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| Scorpiops bahunetra Deshpande, Joshi, Ukale, Bastawade, Tang, Gowande, Monod & Sulakhe, 2025 |
Abstract
The genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861 exhibits significant diversity, especially in Peninsular India. From our continued arachnological surveys in the Western Ghats and Peninsular India, we describe a new species based on molecular and morphological data. Furthermore, additional sampling revealed new species with distinct molecular signatures, but future investigation is warranted to gather additional data before species are formally described.
Keywords: 16S, COI, integrated taxonomy, molecular phylogeny, systematics
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| Scorpiops bahunetra sp. nov. male holotype (BNHS SC 401) in vivo habitus (A, B). |
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| Scorpiops bahunetra sp. nov. male holotype (BNHS SC 401) under white light: A, habitus, dorsal view; B, habitus, ventral view; C, sternopectinal area; D, metasomal segment V and telson, lateral view; E, chelicera, dorsal view <scale bars: 5 mm (A); 2 mm (C)>. |
Scorpiops bahunetra sp. nov.
Diagnosis (♂♀). Total length 50.32-55.82 mm. Base color light brown. Median ocular islet morphology conforms to Type 2 (OI-2). Pectine morphology conforms to type P3; pectinal teeth number 7-8 in both sexes; fulcra reduced to absent. Pedipalp patella with 20-26 (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 6-11 est, 5-6 et) external and 14-16 ventral trichobothria. Pedipalp chela with 4 ventral trichobothria. Chelal trichobothrium Eb3 located in proximal half of manus between trichobothria Dt and Db. Pedipalp movable finger margins strongly undulate in male and weakly undulate in female. Chela length-to-width ratio 3.0-3.2 in males. Total pedipalp length to total tergite length ratio 1.3-1.4 in males. Tarsomere II of legs with 4-6 stout ventromedian ventral spinules. Metasoma I–V with 10-10-10-10-7 carinae. Dorsal lateral carinae on metasoma III-IV ending posteriorly into a moderately developed spine. Telson elongate and smooth, length to depth ratio 2.8-3.2; annular ring weakly developed.
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from a Sanskrit word ‘bahunetra’, ‘bahu’ (=many) and ‘netra’ (=eyes). The word is an adjective reflecting the unique feature of scorpions having multiple ocelli.
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| Scorpiops bahunetra sp. nov. male holotype (BNHS SC 401) under UV light: A, habitus, dorsal view; B, habitus, ventral view <scale bar: 5 mm>. |
Shubhankar Deshpande, Mihir Joshi, Sajiri Ukale, Deshabhushan Bastawade, Victoria Tang, Gaurang Gowande, Lionel Monod and Shauri Sulakhe. 2025. In the Rocks: An Integrative Assessment of Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Scorpiopidae) in peninsular India with A Description of A New Species. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. In Press. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2025.02.004 [8 March 2025]
