Research Article |
Corresponding author: Wilson Lourenco ( wilson.lourenco@mnhn.fr ) Academic editor: Lyubomir Penev
© 2015 Wilson Lourenco, Dinh-Sac Pham.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Lourenço WR, Pham D-S (2015) A remarkable new species of Alloscorpiops Vachon, 1980 from a cave in Vietnam (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae, Scorpiopinae). ZooKeys 500: 73-82. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.500.9421
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Among the genera of the subfamily Scorpiopinae Kraepelin, 1905 Alloscorpiops remains rather discrete. Only recently new species were added to this genus, increasing its number from two to five. Therefore, species of Alloscorpiops remain rare. One remarkable new species, Alloscorpiops troglodytes sp. n., is described on the basis of a single male specimen collected inside a cave from Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Cha Vanh Commune, Nam Giang District in Vietnam. The new species presents most features exhibited by scorpions of the genus Alloscorpiops, but it is characterized by reduced size, slender body and elongated pedipalps. This new scorpion taxon represents the third species of Scorpiopinae discovered in a cave system, and may be another endemic element in the fauna of Vietnam.
Scorpion, Scorpiopinae , Alloscorpiops , new species, Vietnam
In his revision of the genus Scorpiops,
In the present note, a remarkable new species belonging to the genus Alloscorpiops is described from a cave in Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Cha Vanh Commune, Nam Giang District in Central Vietnam. This new scorpion taxon is the third species of Scorpiopinae (
Alloscorpiops (Alloscorpiops) anthracinus (Simon, 1887), Myanmar
Alloscorpiops (Alloscorpiops) lindstroemii (Thorell, 1889), Myanmar
Alloscorpiops (Laoscorpiops) calmonti Lourenço, 2013, Laos
Alloscorpiops (Alloscorpiops) citadelle Kovařík, 2013, Thailand
Alloscorpiops (Alloscorpiops) wongpromi Kovařík, Soleglad & Košulič, 2013, Laos, Thailand
Alloscorpiops (Alloscorpiops) troglodytes sp. n., Vietnam
The species Alloscorpiops lindstroemii (Thorell, 1889) was considered a synonym of Alloscorpiops anthracinus (Simon, 1887) by
Illustrations and measurements were produced using a Wild M5 stereo-microscope with a drawing tube and an ocular micrometer. Measurements follow
The new species shows several of the characteristics already defined for the genus Alloscorpiops (
Vietnam, Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Cha Vanh Commune, Nam Giang District, inside cave (Fig.
Alloscorpiops troglodytes sp. n. Male holotype. 1 Carapace 2 Chelicera, dorsal aspect 3 Cutting edge of movable finger with rows of granules 4 Telson, ventral aspect 5 Metasomal segment V and telson, lateral aspect 6 Ventral aspect, showing sternum, genital operculum, and pectines. Scale bars: 1 mm.
The specific name refers to the natural habitat where the new species was found.
The general coloration is yellow to pale yellow. Carapace and tergites yellow. Metasomal segments yellow to pale yellow; telson yellow; base of aculeus yellow and tip slightly reddish. Chelicerae yellow without spots; teeth slightly reddish. Pedipalps yellow; chela fingers slightly red. Legs pale yellow. Venter pale yellow; pectines totally pale, almost white.
Morphology. Carapace weakly granular, furrows moderately deep. Median eyes anterior to centre of carapace; three pairs of lateral eyes, the third pair only slightly smaller than the first two. Sternum pentagonal, longer than wide. Tergites weakly granulated, almost smooth; VII with four weakly marked carinae. Pectinal tooth count 9-9; fulcra absent. Sternites smooth and shiny; VII with four vestigial carinae and some punctations. Metasomal segment I wider than long; segment II as long as wide; segments III to V longer than wide; 10-8-8-8-7 carinae present on segments I to V, weakly marked; dorsal carinae on segments I–IV with a single, weakly marked posterior spinoid granule; metasomal tegument very weakly granulated almost smooth; ventral carina on segment V without spinoid granules. Telson vesicle totally smooth. Pedipalps: femur with dorsal internal, dorsal external, ventral internal and ventral external carinae moderately marked; tegument weakly granular. Patella with dorsal internal, ventral internal, dorsal external, ventral external and external carinae moderately marked; two/three inconspicuous spinoid granules present on internal aspect, the interno-ventral being slightly larger than the interno-dorsal granule; tegument weakly granular. Chela with dorsal marginal, external secondary, ventral internal and ventral carinae moderately to strongly marked; other carinae moderately to weakly marked; tegument granulated dorsally and ventrally. Chelal fingers with two longitudinal series of granules, almost fused, and a few inner accessory granules. Chelicerae dentition as in figure 2 (
Morphometric values (in mm) of male holotype. Total length (including telson) 20.9. Carapace: length 3.2; anterior width 2.1; posterior width 3.3. Mesosoma length 7.4. Metasomal segment I: length 0.9, width 1.2; II: length 1.1, width 1.1; III: length 1.2, width 1.0; IV: length 1.4, width 0.9; V: length 2.3, width 0.8, depth 0.7. Telson length 2.9. Vesicle: width 0.8, depth 0.8. Pedipalp: femur length 3.1, width 1.2; patella length 2.7, width 1.3; chela length 6.1, width 1.3, depth 1.2; movable finger length 3.1.
1 | Chela of pedipalp with 3 trichobothria on the Eb series | 2 |
– | Chela of pedipalp with 5 trichobothria on the Eb series | Alloscorpiops (Laoscorpiops) calmonti |
2 | Chela of pedipalp with 10 to 13 ventral trichobothria; patella with 15 to 22 ventral trichobothria | 3 |
– | Chela of pedipalp with 9 ventral trichobothria; patella with 14 ventral trichobothria | Alloscorpiops troglodytes sp. n. |
3 | Patella of pedipalp with 15–16 ventral and 23–25 external trichobothria | 4 |
– | Patella of pedipalp with 19–21 ventral and 29–37 external trichobothria | 5 |
4 | Patella of pedipalp with 16 ventral and 23 external trichobothria | Alloscorpiops anthracinus |
– | Patella of pedipalp with 15 ventral and 25 external trichobothria | Alloscorpiops lindstroemii |
5 | Patella of pedipalp with 19-21 ventral and 29-34 external trichobothria | Alloscorpiops citadelle |
– | Patella of pedipalp with 21-22 ventral and 33-37 external trichobothria | Alloscorpiops wongpromi |
Cha Vanh commune is located in Nam Giang District, within Song Thanh Nature Reserve in Quang Nam Province along the Vietnam/Laos border. Nam Giang has one of the largest areas of tropical forest in Vietnam and is situated at the intersection of several biogeographical sectors (Fig.
Map of southeast Asia showing the known distribution of the species belonging to the genus Alloscorpiops: Alloscorpiops anthracinus (1), Alloscorpiops lindstroemii (2), Alloscorpiops calmonti (3), Alloscorpiops citadelle (4), Alloscorpiops wongpromi (5) and Alloscorpiops troglodytes sp. n. (6).
Nam Giang is located within coordinates 15°13’ to 15°41’ N and 107°21’ to 107°50’ E. In the north, it borders highway 14D, which runs from east to west between Thanh My and Dak Oc, along the Vietnam and Laos border. In the south, it connects with Kontum Province at the crest of Lo Xo Mountain and the highway 14D. To the west, it is bordered by Laos PDR and to the east by the waterways of the Thanh and Cai rivers. The altitude of the area ranges from 80 to 2,032 metres above sea level (m.a.s.l.).
This region is part of the central coastal climate zone. With an average temperature of 24.6 °C and a minimum temperature of 20 °C, the weather is hot in comparison with northern Vietnam. The rainy season in the area arrives two to three months after the rainy season north of the Truong Son Mountain range. It ranges from August to December/January, with the most intensive rainfall season occurring between September and November. The dry season coincides with a hot, dry western wind, which speeds up the evaporation process, reduces the humidity, and has a negative impact on the floristic composition of the forest.
There are three main soil types in the area: ferralite humus on rocky mountains (49.7 per cent), typical ferralite in low hill areas (48.9 per cent) and alluvial soils in valleys.
The area of Nam Giang is an important component of the Priority Central Truong Son landscape of the Truong Son ecosystem. A rich biodiversity and high numbers of endemic species makes Nam Giang one of the high-priority biodiversity areas in Vietnam. The fauna and flora of Nam Giang is diverse and 95% of Nam Giang is covered by evergreen forests (Fig.
We are most grateful to Bernard Duhem and Elise-Anne Leguin (Muséum, Paris) for their contributions to the preparation of the drawings and to Michael M. Webber, University of Nevada, Las Vegas for her review of an earlier version of the manuscript.