A new Buthus species from Spain

The study of the genus Buthus (Leach, 1815) (Buthidae) in Africa and Europe is really in focus these days. Andrea Rossi has now discovered a new Buthus species in Andalusia (Malaga province) in Spain. Spain has now four known Buthus species.

Buthus elongatus Rossi, 2012

The discovery of the new species is based both on molecular and morphological evidence. The paper has an identification key for all European Buthus species.

Abstract:
Two new species of the genus Buthus (Leach, 1815) were described in 2004 in Spain: B. montanus Lourenço & Vachon, 2004 and B. ibericus Lourenço & Vachon, 2004. Gantenbein & Largiadèr (2003) distinguished divergent clades among European Buthus in their phylogenetic analysis. Subsequently, Sousa et al. (2010) reported five distinct mtDNA lineages within Buthus from the Iberian Peninsula, two of which they reported for the first time. In the present work, a new species, Buthus elongatus n. sp., is described, which is most similar to one of the two lineages of Sousa et al. (2010): samples Sc 98 and Sc 99, lineage 3 in their study, from southern Spain, which resemble Buthus occitanus morphologically, but differ from the other specimens of this species by 8.6%. A key for all European Buthus and a summary of their distribution are provided.

Reference:
Rossi, A. (2012). Notes on the distribution of the species of the genus Buthus (Leach, 1815) (Scorpiones, Buthidae) in Europe, with a description of a new species from Spain. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 15(8):273–279.

Thanks to Andrea Rossi for sending me the paper!

Family Buthidae