Barbaracurus yemenensis KovařÍk, Lowe & Šťáhlavský 2018
Creators: name: Kovařík, František
name: Lowe, Graeme
name: Šťáhlavský, František
name: Just, Pavel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Barbaracurus
Barbaracurus yemenensis

description: Barbaracurus yemenensis KovařÍk, Lowe & Šťáhlavský, 2018
(Figures 34–100, 104–107, Table 2)
Babycurus zambonellii (in part, Yemen): Sissom, 1994: 5–6, figs. 1–7; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 80; KovařÍk, 2000: 260–261, figs. 13, 26; Lowe, 2000: 185–191; KovařÍk & Whitman, 2005: 106.
Barbaracurus yemenensis KovařÍk et al., 2018b: 30–33, figs. 9, 78, 87, 103–106, 206–218, 245–247, 262, table 2; KovařÍk et al., 2019: 9.
= Babycurus borellii Rossi, 2018(2019): 41 (syn. by KovařÍk et al., 2019: 1).
TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Yemen, Wadi Dawan NW Al Mukalla, 15°09'N 48°26'E, 946 m a. s. l.; FKCP.
TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Yemen, Wadi Dawan NW Al Mukalla, 15°09'N 48°26'E, 946 m a. s. l., 3.IV.2007, 1♀ (holotype), leg. P. Kabátek, FKCP; Jabal Bura NEE Al Hudaydah, 14°53'N 43°26'E, 557 m a. s. l. (fig. 146 in KovařÍk et al, 2018b: 19), 19.–21.III.2007, 1♀ (paratype), leg. P. Kabátek, FKCP; Hajjah gov., 2.–3. XI.2007, Halhal vill. env., NE Hajjah by road, 15°43'42"N 43°37'25"E, 998 m a. s. l., (Locality No. 14), 1juv. (paratype), leg. D. Král, FKCP.
SAUDI ARABIAN MATERIAL EXAMINED. Saudi Arabia, 10 km W of Faifa, 17°15'37"N 43°04'07"E, 652 m a. s. l. (Locality No. 22SF2, Fig. 34), 20.–22.X.2022, 3♂ (DNA Nos. 2419, 2420, 2421) 6♀ 2♂ juvs., leg. F. KovařÍk & P. Just, FKCP.
EMENDED DIAGNOSIS (♂ ♀). Total length of adults 36–47 mm (males) and 40–57 mm (females). Coloration pale yellow to light orange, chelicerae yellow without reticulation in females, with reticulation at least in anterior part in males. Pedipalp chela length/ width ratio 3.2–3.3 in males, 3.4–5.4 in females; pedipalp fingers of females straight; proximal margins of pedipalp fingers of male strongly undulate, leaving gap with fingers closed; dentate margin of movable finger armed with 7 rows of granules, and a short subapical row of 4 denticles; most proximal granule row with one external accessory granule. Pectines with 22–25 (males) and 19–23 (females) teeth. Hemispermatophore basal lobe a weak oblique carina. Metasoma very narrow, metasoma V length/ width ratio 2.30– 2.61 in both sexes; metasoma I with 10 carinae, II–IV with 8 carinae. Telson setose, bearing numerous long macrosetae and a short, spiniform subaculear tubercle; vesicle smooth, ellipsoidal, slightly bulbous, telson length/ depth ratio 2.48– 2.70; aculeus slender, curved, shorter than vesicle.
Hemispermatophore (Figs. 104–106). Flagelliform. Trunk long, narrow, widening basally. Capsule region short, length measured from basal lobe is 9 % of trunk length. Flagellum folded, pars recta thicker, 4 times length of capsule, pars reflecta tapering to thin filament about same length as pars recta. Sperm hemiduct with two elongated lobes, posterior lobe broad, spatulate, with distinct fold or carina extending along its length, anterior lobe narrower, distally tapered. Basal lobe a weak oblique carina (Figs. 105–106). Left and right hemispermatophores from two examined males had similar basal lobes. The terminally coiled flagellum in Fig. 104 was atypical, others were folded.
Sensory setae (Figs. 97–98). Pedipalp chela with at least six types of sensory setae (Figs. 97–97a): (i) trichobothria, with very long, non-fluorescent shafts and large diameter areolae; (ii) petite ‘trichobothria’, with very short, curved fluorescent shafts, and intermediate diameter areolae; (iii) long, pale setae with straight or distally curved fluorescent shafts, and small areolae (cf. Fig. 97a, right seta); (iv) short, pale setae with straight or curved fluorescent shafts, and very small areolae; (v) macrosetae with tips tapered to fine points, moderately long, almost straight non-fluorescent shafts, and small areolae; and (vi) macrosetae with blunt tips, shorter straight non-fluorescent shafts of almost constant length, and small areolae (cf. Fig. 97a, left seta). The latter type of macrosetae is present on the fixed and movable fingers, and their blunt tips are ramified and bear several micropapillate processes. We also observed these specialized (type vi) blunttipped macrosetae on the pedipalp fingers of B. exquisitus, B. feti, B. kabateki sp. n., B. sofomarensis, B. somalicus, B. subpunctatus, B. ugartei, B. winklerorum and B. zambonellii. Their confirmed presence in 10/11 species of Barbaracurus suggests a potential synapomorphy for the genus.
Truncate macrosetae with diverse tip structures have been reported in a number of other buthids. San MartÍn (1968) first described short, truncate macrosetae with hollow shafts, some with coronate or micropapillate tips, on the pedipalps, sternites, metasoma and telson of Microtityus rickyi. Short, thick, truncate macrosetae were also found on the pedipalp chelae of Tityopsis inexpectatus, Alayotityus delacruzi and Rhopalurus laticauda (Armas, 1973, 1974; Cruz & Armas, 1980). Lamoral (1976) described short, apically perforated macrosetae, some with truncate or papillate tips, on the pedipalp segments (except chela fingers), carapace, legs, pectines, sternites and metasoma of Akentrobuthus leleupi. The presence of thick macrosetae with truncate or crown-shaped tips on the body and appendages is a diagnostic character for the genera Chaneke and Tityopsis (KovařÍk et al., 2016; Teruel & RodrÍguez-Cabrera, 2020). We have also observed short, truncate macrosetae on the pedipalp fingers of Somalicharmus and Karasbergia.
Telson vesicle and basal aculeus with at least three types of sensory setae (Fig. 98): (i) macrosetae with very long, non-fluorescent shafts and intermediate diameter areolae; (ii) long, pale setae with straight or curved fluorescent shafts, and small areolae; (iii) short, pale setae with straight or distally curved fluorescent shafts, and very small areolae. Some of the first type of setae were not as long and their tips were truncated. However, these truncated tips appeared flush without micropapillate structure, and the lengths of the setae were variable. We interpreted this as random breakage of longer setae, not evidence for other specialized types of macrosetae.
Karyotype (Figs. 99–100). We analyzed two males of B. yemenensis (specimens Nos. 2420–2421). The diploid number of this specimen was 26 chromosomes (Figs. 99–100). This chromosome number corresponds to the range of 2n known in the genus Barbaracurus (2n = 22–36) (KovařÍk et al., 2015; 2018b). The same 2n = 26 was previously identified also in B. zambonellii from Eritrea (KovařÍk et al., 2018b). However, there are differences in chromosome length between B. zambonellii and B. yemenensis. Only the first pair of the chromosomes is a slightly longer whereas all the following chromosomes gradually decrease in length in B. yemenensis. In contrast, the first two pairs of chromosomes are slightly longer than the following chromosomes in B. zambonelli (KovařÍk et al., 2018b). Our results confirmed the existence of interspecific variability among Barbaracurus species and support the utility of cytogenetic characters in the taxonomy of this group.
COMMENTS ON LOCALITIES AND LIFE STRATEGY. The locality, 22SF2 is a rocky mountain area (Fig. 34). The specimens of Barbaracurus yemenensis were recorded at night during UV collecting together with Compsobuthus manzonii (Borelli, 1915), Hottentotta scaber (Ehrenberg, 1828) and Leiurus haenggii Lowe, Yağmur & KovařÍk, 2014. Two of the authors (F.K. and P.J.) visited the locality on 20–22 October 2022 and recorded a maximum daytime temperature of 43 ºC and a minimum nighttime temperature of 16 ºC. The recorded humidity was between 20% (minimum at day) and 86% (maximum at night).
description: Published as part of Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Šťáhlavský, František & Just, Pavel, 2022, The genus Barbaracurus in Saudi Arabia (Scorpiones: Buthidae), with description of a new species., pp. 1-26 in Euscorpius 365 on pages 10-22, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7616748