Phylogenetic analysis reveal cryptic subspecies of Euscorpius borovaglavaensis in Croatia

 

The genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) from Europa has become notorious for its hidden, cryptic species. A few decades ago this genus consisted of less than 10 species, today the number of taxa is closed to 100.

Martina Podvar and co-workers have publised a phylogenetic and phylogeographic  study of the populations of Euscorpius borovaglavaensis Tropea, 2015 in Croatia. Two distinct lineages were discovered and the population distributed in the northwestern part of the range was given subspecies status.

Euscorpius borovaglavaensis flavus Vignoli, 2024

Abstract:
The European scorpion Euscorpius borovaglavaensis Tropea, 2015 is a morphologically cryptic species that is distinguishable only with difficulty from E. tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837). It is distributed in the middle part of the Dinaric Alps chain and along part of the Eastern Adriatic coast, specifically, in Croatia (Middle Dalmatia, Lika karst upland), as well as in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The new findings reported here have enhanced our knowledge of its geographic distribution in Croatia. Detailed morphological analyses highlighted the importance of carination in the ventral metasomal segments as morphological traits. Phylogenetic analyses, based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, have revealed the existence of two distinct lineages. One of them, distributed in the northwestern part of the range, is described here as E. b. flavus n. ssp., while the nominal subspecies occurs in the southeastern part. A time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis has established their divergence around 0.9 million years ago, coinciding with the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) period. In contrast to the nominal subspecies, E. b. flavus n. ssp. exhibits significant phylogeographic structuring, indicating recent isolation events in multiple glacial microrefugia after the initial divergence, followed by a final Holocene dispersal in the northwestern direction deep between the mountain chains.

Reference:
Podnar M, Vignoli V, Tvrtković N. Phylogeographic structuring within recently diverged scorpion species, Euscorpius borovaglavaensis Tropea, 2015 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) in Croatia, with the description of a new subspecies. Natura Croatica: Periodicum Musei Historiae Naturalis Croatici. 2024;33(1):29-52. [Open Access]

Thanks to Valerio and Gerard who both sent me this article!

Family Euscorpiidae