Neobisium (Neobisium) maroccanum Beier 1930
Creators: name: Hernández-Corral, Jesús
name: Zaragoza, Juan A.
name: Micó, Estefanía
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Pseudoscorpiones
Neobisiidae
Neobisium
Neobisium maroccanum

description: Neobisium (Neobisium) maroccanum Beier, 1930
(Figs 7‒10)
Type material examined. Female paratype (NHMW, Reg. No. 26648), Morocco, Korifla, 24.XI.1924.
Non-type material examined. 2 ♀, 2 tritonymphs (NHMW, Reg. No. 26649), Morocco, Tangier-Tetouan region, Chaouen province, Xauen, 30.III.1959, leg. H. Franz. Identified by M. Beier.
Short description (♀). Female paratype in extremely bad condition; the few data obtained for this specimen are given in square brackets after those of the females from Xauen, when different. Carapace subquadrate,
chaetotaxy: 22‒23 setae, formula: 4:6:6:6‒7 [6 posterior margin], epistome prominent, equilateral or isosceles triangle-shaped, length 0.025‒0.033, width 0.028‒0.033 mm [length 0.025, width 0.020 mm]. Chelicera with 7‒8 setae on hand, fixed finger with 12‒13 teeth, movable finger with 10 [11] teeth, the 2 [3] distal smaller than others, which are of approximately the same size; spinneret long and rounded hyaline tubercle with about 7 [5] silk ducts (Figs 7, 8). Tergites I‒V: 6:8:12:11:12 setae. Anterior process of coxa I with simple tooth shape, apically pointed, medial process sclerotized, distinctly prominent, with numerous denticles (Fig. 10) [almost straight, with few denticles (Fig. 9)]. Pedipalp smooth, trochanter with one strong tubercle on antiaxial face, femur with low tubercle slightly proximad of middle of antiaxial face, four glandular pores on antiaxial face of hand, close to fingers. Distal opening of patella (X) longer than paraxial margin (Y). Fixed chelal finger with 70 mostly pointed and distinctly long teeth, the 10 basal teeth smaller and rounded; dental row of movable chelal finger with 60 teeth, reaching to halfway between trichobothria b and sb, progressively decreasing in size and flattening after the 20th distal tooth, basal teeth very flattened but still recognizable; two separate sensilla (p 1 and p 2) between trichobothria sb and st, both slightly closer to st; lyrifissure ma1 distad of trichobothrium sb, and lyrifissure ma2 level with b. Trichobothria: distance between ib and ist 1.8 [1.7] times that between ist and it and equal to that between is t and finger tip; est-etit forming a group in distal third of finger; it slightly distad of et and closer to finger tip than to ist; distance between st and sb 1.4 times that between sb and b.
Measurements and ratios. Female paratype from Korifla: carapace 0.66/0.66 (1.0); pedipalp: trochanter 0.44/ 0.22 (2.0), femur 0.92/0.22 (4.2), patella 0.63/0.26 (2.4), hand+ 0.73/0.39 (1.9), hand - 0.63 (1.6), movable finger 0.81, chela+ 1.46/0.39 (3.7), chela - 1.36 (3.5); ratio movable finger/hand+ 1.1, femur/movable finger 1.1, femur/ carapace 1.4, femur/patella 1.5, hand+/patella 1.2, patella X/Y 1.1, chela+/carapace 2.2, chela+/femur 1.6. Females from Xauen: Carapace 0.68‒080/0.65‒0.77 (1.0). Pedipalp: trochanter 0.47‒0.56/0.23‒0.28 (2.0), femur 0.92‒ 1.10/0.23‒0.26 (4.1‒4.2), patella 0.61‒0.74/0.26‒0.33 (2.2‒2.3), patellar club 0.40‒49 (1.5), hand+ 0.70‒0.88/ 0.43‒0.56 (1.6), hand - 0.61‒0.79 (1.4), movable finger 0.85‒0.99, chela+ 1.52‒1.80/0.56 (3.2‒3.5), chela - 1.43‒1.72 (3.1‒3.3); ratio movable finger/hand+ 1.1‒1.2, femur/movable finger 1.1, femur/carapace 1.4, femur/patella 1.5, hand+/patella 1.1‒1.2, patella X/Y 1.1, chela+/carapace 2.2‒2.3, chela+/femur 1.6‒1.7.
Remarks. Callaini (1988) pointed out differences between material from Ketama, Morocco that he had studied and Beier’s redescription (1963) of Neobisium maroccanum. The specimens from Xauen studied here coincide with Callaini’s description (1988) and are from the same area as those identified by Beier (1961), who added some characteristics with respect to the original description (1930). Differences found by Callaini (1988) involved the shape of the carapace and, especially, the chelal teeth, with those of the fixed finger teeth being distinctly longer than those on the movable finger, which are very flattened in the basal portion. Our observations confirm Callaini’s description, as opposed to Beier’s (1961, 1963) in this respect. However, it should be noted that Beier (1961) compared N. maroccanum with N. ischyrum, the latter being a species known to have extremely flattened basal teeth on the movable chelal finger. Examination of the specimens from Xauen and Korifla does not reveal significant differences between them, except in the shape of the medial process of coxa I, which may be due to variability, and it can be concluded that they belong to the same species. In any event, it is clear that none of the populations assigned to N. maroccanum has a distinct large tooth on movable finger of chelicera (Beier 1930; Callaini 1988; this study), which provides an important difference from the new species described below.
description: Published as part of Hernández-Corral, Jesús, Zaragoza, Juan A. & Micó, Estefanía, 2018, New species of Pseudoscorpiones (Arachnida) from tree hollows in a Mediterranean oak forest in Spain, pp. 201-225 in Zootaxa 4497 (2) on pages 204-206, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4497.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/1452117