Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 was described based on specimens collected from Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. An expedition to the type locality led to discovery of a population at the type locality which permit us to designate a neotype for the species as types of the species are presently not traceable

Gowande, Gaurang

Mirza, Zeeshan A.

English

Marshall University

  Neotype Designation for Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), with Redescription and Notes on the Species  Zeeshan A. Mirza and Gaurang Gowande        May 2016 – No. 223Euscorpius Occasional Publications in Scorpiology   EDITOR: Victor Fet, Marshall University, ‘fet@marshall.edu’  ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael E. Soleglad, ‘soleglad@znet.com’   Euscorpius is the first research publication completely devoted to scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Euscorpius takes advantage of the rapidly evolving medium of quick online publication, at the same time maintaining high research standards for the burgeoning field of scorpion science (scorpiology). Euscorpius is an expedient and viable medium for the publication of serious papers in scorpiology, including (but not limited to): systematics, evolution, ecology, biogeography, and general biology of scorpions. Review papers, descriptions of new taxa, faunistic surveys, lists of museum collections, and book reviews are welcome.   Derivatio Nominis   The name Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 refers to the most common genus of scorpions in the Mediterranean region and southern Europe (family Euscorpiidae).   Euscorpius is located at: http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/Euscorpius   (Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia 25755-2510, USA)    ICZN COMPLIANCE OF ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS:  Electronic (“e-only”) publications are fully compliant with ICZN (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature) (i.e. for the purposes of new names and new nomenclatural acts) when properly archived and registered. All Euscorpius issues starting from No. 156 (2013) are archived in two electronic archives:  • Biotaxa,  http://biotaxa.org/Euscorpius (ICZN-approved and ZooBank-enabled)   • Marshall Digital Scholar, http://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/. (This website also archives all Euscorpius issues previously published on CD-ROMs.)   Between 2000 and 2013, ICZN did not accept online texts as "published work" (Article 9.8). At this time, Euscorpius was produced in two identical versions: online (ISSN 1536-9307) and CD-ROM (ISSN 1536-9293) (laser disk) in archive-quality, read-only format. Both versions had the identical date of publication, as well as identical page and figure numbers. Only copies distributed on a CD-ROM from Euscorpius in 2001-2012 represent published work in compliance with the ICZN, i.e. for the purposes of new names and new nomenclatural acts.  In September 2012, ICZN Article 8. What constitutes published work, has been amended and allowed for electronic publications, disallowing publication on optical discs. From January 2013, Euscorpius discontinued CD-ROM production; only online electronic version (ISSN 1536-9307) is published. For further details on the new ICZN amendment, see http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/3944/.    Publication date: 23 May 2016 http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1F8E6B4D-5C92-476D-B04B-D6A17C2C671F Euscorpius — Occasional Publications in Scorpiology. 2016, No. 223 Neotype designation for Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), with redescription and notes on the species  Zeeshan A. Mirza 1 and Gaurang Gowande 2  1 National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065,   Karnataka, India. Email: snakeszeeshan@gmail.com 2 Department of Biodiversity, Abasaheb Garware College, Karve Road, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India.   Email: gaurang.gowande@gmail.com  http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1F8E6B4D-5C92-476D-B04B-D6A17C2C671F   Summary  Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 was described based on specimens collected from Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. An expedition to the type locality led to discovery of a population at the type locality which permit us to designate a neotype for the species as types of the species are presently not traceable.   Introduction  The genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861 includes 29 species (Rein, 2016). In India, the genus is represented by ten species distributed across northern India, espec-ially throughout the Western Himalayas, with the ex-ception of a single species distributed in the Satpura Hills of central India (Bastawade, 1992; Zambre et al., 2014). The central Indian species, Scorpiops pach-marhicus Bastawade, 1992 was described from Pach-marhi in Madhya Pradesh (Bastawade, 1992). The types of the species were said to be deposited in the national collection of the Zoological Survey of India Kolkata “ZSIK” (fide Bastawade 1992). During a visit to the arachnid section of the ZSIK, attempts were made to locate type specimens of scorpions deposited in the collection including that of S. pachmarhicus, however the specimens were not traceable. This is not just the case with this species but several other scorpion spec-imens allegedly deposited in the collection are not traceable or were never deposited there.  Specimens collected during an expedition in May 2014 to the type locality of S. pachmarhicus resulted in discovery of a population. Specimens collected from this expedition permit us to designate a neotype for this species as well as redescribe it and add notes on the natural history of the species.  Material and Methods    Specimens in the field were located with the help of ultraviolet light detection by means of Arachnid™ A28, transferred to plastic jars and preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol. Photographs of specimens were taken with a Canon 70D and a macro lens illuminated with two Canon 430EX-II flash. Specimens were examined using an Olympus SZ42 stereo binocular microscope and measured with the help of digital caliper to the nearest 0.01. The collection, after identification, has been depos-ited with the research collection facility at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. Descriptive terms and abbreviations follow Stahnke (1970) and Sissom et al. (1990).  Results  Family Euscorpiidae Laurie, 1896 Genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861  Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992  (Figs. 1–3, Table 1)  Scorpiops (Scorpiops) pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992: 100.  Neotype (here designated): NCBS AT103, ♀ from near Dhoopgarh, near Pachmarhi, Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, India. 22.467818°N, 78.388150°E, 1125 m asl. Collected by Rajesh Sanap, David Raju & Zeeshan Mirza on 6th May 2014.  Other material: two ♀ (NCBS AT104-AT105) and one ♂ (NCBS AT106), same data as for neotype.  Euscorpius — 2016, No. 223 2 Figures 1–2: Scorpiops pachmarhicus female neotype NCBS AT103. 1 (top).  in life. 2 (bottom). (A) dorsal aspect, (B) ventral aspect. Scale 10 mm. Mirza & Gowande: Neotype for Scorpiops pachmarhicus 3 Figure 3: Scorpiops pachmarhicus female neotype NCBS AT103, (A) pedipalp dorsal aspect, (B) manus and patella ventral aspect, (C) manus external view, (D) patella external view, (E) metasoma. Not in scale.  Description of Neotype Female NCBS AT103:  Coloration (in preserved condition): Mostly yellow to yellow-brown. Carapace yellow-brown, median and lat-eral tubercles black. Tergites and metasoma brown. Ves-icle light brown with reddish brown aculeus, basal por-tion of the aculeus blackish. Chelicerae yellow with reticulation, fingers yellow-brown, gradually become yellow towards the tips. Manus of pedipalps dark reddish-brown to black with black carinae, fingers black with reddish tips. Sternites and sternum yellow. Genital operculum, basal piece and pectines yellow. In living condition (Fig. 1),  overall coloration  a shade  of brown,  Euscorpius — 2016, No. 223 4  Neotype    Characters AT103 AT104 AT105 AT106 Sex ♀ ♀ ♀ ♂ total length 47.04 39.91 38.31 42.49 carapace length 6.6 6.27 5.93 6.25 carapace anterior width 3.6 3.22 2.74 2.78 carapace posterior width 5.54 5.3 4.84 5.4 mesosomal length 21.27 14.24 13.95 16.53 Metasoma total length 19.17 19.4 18.43 19.71 metasomal seg I length 2.07 1.9 1.91 2.23 metasomal seg I width 1.8 2.09 1.99 1.83 metasomal seg II length 2.61 2.66 2.06 2.25 metasomal seg II width 1.5 1.58 1.76 1.62 metasomal seg III length 2.7 2.33 2.38 2.5 metasomal seg III width 1.63 1.71 1.73 1.77 metasomal seg IV length 2.7 2.99 2.88 3.12 metasomal seg IV width 1.59 1.57 1.48 1.66 metasomal seg V length 4.33 4.51 3.9 4.58 metasomal seg V width 1.51 1.52 1.33 1.44 telson length 4.76 5.01 5.3 5.03 femur length 5.58 5.17 4.81 5.03 femur width 2.58 2.44 2.06 2.31 patella length 5.68 5.58 5.57 5.47 patella width 2.7 2.98 2.93 2.95 chela length 11.57 10.42 9.75 11.43 chela width 3.77 4.3 4.11 4.42 movable finger length 5.55 4.9 5.1 5.7 pectine L/R 7/6 7/7 7/8 7/7  Table 1: Morphometry of Scorpiops pachmarhicus.  mesosoma, legs and metasoma brown, telson yellowish brown. Anterior half of carapace darker. Pedipalp dark reddish brown to black.       Morphology: Prosoma (Fig. 2): Carapace with a slight gloss throughout, with minute sparsely distributed gran-ules; anterior median furrow distinct and flat, posterior median and posterior lateral furrows distinct and deep; carinae absent; anterior and posterior margins sooth, anterior margin deeply notched; ocular tubercle well-developed, smooth, a pair of median eyes located much anteriorly in the ratio 1:2.51, three lateral eyes, anterior two larger than the third. A circular patch on each side between the median and lateral eyes. Chelicera small, basal segment smooth, brownish reticulation on the dorsal surface, basal segment yellow-brown, fingers dark brown, gradually turn light brown towards the tip, toothed normally, inferior fang of the movable finger provided with 8-9 teeth. Mesosoma (Figs. 1–2): Tergites I–V with sparse granulation throughout, especially con-centrated on the posterior margin, pretergal region smooth; tergite I–VI with distinct median carinae, traces of lateral carinae but poorly developed, tergite VII with two pairs of carinae in the posterior portion; sternites III-VI smooth, presternites and presternal margins smooth, sternites III–VI provided with bracket-shaped stigmata for  book lungs.   Pedipalp  stout  and  strong,  carinated,  Mirza & Gowande: Neotype for Scorpiops pachmarhicus 5 Figure 4: Typical habitat of Satpura Hills in central India. Photo by David Raju.  manus medially depressed; femur flat, shorter than the carapace, carinated; all carinae show sparse granulation, inner carinae much more sparsely granulated, anterior surface with two small tubercles; patella marginally longer and wider than the femur, shorter than the cara-pace, carinated; carinae show sparse granulation, a small tubercle present on the anterior surface; chela long, much longer than wide, carinated, inner carinae more granular than the outer which are nearly smooth, can’t find any basal tubercles; manus shows shallow depress-ion dorsally, not much flat, wider than femur and patella, carinated; all carinae sparsely granular, exterior carinae nearly smooth, intercarinal region coarsely granulated on inner portion, sparse granulations on the dorsal surface; fingers smooth, carinated, granules on the fingers. Tri-chobothrial pattern on femur, patella, manus and the fixed finger (Fig. 3) is consistent with Bastawade (1992); patella with 10 ventral, differ in relative posi-tions of Eb2 to Eb1 on patella and Dt to Eb3 on manus, the rest typical for the family and genus (Tikader & Bastawade, 1983). Legs I–IV almost entirely smooth. Genital operculum wider than long, small genital pap-illae visible, pectines longer than wide, weakly deve-loped, middle lamellae and fulcra indistinguishable, pectines 7/6 in female. Metasoma: Cauda almost thrice as long as the carapace; metasoma I longer than wide, only dorsal and ventral carinae fairly developed, others almost vestigial; telson longer than metasoma V, shorter than carapace, smooth; aculeus less than half the length of the vesicle, not much curved, sharp (Fig. 3).  Natural history notes: All the specimens were found along rocky outcrops at Dhoopgarh. The locality is the highest point in the Satpura Hills range at 1350 m (Fig. 4) and is amidst a dense Sal forest. Specimens were found actively foraging on the rock with the aid of ultra violet flashlights. A few individuals were seen under boulder along a forest trail. A total of five individuals were collected however additional specimens of the species were encountered but were not collected.   Comments  Members of the three Indian genera of the family Euscorpiidae are distributed as follows: Scorpiops in western Himalayas and Satpuras, Neoscorpiops in Western Maharashtra, and Euscorpiops in northeastern India (Figure 5; Mirza et al., 2014; Zambre et al., 2014). The disjunct distribution is likely an artifact of incomplete sampling. Dedicated surveys in the inter-mediate zones will fill the large gap in the distribution as well as our understanding of this family.  Designation of  Euscorpius — 2016, No. 223 6 Figure 5: A schematic map of euscorpiid genera distribution in India. Modified after Bastawade (1992).  a neotype for Scorpiops pachmarhicus is in accordance with Article 75.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN (1999) and is based on a specimen collected from the type locality. The designation is deemed necessary to further enhance our understanding of scorpions of India and for a revisionary work on Indian scorpions, material of each species must be examined, ideally the type specimens. Most type spec-imens deposited at the collection of the Zoological Survey of India are either not traceable or are difficult to access even for a native researcher, making it really important to have neotypes designated for species whose types are missing, and have them deposited in museums which are accessible to researchers.    Acknowledgments  We thank the Rufford Small Grants Foundation for funding the tarantula project during which the species was found. Special thanks are to Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh: Narendra Kumar (PCCF, wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden), Dr. Suhas Kumar (APCCF wildlife), and R. P. Singh (Field Director, Satpura Tiger Reserve) for necessary permissions to carry out research in Madhya Pradesh; to Hashim Tyabji (Forsyth Lodge) for logistic support and permission to conduction surveys on his property; and to Surya Ramachandran, David Raju and Rajesh Sanap for a lovely company and help with fieldwork in Madhya Pradesh. ZM ack-nowledges Krushnamegh Kunte for access to lab facilities at the National Centre for Biological Sciences.    References  BASTAWADE, D. B. 1992. Report of the family Vejovidae (Scorpionidae: Arachnida) in Madhya Pradesh, with description of a new species Mirza & Gowande: Neotype for Scorpiops pachmarhicus 7Scorpiops (Scorpiops) pachmarhicus, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 89: 99–103.  MIRZA, Z. A., R. V. SANAP & R. UPADHYE. 2014. A new species of scorpion of the genus Neo-scorpiops Vachon, 1980 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) from India, Comptes Rendus Biologies, 337(2):143-149, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2013.11.012.  REIN, J. O. 2016. The Scorpion Files. Norwegian Uni-versity of Science and Technology. Online at http://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files/index.php, accessed on 06 March 2016.  SISSOM, W. D. 1990. Systematics, biogeography and paleontology. Pp. 64–160 in: Polis, G. A. (ed.). The Biology of Scorpions. Stanford: Stanford University Press.  STAHNKE, H. L. 1971. Scorpion nomenclature and mensuration. Entomological News, 81: 297–316.   TIKADER, B. K. & D. B. BASTAWADE. 1983. Scor-pions (Scorpionida: Arachnida). In The Fauna of India, Vol. 3. (Edited by the Director). Calcutta: Zoological Survey of India, 671 pp.   ZAMBRE, A., R. V. SANAP & Z. A. MIRZA. 2014. A new high-elevation scorpion species of the genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae: Scorpiopinae) from the Himalayas, India, Comptes Rendus Biologies, 337(6): 399-404, http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.crvi.2014.04.004.  

Neotype designation for \u3cem\u3eScorpiops pachmarhicus\u3c/em\u3e Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), with redescription and notes on the species

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Neotype designation for \u3cem\u3eScorpiops pachmarhicus\u3c/em\u3e Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), with redescription and notes on the species

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