New Euscorpius discovered

Gioele Tropea has looked into Euscorpius tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837) (Euscorpiidae) and discovered that this widespread, polymorphic species actually is two distinct species. Populations previously named Euscorpius carpathicus aquilejensis (C. L. Koch, 1837) (which has been in synonymy with E. tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837)), are now given species status. The new species' name is Euscorpius aquilejensis (C. L. Koch, 1837).

Euscorpius aquilejensis (C. L. Koch, 1837): Restricted to northern and central Italy, San Marino, Vatican City State, western Slovenia, northwestern Croatia.

Euscorpius tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837): Restricted to Italy (extreme northeast), Slovenia, Croatia, Austria (introduced) and Czech Republic (introduced)

Both morphological and genetic data confirm the validity of the two species.

Abstract:
After the revision of Fet & Soleglad (2002), Euscorpius tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837) was considered a polymorphic species widespread from France to Croatia. In this study, we reconsidered the taxonomy of E. tergestinus s.str. based on morphological and genetic evidence, its range, and its original description. Euscorpius aquilejensis (C. L. Koch, 1837), stat. nov., previously synonymous with E. tergestinus, is elevated to species status herein. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on available GenBank 16S rDNA data shows a separate, basal position of E. aquilejensis and some other Euscorpius species, which implies that the subgenus Euscorpius s.str. is paraphyletic.

Reference:
Tropea G. Reconsideration of the taxonomy of Euscorpius tergestinus (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Euscorpius. 2013 (162):1-23. [Free full text]

Family Euscorpiidae 

Thanks to Gioele Tropea for sending me his new article!