trichasi sp. n. holotype {(except figs 23 and 30, which are of a paratype}): 21 — carapace; 22 — external view of chela of adult male; 23 — external view of chela of adult female; 24 — dorsal view of pedipalp patella; 25 — ventral view of pedipalp patella; 26 — external view of pedipalp patella; 27 — dorsal view of chela; 28 — ventral view of chela; 29 — telson of adult male; 30 — telson of adult female; 31 — ventral view of the metasomal segment V; 32 — lateral view of the metasomal segment V.

Figs 5–16. Euscorpius petarberoni sp. n. holotype {(except figs 7 and 14, which are of a paratype}): 5 — carapace; 6 — external view of chela of adult male; 7 — external view of chela of adult female; 8 — dorsal view of pedipalp patella; 9 — ventral view of pedipalp patella; 10 — external view of pedipalp patella; 11 — dorsal view of chela; 12 — ventral view of chela; 13 — telson of adult male; 14 — telson of adult female; 15 — ventral view of the metasomal segment V; 16 — lateral view of the metasomal segment V.

Figs 3–4. Euscorpius petarberoni sp. n. paratype}, dorsal and ventral views.

Figs 1–2. Euscorpius petarberoni sp. n. holotype {, dorsal and ventral views.