Thaicharmus guptai Mirza & Sanap & Kunte 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mirza, Zeeshan A.
name: Sanap, Rajesh V.
name: Kunte, Krushnamegh
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Thaicharmus
Thaicharmus guptai

description: Thaicharmus guptai sp. nov.
(Figs. 2–6, Table 1)
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:683BBC
4A-4711-48EB-998F-3E51C589D6BF
Holotype ♂ NCBS- AG800, near Phuldungsei, Jampui Hills, North Tripura District, Tripura State, India (23°48.704'N, 092°15.667'E, elevation 920 m), coll. R. Sanap & Z. Mirza, 1 st November 2014.
Etymology: The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Atul Gupta, IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and the Director of Tripura Biodiversity Board, for initiating and supporting the Tripura biodiversity documentation project during which the new species was discovered.
Diagnosis: Thaicharmus guptai sp. nov. differs from all known members of the genus Thaicharmus in bearing the following set of morphological characters: trichobothrium d 2 distal to i 1 on femur; trichobothria est, em and et on external surface of patella do not form a straight line; subaculear tubercle absent; movable finger of pedipalp chela with 12 cutting rows of denticles; movable finger much longer than pedipalp patella; pectinal teeth number 20/19; pectines with distinct lamellae and fulcra; two horn-like projections on ventrolateral aspect of metasomal segment V. The female is unknown. Thaicharmus guptai sp. nov. is most similar to T. mahunkai in bearing 12 cutting rows of denticles on movable finger of pedipalp chela; however, it differs from the latter species in lacking the subaculear tubercle.
Description of holotype ♂ NCBS-AG800
Coloration (live) (Figs. 2, 3a & 3b): Carapace, mesosoma and metasoma in shade of black; pedipalp in shade of brown, chelicerae light brown with dark reticulation, cheliceral teeth on movable and immovable finger dark brown to black, femur and patella of legs almost black fading to dark brown distally, the brown color from patella further fades to pale yellow towards the tarsus. Pectines, genital operculum and all sternites (except the last one, which is of a darker shade) pale yellowish. Sternum distally dark brown, fading to yellow towards the center and base. Coloration in preserved condition much faded and paler. Metasomal segment fades from black to a dark brown color. Telson dark brown.
Morphology: Carapace trapezoidal with sinuous anterior, bearing a beady gloss and sparse granulation, more concentrated on lateral aspect (Fig. 4a). The eyetubercle slightly elevated, a deep longitudinal furrow from anterior border to the posterior border is present. Median eyes are situated anteriorly in a ratio of 1:3.51. Five lateral eyes are present comprising three large and two small ones. A moderately developed median epistome on its anterior border arises in a shallow concavity (Fig. 4a). Carapace with only median ocular carina slightly elevated whereas others are absent. Chelicerae typical of family Buthidae (Sissom, 1990) (Figs. 4 b-4c). Mesosoma: Tergites I–VI smooth, lustrous throughout, lacking granulation with a single slightly elevated median smooth carinae (Fig. 3a). Tergite VII has two pairs of granular carinae (Fig. 3b). Granular throughout. Sternites smooth throughout with a few sparse punctuations, densely concentrated in the last segment. Stigmata are slit-like. The sternum is pentagonal with a distinct longitudinal median furrow. Pectinal teeth 20/ 19 in number. Pectines are well-developed, with nine lamellae and with fulcra at base of each tooth excluding the first and last pectinal teeth (Figs. 4 d-4e). Metasoma (Fig. 6): All segments robust, densely punctuated on their ventral aspect and also hirsute. Segment V has two distinct horn-like projections on its ventro-lateral aspect. Vesicle bulbous, lacking a distinct aculear tubercle. Pedipalp: Smooth and lustrous throughout, but densely granular between crenulated dorsal and internal carinae of femur. Patella lacks distinct carinae, with only a few granules on its internal aspect. Movable finger of pedipalp chela with 12 cutting rows of denticles (Fig. 5d). The movable finger is much longer than pedipalp patella. Chela lacking carinae. All segments lacking setae. Dorsal trichobothria on femur in alfa -configuration (Fig. 5a). Trichobothrium est basal to em and et on the external surface of patella. Est, em and et aligned angularly, not forming a straight line (Fig. 5c). Trichobothrium d 2 distal to i 1 on femur (Fig. 5a).
Natural history and distribution: The holotype male was found actively moving on a rocky escarpment in degraded evergreen forest along a stream. The type locality is Jampui Hills, on the border of Tripura and Mizoram States (Fig. 7). Hence, the species is likely to be present in Mizoram and also perhaps in Bangladesh and Myanmar as the hill range extends into the neighboring states and countries sharing a similar habitat. Other scorpions observed at the type locality were Chaerilus pictus, Euscorpiops longimanus and Liocheles sp. The new species was found during a biodiversity survey of Tripura. The fieldwork was conducted across the entire southern part of the state for approximately eight weeks, and only on one occasion the new species was observed. The holotype was found in a ravine that can only be accessed in the dry season.
description: Published as part of Mirza, Zeeshan A., Sanap, Rajesh V. & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2016, A new species of the genus Thaicharmus Kovařík, 1995 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from northeast India, pp. 3-11 in Euscorpius 215 on pages 5-7, DOI: 10.18590/euscorpius.2016.vol2016.iss215.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5510002