Liocheles schalleri Mirza 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mirza, Zeeshan A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Hormuridae
Liocheles
Liocheles schalleri

description: Liocheles schalleri sp. nov.
(Figs. 4–8, Table 1)
Holotype: NCBS AG817, male from Trishna WLS, South Tripura district, Tripura, India, 23.281126° N, 91.401004° E (WGS84), elevation 30m, collected on 2nd October 2014 by Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan A. Mirza.
Paratypes: 2 females NCBS AG818–AG819, 2 males NCBS AG820, NCBS AG809, same data as holotype; 1 female NCBS AG829 from a Sal plantation near Garjee forest rest house, 8km south of Udaipur, Tripura 23.44166° N, 91.48956° E (WGS84), elevation 56m on 9th October 2014.
Referred material: NCBS AG821, female from Trishna WLS, same data as holotype, NCBS AW215, female from Bidyabil, Tulashikhar Tehsil, Tripura (24.145910° N, 91.699040°, E (WGS84), elevation 65m collected on 20th July 2016 by Akshay Khandekar.
Diagnosis: A fairly large species in relation to members of the genus reaching a total length of 33–40.5mm. Overall coloration in a shade of blackish brown to light brown. Second lateral ocellus adjacent to the first ocellus, separated from the third ocellus. Patella prolateral process strongly developed forming a single median spine. Chela internomedian carinae present, composed of large sparsely placed granules. Metasoma: segment I, lacking pronounced granules on its ventral aspect; segment II, with posterior granules on ventrolateral and ventrosubmedian carinae, and dorso-submedian carinae lacking posterior spiniform granules; V, with three pairs of spiniform granules on ventrolateral carinae. Anal arch anterior carinae composed of large, subconical teeth.
Liocheles schalleri differs from L. nigripes in bearing a strong spinoid prolateral process on patella (vs. absent in L. nigripes); differs from L. longimanus in having a short and stout pedipalps (vs. long and slender pedipalps in L. longimanus). The new species is most similar to L. australasiae with which it shares a similar spinoid prolateral process on patella. Liocheles schalleri differs from L. australasiae by the medial granules on the ventrolateral carinae metasomal segment II with medial granules on ventrolateral carinae which are less pronounced than the preceding segment in L. schalleri but large in L. australasiae.
Etymology: The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Wildlife Biologist Dr. George Beals Schaller of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera, for his contribution to conservation of wildlife.
Description of holotype male NCBS-AG817: Coloration: ‘In life’ (Figs. 4–5): Overall in a shade of glossy black, extremities of legs with a brownish tinge. Color faded after preservation, the black coloration on the carapace, mesosoma and metasoma is retained; however, on the legs and pedipalps the color has faded to dark brown. Chelicerae yellowish brown with dark brown extremities of fingers and reticulate markings on cheliceral tibia. Telson pale yellow. Sternum anteriorly brownish grey gradually becoming tan in its posterior half. Pectines and pectinal plate pale yellow. Sternites brownish grey for more than half their length anteriorly excluding the stigmata and posterior half which are yellowish brown.
Carapace (Fig. 6A): Overall brown, borders and area surrounding the eye black. Surface of the carapace punctuate throughout except for two smooth, glossy patches between lateral and median oculi. Anterior margin with a subtle indentation scarcely forming a shallow cavity, with nearly a horizontal orientation. Posterior median furrow anterior to the posterior border of carapace deep, posterior lateral furrow on each side of the median furrow shallow (Fig. 6A). Median ocelli lacking a raised ocular tubercle. Median ocelli situated anteriorly in the ration of 1:2.2. Second lateral ocellus adjacent to the first ocellus, separated from the third ocellus. Chelicerae immovable finger with fused basal and middle tooth into a bicusp, basal tooth much smaller than median tooth. Movable finger with four teeth, basal and sub-basal touching their bases; distal and sub-distal adjacent separated from the basal group by a very short diastema. Ratio of cheliceral movable finger length to chelicerae tibia length is 1:1.5.
Mesosoma: All mesosomal tergites in a shade of blackish brown. Sternites tan yellow with darker posterior and lateral borders. Sternite VII dark brown to grey in color with slight tan yellow coloration in the anterior median portion of the segment. Sternites smooth glossy throughout, except for sternite VII which is granular throughout.
Tergites I–VII: with coarse granulation throughout; median carinae smooth and well developed. Sternum pentagonal, as wide as long. Genital operculum oval shaped, divided into two halves and with two genital papillae protruding from its posterior border. Pectine teeth well developed, seven each side. Pectinal plate with a median furrow anteriorly.
Metasoma (Fig. 6E & 6F): Metasomal segment I dark brown, segment II–V blackish brown. Telson tan yellow in color. Dorsal median furrow almost indistinct. Granular throughout excluding posterior half of segment V. Ventromedian and ventro-submedian carinae poorly developed, moderately developed on segment II–IV with scattered granules. Segment I lacking pronounced granules on its ventral surface (Fig. 6E). Segment II with posterior granules on ventrolateral and ventrosubmedian carinae (Fig. 6F). Segment II, dorso-submedian carinae lacking posterior spiniform granules. Segment V with three pairs of spiniform granules on ventrolateral carinae. Anal arch anterior carinae composed of large, subconical granules.
Pedipalp (Figs. 6B, 6C, 6D, 7): Pedipalp femur, patella and chela reddish brown dorsally, slightly paler on the venter. Fingers of pedipalp chela darker with the tip of the fingers with a reddish tinge. Coloration darker on carinae Chela width to length ration 1:2.9. Pedipalp chela with 26 trichobothria; db, eb 3, esb aligned in a straight vertical line (Fig. 7B); dt on internal aspect of fixed finger with it & ib (Fig. 7D); Esb, Eb 1–3 in a group in basal region. Pedipalp chela manus granular, immovable and movable finger smooth. Dentate margin of pedipalp chela finger with a distinct sculpture (Fig. 7B). Patella prolateral view with a median spine like protrusion (Fig. 6D). Patella retro-lateral basally with a shallow concavity. Chela internomedian carinae present, composed of large sparsely placed granules (Fig. 7D).
Legs: Dorsally in a shade of dark brown and lighter ventrally. Dorsal surfaces of trochanter, femur & patella granular, basitarsus and tarsus smooth and glossy. Tarsi lacking median row of ventromedian spinules. Two rows of ventral macrosetae. Tarsal claws of equal length.
Hemispermatophore (Fig. 8): Lamelliform with a complex capsule; distal lamellum stout, with a rounded tip and a slight protrusion at the apex (Fig. 8A). Flagellum length equal to that of the capsule region and trunk. A single lamellar hook arising from the transverse ridge, hook short, curved and pointing upwards. Lamellae arising from the posterior lobe is clearly apart from the lamellar hook, vertical in orientation with a slight angular tilt.
Variations: Morphometric variation is presented in Table 1, which highlight notable sexual dimorphism especially with regards to the robustness of the pedipalp chela in the males and can also be seen in the graphic output from PCA (Fig. 11). The males of this species are paler in coloration in comparison with the females. Ventral spiniform granules on metasomal segment I & II more pronounced in males, in females these are more depressed and less demarcated (Fig. 9D–E). Dentate margin of pedipalp chela finger with a distinct sculpture in males, absent in females. Carinae on patella of males composed of large tubercles in basal half and smooth in the distal half (Fig. 6D) whereas the carinae in females is smooth in its basal half and tuberculate in its distal half (Fig. 9B)
Natural history: Specimens of this species were found in slit like burrows ~ 30cm deep on mud escarpments near ponds, streams and in crevices on tree trunks, among boulders. Some burrows were vertical in their orientation and others horizontal depending on presence of obstacles like roots or boulders. Most burrows were observed in mud and a few in the root system of a tree. This is a low elevation species and is found bellow 50 MSL. Burrows of this species are concentrated at a single site and completely absent from areas where suitable mud escarpments are absent. The species is recorded from Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Bison National Park, Garjee reserve forest and Bidyabil (Fig. 10), however; is likely widespread across parts of Tripura and likely adjoining Bangladesh as the neighboring areas of Bangladesh share similar habitat and the country boarded is less than 3km from the type locality.
description: Published as part of Mirza, Zeeshan A., 2017, Description of a new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Hormuridae) from India, pp. 217-230 in Zootaxa 4365 (2) on pages 220-226, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4365.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/1117560