A new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae) from south western Turkey

Abstract A new scorpion species, Euscorpius lycius sp. n., is described based on specimens collected from Muğla and Antalya Provinces, in southwestern Turkey. It is characterized by a standard trichobothrial pattern (Pv=8/9, et=6, em=4, eb=4), small size and light brown/reddish coloration. With the description of Euscorpius lycius sp. n., the number of valid species of the genus Euscorpius in Turkey increases to 5.


Introduction
The genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 is one of the most studied taxa of scorpions; however, because of its complexity, its taxonomy changes continuously and is not completely clear. The Euscorpius populations of Turkey have been poorly studied, but in the last years several studies are delineating the diversification and distribution of the various forms of this genus (e.g. Fet et al. 2003b;Karataş 2006;Yağmur and Tropea 2013). At present only four valid species are recognized in Turkey (not including the new species): E. italicus (Herbst, 1800), E. mingrelicus (Kessler, 1874), E. avcii E. rahsenae Yağmur &Tropea, 2013. E. mingrelicus, which is a species complex, has six described subspecies in Turkey [E. m. mingrelicus (Kessler, 1874), E. m. ciliciensis Birula, 1898, E. m. phrygius Bonacina, 1980, E. m. ollivieri Lacroix, 1995, E. m. legrandi Lacroix, 1995, and E. m. uludagensis Lacroix, 1995] that need clarification.

Materials and methods
A total of 26 specimens belonging to the new species were collected from Antalya and Muğla Province, in the south-west of Turkey (Fig. 8). Most of specimens were collected in night time from under pine forest while they were siting on the rocks, cracks and garden walls. Some specimens were collected from under stones in pine forests in day time. The trichobothrial notations follow Vachon (1974). The morphological measurements are given in millimeters (mm) following Sissom et al. (1990). The morphological nomenclature follows Stahnke (1970), Hjelle (1990), and Sissom (1990); the chela carinae and denticle configuration follows Soleglad and Sissom (2001) and sternum terminology follows Soleglad and Fet (2003); description and terminology of hemispermatophore follows Soleglad and Sissom (2001) and Fet and Soleglad (2002).  (Fig. 8).

Taxonomy
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the ancient Latin name of the collection area, which is Lycia.
Diagnosis. A small Euscorpius species, total length 21-25 mm. Color of adults light brown-reddish with carapace and pedipalps darker. The number of trichobothria  movable finger in adult males, obsolete in females. Trichobothrium et occurs distally to the notch on the fixed finger, est occurs above the notch on the fixed finger and dsb occurs proximally to the notch of the fix finger.  Description of the holotype male. Coloration: Very light brown-reddish with carapace and pedipalps darker. Granules on the femora of the legs, especially ventrally, dark. The sternites, pectines and genital operculum are very light brownish-whitish.
Carapace. Length 3.06 mm; posterior width 3.12. Finely granulated. Distance from the center of the median eyes to the anterior margin of the carapace is 39.21% of the prosoma; the length from the center of the median eyes to the posterior margin of the carapace is 60.79% of the prosoma. Length/Posterior width ratio 0.981 (Fig. 1A).
Mesosoma. Tergites finely granulated; sternites smooth. The area of overlap between the sternites is lighter in color. Pectinal teeth count is 9-9. The spiracles are very small and little visible, oval-shaped and it is inclined about 45° downwards towards outside.
Metasoma. Medium size with respect to body length. Dorsal carinae of segment I-IV are granulated, obsolete on the segment V; ventromedian carinae of segment I-III absent, barely visible angularities on the IV, ventromedian carinae on segment V granulated; ventrolateral carinae of segment I absent, on segments II and III obsolete, on segment IV formed by small spaced granules, on segment V is formed by serrulate granules (Fig. 2E, F). Telson. Vesicle weakly swollen; smooth, with ventral setae of different sizes; telson height 1.26; telson length 3.24; vesicle length 2.52; vesicle width 1.20; L/H ratio of the vesicle 2 ( Fig. 2A, B).
Pedipalp. Coxa and trochanter granulated. Femur: dorsal internal carinae formed by large dark tubercles; dorsal external carinae formed by slightly serrulated and spaced tubercles; intercarinal spaces uniformly granulated with fine granules; external median carinae serrulate; anterior median carinae formed by conical big dark tubercles (Fig. 1E, F). Patella length 2.58; patella width 1.02; dorsal internal carinae dark and crenulate with few larger tubercles distally; dorsal and ventral external carinae rough; ventral internal carinae dark and tuberculate; dorsal intercarinal tegument very finely granulated; ventral intercarinal tegument almost smooth with a few scattered very small granules; internal intercarinal tegument uniformly finely granulate. Dorsal patellar spur well developed (Fig. 1G, H). Chelal carina D 1 is distinctly strong, a bit darker and from smooth to rough; D 4 little marked, roughly smooth with a few very low granules; V 1 is distinctly strong, rough and dark; V 3 with a few scattered very minuscule granules; external carina rough; intercarinal tegument from smooth to rough except between carinae D 4 and V 3 , granulate. Movable finger dentition: MD form a straight line of very small denticles closely spaced with a DD on the distal tip; OD formed of 7 denticles on movable finger and 6 denticles on fixed finger, immediately outside of MD, their size increases progressively but the terminal denticle is not very pronounced; ID formed of 7 denticles on movable finger and 6 denticles on fixed finger, spaced from MD, their size increases progressively but the terminal denticle is not very pronounced; IAD on both movable and fixed finger formed of 4 small denticles; L/W ratio of the chela 2.74 (Fig. 1I, J) Trichobothria. Chela trichobothria series V standard: V = 4/4 (3 V+ Et1); patella ventral (Pv): 9/9; Patella external (Pe): et = 5/6, est = 4/4, em = 4/4, esb = 2/2, eba = 4/4, eb = 4/4.
Legs. legs with two pedal spurs. Tarsal ventral row with 10-14 spinules (including the ventral distal spinule); 3 flanking pairs of tarsal setae adjacent to the ventral spinules row. Little marked granulation present above leg femora, a bit more marked on III leg; dark conical tubercles on ventral leg femora.
Hemispermatophore. Were checked both right and left hemispermatophore of 5 specimens. Well developed lamina with well developed basal constriction, tapered distally; truncal flexure present and well developed; capsular lobe complex well developed, with acuminate process; ental channel spinose distally, exhibiting 8-11 tines in its crown (Fig. 7). The number of tines of the crown may be different between the right and the left hemispermatophore. Karataş (2006) reported two populations of the subgenus Euscorpius from Turkey as "Euscorpius sp.1" and "Euscorpius sp.2". The first population has been reported from Bursa, Çanakkale, İstanbul, İzmir, and Sinop Provinces; the second has been reported from Antalya and Muğla Provinces. E. lycius sp. n. occurs within the area of the second population (south-west). Karataş (2006) reported that in both "Euscorpius sp.1" and "Euscorpius sp.2", V4 was situated on the ventral surface, internally from the external ventral carina, but E. lycius sp. n. specimens, as well as those from İstanbul that coincide with "Euscorpius sp.1" of Karataş (2006), have the trichobothrium V4 situated on the external surface. It is probable that Karataş (2006) misinterpreted the trichobothrial nomenclature of the chela.

Discussion and comparison
E. lycius sp. n. is "related" to the subgenus Euscorpius as it is understood until now, thus clearly distinguished from E. italicus and E. mingrelicus. However, in the present study we do not assign the subgeneric level, since that the subgenus Euscorpius currently needs depth studies and new dichotomous keys as has been shown in Tropea (2013). The only valid species "related" to the subgenus Euscorpius in Turkey are E. avcii and E. rahsenae. E. avcii was described from Dilek Peninsula as an oligotrichous, small Euscorpius, with a length of 24-28 mm, light brown to brown-reddish colored with the carapace and pedipalps darker, and legs and telson lighter ). These two species are similar in colour and size, although E. lycius sp. n. is on average smaller. However, they may be differentiated as follows: (1) Pv count is usually 7 in E. avcii and 9 in E. lycius sp. n.; 2) Pe-et series is generally 5 in E. avcii and 6 in E. lycius sp. n.; (3) E. avcii has the metasomal segments almost smooth while E. lycius sp. n. exhibits noticeable granulated carinae; (4) dorsal patellar spur weakly developed in E. avcii, but well developed in E. lycius sp. n. E. rahsenae was described from Marmara Region as a medium sized Euscorpius, total length 27-34 mm, color very light brown-yellowish with carapace and pedipalps a little darker, legs, telson and chelicerae lighter (Yağmur and Tropea 2013). It is possible to differentiate this species from E. lycius sp. n. as follows: (1) Pv count is usually 8 in E. rahsenae and 9 in E. lycius sp. n.; (2) E. lycius sp. n. has the trichobothria et-est/ est-dsb on fixed finger more proximal of E. rahsenae, in fact in E. lycius the trichobothrium et occurs distally to the notch on the fixed finger, est occurs above the notch on the fixed finger and dsb occurs proximally to the notch of the fix finger (similar to E. avcii), while in E. rahsenae et and est occur distally to the notch on the fixed finger and dsb occurs above the notch of the fixed finger; (3) E. lycius sp. n. is on average smaller than E. rahsenae sp. n. (21-25 mm and 27-34 mm, respectively).
Below, we compare E. lycius sp. n. with some other forms present in the Aegean area: E. sicanus (C. L. Koch, 1837) complex; E. koschewnikowi Birula, 1900;E. candiota Birula, 1903;E. scaber Birula, 1900;E. ossae Di Caporiacco, 1950;and E. c. aegaeus Di Caporiacco, 1950. E. sicanus complex is widespread in mainland Greece and some Aegean islands (Fet et al. 2003a;, and can be easily distinguished from E. rahsenae sp. n. by the trichobothrial eb series, 5 in E. sicanus complex and 4 in E. lycius sp. n. E. koschewnikowi is a medium to large sized species (up to 46 mm), medium to dark brown in color, slender appearance with well developed dorsal patellar spur and all metasoma segments longer than wide. In addition, according to Fet and Soleglad (2002) the exceptionally slender and smooth metasoma are key diagnostic characters of this species. E. lycius sp. n. mainly differs from E. koschewnikowi with a significantly smaller average size; its metasomal segments are not smooth, and the first segment not longer than wide.
E. candiota differs from E. lycius sp. n. for: (1) the metasomal carinae on segments II-IV smooth to obsolete (Fet et al. 2013) while E. lycius sp. n. has the dorsal carinae of the segment I-IV granulated; (2) E. candiota is larger in size, about 40 mm (Fet et al. 2013) versus 21-25 mm in E. lycius sp. n. Furthermore E. candiota tends has a higher Pv, Pe-et and pectinal teeth count in males and it is endemic of Crete island.
E. scaber is a scorpion from the northern Aegean area, it is distinguished from E. lycius sp. n. by (1) a higher number of pectinal teeth, Dp 10/11 in males and 8 in females (Fet et al. 2013) versus 8 in males and 7 in females in E. lycius sp. n.; (2) E. scaber has a Pv = 8 versus 9 in E. lycius sp. n.; (3) E. scaber is heavily granulated (Fet 1985;Tropea 2013, Fet et al. 2013), as the name suggests and darker, whereas E. lycius sp. n. is light brownish-reddish, without particularly accentuated granulation. In addition E. scaber occurs in north-east of Greece.
E. ossae is an oligotrichous species, dark brown in colour with lighter legs and telson. It was described from Mount Ossa, in Thessaly. This form can be distinguished from E. lycius sp. n. mainly by Pv=7 and et=5, compared to Pv=9 and Pe-et=6-7 (generally 6) and its dark colour.
E. c. aegaeus is a light colored form described from the island of Antiparos, in the central-southern part of the Aegean Sea. It is probably endemic in few islands in the central-south Aegean Sea. In addition, it is described as uniformly light yellow in colour and females with a pectinal teeth count of 8 with metasomal segments almost smooth (Di Caporiacco 1950), while E. lycius sp. n. is light brownish-reddish, pectinal teeth count 7 in females and metasomal segments with granulated carinae.

Ecology
The specimens of E. lycius sp. n. were collected between 349 and 1140 m a.s.l. Most of the specimens were collected in night time in the pine forest while they were siting on the rocks, cracks and garden walls. The remaining specimens were collected in day time from under stones in pine forests.
E. lycius sp. n. specimens from Faralya Village were collected on wall stones and garden walls humid in shady places with a lot of stones covered by moss (Fig. 10). This place is at the top of high rocky wall and very close to sea. Other specimens were collected from red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) and Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.)   forest that also includes kermes oak bushes (Quercus coccifera L.), in Gömücü Village and İkizce Village (Antalya Province). These two areas have high elevation, are always cool and are located about ten kilometers from the sea. Babadağ Mountain (Muğla Province) locality has same ecological features with these localities. Therefore these three localities are always humid, they include stones covered by moss. All localities are humid and cool, with calcareous stones covered with moss, where the specimens of E. lycius sp. n. were usually found. We observed that specimens prefer cracks of mossy rocks (Fig. 9). We accept the presence of moss as an indicator during our field trips. Areas with moss are potential places where to find specimens of Euscorpius.

Conclusion
Taxonomy of Euscorpius genus is complicated and still unresolved throughout its range, because of type specimens lost, lack of specimens from many areas and existence of cryptic species complex, which exhibiting the same, or very similar, standard characters.
The species described herein, E. lycius sp. n., is one of those forms of Euscorpius with standard characters shared by several species. This condition of cryptic species complex, is known throughout the range of the genus Euscorpius, however it is much more expressed in the band that includes Greece and western Turkey. Additional morphological features that simplify the division between the species of the genus Euscorpius should be found, but at the moment the only way to identify the various species is to combine a set of characters, primary and secondary, the area of origin and a certain number of specimens available.
Further studies are in progress to understand the quantity and distribution of the different species and populations of the genus Euscorpius in Turkey and their relationship with the Greek populations.
With the description of Euscorpius lycius sp. n., the number of valid species of the genus Euscorpius in Turkey increases to 5.