Cazierius garridoi Armas, 2005

Teruel, Rolando, Rivera, Mel J. & Sánchez, Alejandro J., 2017, The scorpion fauna of Mona Island, Puerto Rico (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Scorpionidae), Euscorpius 250, pp. 1-15 : 7-10

Cazierius garridoi Armas, 2005

( Figures 5–6, 8–9)

Cazierius garridoi Armas, 2005: 69–72 ; figs. 1–8. Armas, 2006: 300; fig. 1; tab. I. Armas, 2009: 298. Teruel, Rivera & Santos, 2015: 13.

Cazierius tatae Santiago-Blay, 2009: 109–111 , 120– 121; figs. 13, 27 [back cover]. Synonymized by Armas, 2009: 298.

Cazierius sp. : Armas, 2005: 72; fig. 8.

DIAGNOSIS. Adult size medium for the genus (19–34 mm). Coloration yellowish to olivaceous brown, with a moderately dense pattern of dark brown spots all over the body and appendages; metasomal segment V and telson similarly spotted; pedipalps with carinae and fingers conspicuously infuscate. Pedipalps with chela oval and without reticulations, globose and weakly carinate in male, slender and essentially acarinate in female. Carapace and tergites glossy but with coarse and shiny granules scattered. Pectinal tooth count 6–7 in male, 5–6 in female. Legs short, essentially acarinate and smooth; pedal spurs small; telotarsal spiniform setae formula 4/4: 5/5: 6/6: 6/6. Metasoma moderately hirsute, with segments I–III wider than long, IV–V longer than wide; essentially all carinae obsolete to very weak and smooth to subgranulose, except variably crenulate ventral laterals and ventral submedians on I–IV, irregularly dentate ventral laterals and ventral transverse on V, the latter perfectly arched; intercarinal spaces glossy, with few vestigial granules scattered. Telson with vesicle oval and glossy, essentially smooth; subaculear tubercle vestigially granulose.

DISTRIBUTION ( Fig. 9c). If valid (see below), this species is confirmed to occur only in Mona Island, from which it is most likely endemic.

PRIMARY MATERIAL EXAMINED (13 specimens: 2♀♀, 11 juveniles). Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, border between Ponce and Jayuya Municipalities, Cerro de Punta , 1,330 m a.s.l. [likely wrong locality, see below under Heteronebo portoricensis ], September /

2 000, under rock, O. H. Garrido, A. Silva, A. Pérez- Asso, 1♀ holotype ( IES: CZACC-3.3146). Mayagüez Municipality, Mona Island, September /2000, under rocks, J. L. Fontenla, A. R . Pérez-Asso, 1♀, 3 juveniles ( IES: CZACC-3.3150). Bajura de los Cerezos, 20/August/1982, M. Rivera, 1 juvenile (paratype of Cazierius tatae, UPRP ). Same locality, 15/July/2015, under rocks, microphylous semicaducifolious forest, M. J. Rivera, A. Megill, E. Mulero, M. Vega, 4 juveniles ( RTO). Los Corrales de los Indios , 11–16/June/2016, under rocks at base of trees, microphylous semicaducifolious forest, M. J. Rivera, 3 juveniles ( RTO) .

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED ( Cazierius cicero : 24 specimens: 9♂♂, 10♀♀, 5 juveniles). Dominican Republic, San Pedro de Macorís Province ,

Guayacanes, Los Conucos, 6/April/1986, under rocks, A. Abud, E. J. Marcano, 1♂ holotype ( IES: CZACC- 3.2913). Bridge over Cumayasa river , border with La Romana Province, 39 m a.s.l., 1/March/2014, under rocks, semicaducifolious forest, R . Teruel, F. Kovařík, P. Kindl, 2♂♂, 3♀♀, 1 juvenile ( RTO). La Altagracia Province, 4 km north of Bayahibe , 48 m a.s.l., 1/March/2014; under rocks, dry semicaducifolious forest; R . Teruel, F. Kovařík, P. Kindl, 1♀, 1 juvenile ( RTO). 1 km south of Bayahibe , 6 m a.s.l., 1/March/2014; under rock and inside rotten palmetto trunk, dry semicaducifolious forest; R . Teruel, F. Kovařík, P. Kindl, 2♀♀, 1 juvenile ( RTO). Parque Nacional del Este, Guaraguao, 4/September/1987, under rocks, L. F. de Armas, A. Abud, 1♀, 1 juvenile ( IES). Parque Nacional del Este , 4 km southwest of Boca de Yuma , 23 m a.s.l., 3/March/2014, night search with UV on ground and rock wall, day search under rocks, coastal semicaducifolious forest, R. Teruel, F. Kovařík, P. Kindl, 6♂♂, 3♀♀, 1 juvenile ( RTO) .

ECOLOGICAL NOTES. According to our personal observations, plus the data extracted from the literature available ( Armas, 2005, 2006, 2009; Santiago-Blay, 2 009), this species is widespread but rare all over Isla de Mona, and inhabits exclusively under rocks in the ground of shady places with leaf litter.

REMARKS. Immediately after its original description, Cazierius tatae was synonymized under Cazierius garridoi by Armas (2009), based upon his study of four additional specimens of the former and the holotype of the latter. For the present revision, we examined a few paratypes of Cazierius tatae from the UPRP collection and all specimens from IES collection identified as Cazierius garridoi by Armas (2005, 2006, 2009), including the holotype. Moreover, on both field trips to Mona Island, members of our team collected a representative series in different places, including the type-locality of Cazierius tatae . The direct comparison of all these samples confirmed that the synonymy proposed by Armas (2009) is correct.

As partially stated in its original description ( Armas, 2005), Cazierius garridoi is most closely related on morphological grounds to Cazierius cicero (Armas et Marcano Fondeur, 1987) , which is endemic from southeastern Hispaniola (including the coast facing Mona Island). Nevertheless, their mutual taxonomic distinction is far from being as clear as stated in that paper: our present revision revealed that both taxa are actually identical in all characters traditionally used as species-diagnostic for Diplocentrinae , including those originally used by Armas (2005: 71): size, coloration, pectinal tooth counts, telotarsal spiniform setal formula, and carination, granulation and setation of the body and appendages. The single exception is the development of the dorsal lateral carinae of metasoma, which are essentially smooth in Cazierius garridoi but variably granulose in Cazierius cicero .

This character alone is not enough for a reliable species distinction, especially because it has already been found to vary in other species of this genus (Teruel & Cala, 2006: 308; R. Teruel, unpublished data). For this reason, we suspect that populations from Mona Island and Hispaniola are actually conspecific, as already confirmed herein for Centruroides bani and Heteroctenus abudi (both of which coincidently occur in the same geographical area). Nevertheless, we remain cautious and prefer not to introduce the formal synonymy until more representative material from Mona Island becomes available, especially adult males.