01 March, 2023

A new species of Mesobuthus from Southeastern Iran

 


Hossein Barahoei has recently published an article on the fauna of Sistan scorpions (Southeastern Iran). Among the scorpions found, a new species was identified and described in the genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950 (Buthidae). 

This article is written in Persian, but has an English summary in addition to a normal abstract.

Mesobuthus rakhshanii Barahoei, 2023

I have been informed that this species was published in 2023 even though the article is dated 2022.

Abstract:
Scorpions are nocturnal animals that feed on invertebrates and other arachnids. So far, 10 species of scorpions from the family Buthidae have been reported from the Sistan region. Sampling was done using UV ultralight at night and direct search or digging during the day, from different areas in the Sistan region in 2021 and 2022. Examination of 117 collected scorpion specimens led to the identification of seven species belonging to six genera of the family Buthidae including Androctonus cf. crassicauda (Olivier, 1807), A. sistanus Barahoei & Mirshamsi, 2022, Kraepelinia palpator (Birula, 1903), Mesobuthus rakhshanii sp. nov., Odontobuthus tirgari Mirshamsi et al., 2013, Orthochirus persa (Birula, 1900), and Sassanidothus gracilis (Birula, 1900). Mesobuthus rakhshanii sp. nov. was described as a new species for the world fauna. This species has a dominant population in the region, which was collected from all stations. All specimens were fixed in 80% alcohol and kept in the author's personal collection. Androctonus species are dangerous scorpions that are distributed in the Sistan region. Identifying dangerous species is important and practical for health management. This is possible by identifying the fauna of scorpions in the region and determining the range of distribution of each species.

Reference:
Barahoei H. Fauna of Sistan Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones), Southeast Iran. Taxonomy and Biosystematics. 2022;14(3):27-70. [Open Access]

Thanks to Alireza Zamani for informing me about this article!

Family Buthidae

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