Four new lithophilic species of Scorpiops from peninsular India

 

India has a large scorpion diversity, and much of it is probably not discovered yet. Shauri Sulakhe and co-workers have recently described four new species of Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiopidae) from peninsular India. All species are lithophiles.

Scorpiops lioneli Sulakhe, Deshpande, Dandekar, Padhye & Bastawade, 2021

Scorpiops nagphani Sulakhe, Deshpande, Dandekar, Padhye & Bastawade, 2021

Scorpiops neera Sulakhe, Deshpande, Dandekar, Padhye & Bastawade, 2021

Scorpiops vrushchik Sulakhe, Deshpande, Dandekar, Padhye & Bastawade, 2021

Some of these species inhabit some truly beautiful habitats based on the pictures in the article. The article has an identification key for all species known from peninsular India.

Abstract:
Four new lithophilic species of Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiopidae) have been described from peninsular India using an integrated taxonomic approach. Three species Scorpiops vrushchik sp. n., S. nagphani sp. n. and S. neera sp. n. have been described from northern Western Ghats and S. lioneli sp. n. is described from Deccan Plateau. S. vrushchik sp. n. is closely related to S. tenuicauda and S. telbaila and differs by a raw genetic divergence of 9.6-9.8% from S. tenuicauda and 11% from S. telbaila. S. nagphani sp. n. is closely related to S. lioneli sp. n. and S. maharashtraensis and differs by a raw genetic divergence of 6.7% from S. lioneli sp. n. and 9.6% from S. maharashtraensis. S. neera sp. n. is closely related to S. deccanensis, S. satarensis and S. phaltanensis and differs by a raw genetic divergence of 6.1–7.1% from S. deccanensis, 7.3% from S. satarensis and 9.6–9.8 % from S. phaltanensis. S. lioneli sp. n. is closely related to S. nagphani sp. n. and S. maharashtraensis and differs by a raw genetic divergence of 6.7% from S. nagphani sp. n. and 11% from S. maharashtraensis. Hemispermatophore morphology of all the new species is described with photographs. A taxonomic key to all species of Scorpiops from peninsular India is provided. This study elevates the number of species of Scorpiops found in India to 27, out of which 11 are found in peninsular India.

Reference:
Sulakhe S, Deshpande S, Dandekar N, Padhye A, Bastawade D. Four new lithophilic species of Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Scorpiopidae) from peninsular India. Euscorpius. 2021(337):1-49. [Open Access]

Family Scorpiopidae