Compsobuthus ullrichi, Kovařík & Lowe & Stockmann & Šťáhlavský, 2020

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Stockmann, Mark & Šťáhlavský, František, 2020, Notes on Compsobuthus: redescription of C. arabicus Levy et al., 1973 from Arabia, and description of two new species from North Africa (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius 298, pp. 1-40 : 33-38

Compsobuthus ullrichi sp. n.

( Figures 164–209 , 222–224 , Tables 3–4 )

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7EEF1EA-5294 -4BAB-B92D-9F568946A2F4

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Egypt, DahÁb , 28°29'N 34°30'E; FKCP.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Egypt: DahÁb, 28°29'N 34°30'E, II.2019, 1♂ (holotype, 1597), leg. A. Ullrich, FKCP.

ETYMOLOGY. It is a pleasure to name this species after Alex Ullrich ( Germany), collector of the male holotype.

DIAGNOSIS (♂). Total length 28 mm. Male pedipalp fingers with dentate margins proximally undulate, chela L/W ratio: 4.75. Base color uniform yellow to yellowish brown with dark spot on fifth metasomal segment. Carapace and tergites finely granular with some larger granules. Anterior margin of carapace bearing 8 symmetrically distributed spinules. Pedipalp femur L/ Carapace L ratio: ♂ 0.95. Movable finger of pedipalp chela with 10–11 rows of granules, all rows with external and internal accessory denticles (‘ werneri ’ group; Levy & Amitai, 1980). Manus of pedipalp chela shorter than fixed finger. Pedipalp chela L/movable finger L ratio: ♂ 1.47. Metasoma I–II with 10 carinae, III–IV with 8 carinae. All metasomal segments longer than wide; metasoma L/W ratios ♂: III 1.94, IV 2.25, V 2.80. Metasoma V W/D ratio ♂: 0.945. Ventral intercarinal surfaces of metasoma with macrosetae. Pectine teeth: ♂ 22–23. Pectine L/ Metasoma V W ratio: ♂ 2.31. Sternites smooth medially and finely granulated marginally; metasoma granulated. Sternites VI–VII with 4 crenulate carinae. Telson rather bulbous, aculeus shorter than vesicle. Subaculear tubercle weakly developed.

DESCRIPTION (♂ HOLOTYPE). Total length 28.13 mm. Female unknown. The habitus is shown in Figs. 168–169 . Trichobothriotaxy of pedipalps is shown in Figs. 190–197 . Male with pedipalp fingers proximally undulate.

Coloration ( Figs. 168–169 ). The base color is uniform yellow to yellowish brown, with fuscosity on the anterior half of metasoma V.

Carapace and mesosoma ( Figs. 180–181 ). The carapace is covered by granules of different sizes. The carinae are moderately to strongly developed and granular. The anterior margin of the carapace is weakly concave medially, and bears 8 symmetrically distributed spinules (macrosetae). The tergites are partially, coarsely granulated. Tergites I–VI are tricarinate, with strong, denticulate median and lateral carinae. Each carina terminates in a spiniform process that in the lateral carinae extends well past the posterior margin of the tergite. Tergite VII is pentacarinate, with lateral pairs of carinae strong, serratocrenulate, median pairs moderate, crenulate; median carina is weak and confined to the anterior half of the segment. Pectinal tooth count: ♂ 22–23. The pectine marginal tips extend to the posterior margin of sternite IV. The pectines have 3 marginal lamellae and 7–9 middle lamellae. The lamellae bear numerous dark setae, and each fulcrum bears 2–3 dark setae. Sternites are smooth medially and finely granulated marginally. The posterior areas of sternites lack a broad glabrous patch. Sternites VI–VII bear 4 crenulate carinae which are more strongly granulated on VII. The other sternites bear one pair of carinae on the medial side of the spiracles.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 173, 177–179 ). Metasomal segments I–II with 10 carinae, III–IV with 8 carinae, and V with 5 carinae. Median lateral carinae of metasoma III reduced and indicated only by several granules posteriorly. All segments sparsely setose and granulate. Accessory rows of granules are present on dorsal surfaces of segments as well as on the ventral surface of segment V. The telson is rather bulbous, with the aculeus a little shorter than the vesicle. A subaculear tubercle is indicated.

Pedipalps ( Figs. 190–200 ). The pedipalps are smooth, partly finely granulated and sparsely hirsute. The femur bears 5 carinae, the patella 7 granular carinae, the chela 5 rather smooth carinae. The movable and fixed fingers bear 10–11 rows of granules, all with external and internal accessory granules. Pedipalp chela L/W ratio: ♂ 4.75. Manus of chela shorter than fixed finger. Pedipalp chela L/movable finger L ratio: ♂ 1.47.

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Legs ( Figs. 184–187 ). Legs III–IV bear moderate tibial spurs. Retrolateral and prolateral pedal spurs are present on all legs. The tarsomeres bear two rows of macrosetae on the ventral surface and several macrosetae on the other surfaces. Bristlecombs are absent. The femur bears 4 carinae, the patella 4–6 six carinae. The femur and patella bear only solitary macrosetae and are granulated except for external lateral surfaces which are smooth. Tarsal ungues moderately elongated, curved.

Hemispermatophore ( Figs. 164–167 ). Flagelliform, elongate and slender, trunk ca. 6 times length of capsule region. Flagellum separated from external lobe, pars recta ca. 50% of trunk length, broad with anterior lamina, pars reflecta ca. 75% of trunk length, narrow, hyaline. Capsule region with 4 lobes at base of flagellum: posterior lobe longest, triangular, median lobe shortest, apically truncate, anterior lobe acuminate with long thin terminus. Basal lobe strong with broad base and sharp, falcate hook. Left and right hemispermatophores were similar.

Measurements. See Table 3 .

AFFINITIES. The described characters distinguish C. ullrichi sp. n. from all other known species of the genus. Among Compsobuthus species known from the region of Middle East and Egypt, C. ullrichi sp. n. is most similar to C. levyi KovařÍk, 2012 , from Jordan (type locality: near Qasr Burqu). The two species can be separated by several characters: males of C. levyi have longer and narrower pedipalp and metasomal segments (see Table 1 and Figs. 174–179 ). Pedipalp patella L/W ratio is 3.06 in male holotype C. ullrichi , 3.25–3.26 in males of C. levyi ; metasoma I L/W ratio is 1.377 in male C. ullrichi , 1.51–1.54 in males of C. levyi ; and metasoma IV L/W ratio is 2.24 in male C. ullrichi , 2.46–2.48 in males of C. levyi . In this region are found five other species of Compsobuthus belonging to the ‘ werneri ’ group of Levy & Amitai (1980). From these, C. ullrichi sp. n. can be clearly differentiated by metasomal segment I being narrower than that of other species: C. carmelitis Levy, Amitai & Shulov, 1973 from Israel, and probably also Jordan and Syria, has metasoma I of males wider than long, or as wide as long; C. egyptiensis Lourenco et al., 2009 from Egypt (type locality: NW of Siwa) has metasoma I L/W ratio 1.1–1.17 in males; and C. kabateki KovařÍk, 2003 from Egypt (Luxor) has metasoma I L/W ratio 1.07 in males. In contrast, C. ullrichi sp. n. has metasoma I L/W ratio 1.37. Compsobuthus longipalpis Levy, Amitai & Shulov, 1973 from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, differs in having 14 rows of granules on the pedipalp movable finger and a total length of 40–50 mm (in C. ullrichi sp. n. there are 10–11 rows of granules on the pedipalp movable finger and total length is <30 mm). C. schmiedeknechti Vachon, 1949 from Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey differs in having 15–18 pectinal teeth in males; C. kabateki KovařÍk, 2003 from Egypt (Luxor) differs in having 19 pectinal teeth in males (in C. ullrichi sp. n. there are 22–23 pectinal teeth in the male holotype).

Figures

Figures 160–167: Hemispermatophores. Figures 160–163. Compsobuthus turieli sp. n., male holotype, whole hemispermatophore (160), capsule in convex compressed (161), anterior (162), and posterior (163) views. Figures 164–167. C. ullrichi sp. n., male holotype, whole hemispermatophore (164), capsule in posterior (165), convex compressed (166), and anterior (167) views. Scale bars: 1 mm (160, 164), 200 μm (161–163, 165–167).

Figures 168–171: Figures 168–169. Compsobuthus ullrichi sp. n., male holotype in dorsal (168) and ventral (169) views. Figures 170–171. C. levyi, male holotype in dorsal (170) and ventral (171) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 172–179: Figures 172, 174–176. Compsobuthus levyi, male holotype, telson lateral (172), metasoma and telson lateral (174), dorsal (175), and ventral (176) views. Figures 173, 177–179. C. ullrichi sp. n., male holotype, telson lateral (173), metasoma and telson lateral (177), dorsal (178), and ventral (179) views. Scale bar: 10 mm (174–179).

Figures 180–189: Figures 180–181, 184–187. Compsobuthus ullrichi sp. n., male holotype, carapace and tergites I–IV (180), posterior coxosternal area and sternites (181), and left legs I–IV, retrolateral aspects (184–187). Figures 182–183, 188–189. C. levyi, male holotype, carapace and tergites I–III (182), posterior coxosternal area and sternites (183), and left legs III–IV, retrolateral aspects (188–189).

Figures 190–209: Pedipalps. Figures 190–200. Compsobuthus ullrichi sp. n., male holotype, chela dorsal (190), external (191) and ventrointernal (192), patella dorsal (193), external (194) and ventral (195), trochanter and femur dorsointernal (196), dorsal (197), and ventral (198) views, and movable (199) and fixed (200) fingers dentition. Figures 201–209. C. levyi, male holotype, chela dorsal (201), external (202) and ventrointernal (203), patella dorsal (204), external (205) and ventral (206), trochanter and femur dorsal (207) views, and movable (208) and fixed (209) finger dentition. Trichobothrial pattern is indicated in Figures 190–194, 196–197, 201–205, 207 (white circles).

Figures 210–224: Mitotic metaphases (210, 213, 216, 219, 222), male postpachytenes (211, 214, 217, 220, 223), and ideograms (212, 215, 218, 221, 224) (y axis: % of the diploid chromosome length, dark grey marks: chromosomes in multivalent association) of Compsobuthus species from Arabia and North Africa. Figure 210. Female of C. acutecarinatus (2n=22). Figures 211–212. Male of C. acutecarinatus (2n=22, 11II). Figures 213–215. Male of C. acutecarinatus (2n=22, 9II+CIV). Figures 216–218. Male of C. arabicus (2n=22, 9II+CIV). Figures 219–221. Male of C. maindroni (2n=22, 11II). Figures 222–224. Male of C. ullrichi sp. n. (2n=22, 9II+CIV).Arrows show chromosomes in multivalent association during postpachytene (214, 217, 223). Scale bar: 10 μm