Major work on the phylogeny and systematics of Euscorpiinae in the eastern Adriatic region

 

The systematics and taxonomy of the members of the family Euscorpiidae is still a major challenge in site of numerous research papers in the last decades.  The four traditional European taxa known some decades ago, are now split into a huge diversity of genera and species. And there is still more to come as there are many cryptic species and geographic areas that are still not properly investigated.

Martina Podnar and co-workers have recently published an extensive phylogenetic analysis where they have reviewed the scorpions of the genera Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 and Alpiscorpius Gantenbein et al., 1999 (Euscorpiidae) with a focus on the eastern Adriatic region. 

This is a very extensive study full of new information and data, and some of it is above my head. But the main conclusions are that their analyses point to the existence of several new taxa and the ranges of several species have been revised. In addition they have made the following taxonomic conclusions:

Euscorpius lagostae Di Caporiacco, 1950 from Lastovo Island, Croatia is raised to species status (formerly Euscorpius carpaticus lagostae Di Caporiacco, 1950).

Euscorpius croaticus is moved to the genus Alpiscorpius as Alpiscorpius croaticus (Di Caporiacco, 1950). 

Why do have so many species? The current article indicate that this is probably due to complex topography creating many microhabitats, but also due to microrefugia in the Pleistocene that allowed new taxa to evolve.

Abstract:
The systematics and taxonomy of the scorpion family Euscorpiidae are still unresolved, and, within it, the eastern Adriatic scorpiofauna is largely unknown and under-researched. Based on two mitochondrial sequences (COI and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear marker sequence (ITS1), we put 107 newly analyzed samples originating from the Alps, the Eastern Adriatic, and the adjacent Dinaric karst area into phylogenetic context. Several species delineation approaches were applied to reveal cryptic diversity. Divergence time dating was used to highlight the major events in the evolutionary history of the genera Euscorpius and Alpiscorpius. The deep intraspecific genetic divergences observed in some clades warrant taxonomic revision of several taxa (Euscorpius tergestinus, Euscorpius hadzii, Euscorpius biokovensis, and Euscorpius (Alpiscorpius) croaticus). In this study, the population of E. hadzii from Lastovo Island (formerly Euscorpius carpaticus lagostae) is elevated to species level as Euscorpius lagostae Di Caporiacco, 1950, stat. nov. Euscorpius croaticus is moved to the genus Alpiscorpius as Alpiscorpius croaticus (Di Caporiacco, 1950) comb. nov. The distribution ranges of several species are revised, and based on the new data, a more detailed revision of species distribution is necessary. We attribute the major divergence events to the impact of the Middle Miocene Climate Transition, the Messinian Salinity Crisis, and the Middle Pleistocene Climate Transition. The observed patterns are therefore a direct consequence of the geological history and complex topography of the region, which provided numerous microhabitats, as well as of the Pleistocene microrefugia that enabled their persistence.

Reference:
Podnar M, Grbac I, Tvrtković N, Hörweg C, Haring E. Hidden diversity, ancient divergences, and tentative Pleistocene microrefugia of European scorpions (Euscorpiidae: Euscorpiinae) in the eastern Adriatic region. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 2021;Accepted Manuscript:1-26. [Subscriotion required for full text]

Thanks to Luis Roque for sending me this article.

Family Euscorpidae

New taxa from a new study of Balkan Euscorpiidae populations

 

Gioele Tropea has recently published a major study of Balkan Euscorpiidae populations. As usual these days, there are still many cryptic species hiding in European Euscorpiidae populations. These are the new taxa described in this article:

New subgenera in the genus Alpiscorpius Gantenbein et al., 1999:

Balkanscorpius Tropea, 2021

Hadzius Tropea, 2021

New species:

Alpiscorpius (Hadzius) karamani Tropea, 2021 (Central and west Serbia)

Alpiscorpius (Balkanscorpius) pavicevici Tropea, 2021 (Southern Serbia, south-west Bulgaria (?))

Alpiscorpius (Balkanscorpius) zloporubovici Tropea, 2021 (Central and west Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina (?))

New status and new combination (raised to species from subspecies):

Alpiscorpius (Balkanscorpius) caporiaccoi (Bonacina, 1980)

Alpiscorpius (Balkanscorpius) dinaricus (Di Caporiacco, 1950)

Synonymization:

Alpiscorpius beroni (Fet, 2000) is synonymized with A. (Balkanscorpius) dinaricus (Di Caporiacco, 1950)

Abstract:
Some Euscorpiinae populations with the trichobothrial series em = 3 from the Balkans, mainly from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, are examined, resulting in the description of two new subgenera, Balkanscorpius subgen. n. and Hadzius subgen. n., three new species, Alpiscorpius (Hadzius subg. n.) karamani sp. n., A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) pavicevici sp. n. and A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) zloporubovici sp. n., and elevation to species status in the genus Alpiscorpius Gantenbein et al., 1999 and subgenus Balkanscorpius subgen. n. of A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) dinaricus (Di Caporiacco, 1950) stat. n. et comb. n. and A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) caporiaccoi (Bonacina, 1980) stat. n. et comb. n. A. beroni (Fet, 2000) has been synonymized with A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) dinaricus stat. n. et comb. n. The lectotype for A. (Balkanscorpius subg. n.) caporiaccoi stat. n. et comb. n. is designated. The forgotten species Scorpius bosnensis Mollendorf, 1873 is considered nomen dubium.

Reference:
Tropea G. Concerning some Balkan Euscorpiidae populations (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Biologia Serbica. 2021;43.

Thanks to Gioele Tropea for sending me his article!

Family Euscorpiidae

 

Five new species of Euscorpius from Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia

For the last two decades numerous new cryptic species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) have been described from Europe. This has been possible thanks to molecular phylogenetic in combination with the more traditional morphological characteristics. Frantisek Kovarik and Frantisek Stahlavsky have now published five new species in this genus.

Euscorpius bonacinai Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Albania)

Euscorpius janstai Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (North Macedonia)

Euscorpius kabateki Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Greece)

Euscorpius sadileki Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Serbia)

Euscorpius scheraboni Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Greece)


Two new characteristics for Euscorpius identification are also presented.

Abstract:
Five new species are described: Euscorpius bonacinai sp. n. (Albania), E. janstai sp. n. (North Macedonia), E. kabateki sp. n. (Greece), E. sadileki sp. n. (Serbia), and E. scheraboni sp. n. (Greece), fully complemented with color photographs. New species are distinguished from all other species of the genus on the basis of five taxonomic characters. Two other new characters, shape of the pedipalp chela fingers and number of chromosomes, are presented and discussed. In addition to the analyses of external morphology, we also describe karyotypes of two species: E. janstai sp. n. (2n=112) and E. sadileki sp. n. (2n=90).

Reference:
Kovarik F, Stahlavsky F. Five new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) from Albania, Greece, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Euscorpius. 2020(315):1-37. [Open Access]

Family Euscopiidae

First report of pectine malformations in the genus Euscorpius

Body malformations and anomalies in scorpions are reported from time to time, but are generally quite rare. One of the most famous cases was Pepe - The two-tailed scorpion (a Centruroides excilicauda with two tails). In a recent article, Miroslav Saric and Jovana Tomic report about malformed pectines in a scorpion in the genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae).

Teratology in Scorpions is discussed.

Abstract:
A teratological change in a pectinal organ of Euscorpius cf. carpathicus (C. L. Koch, 1837) from Serbia had been examined using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and compared to specimens with normally developed pectines. Possible reasons for this anomaly are discussed.

Reference:
Šarić M, Tomić J. The first record of malformed pectines in genus Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Euscorpius. 2016 (221):1-10. [Open Access]

Thanks to Miroslav Saric for informing me about their article!

Two new species of Euscorpius from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece

Several researchers are studying the Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) fauna of Eastern Europe and Balkan, and several previous "hidden" species have been published in the last decade. In a recent study, Victor Fet and co-workers have described two new species from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece.

Euscorpius deltshevi Fet, Graham, Webber & Blagoev, 2014 (Known from Stara Planina Mts., Bulgaria, and adjacent areas of Bulgaria and Serbia).

Euscorpius solegladi Fet, Graham, Webber & Blagoev, 2014 (Known from southwestern Bulgaria and northeastern Greece).

 Abstract:
Two new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (subgenus Euscorpius s.str.) (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) are described based on morphology and the COI DNA barcoding marker: E. deltshevi sp. n. from northern Bulgaria and neighbouring Serbia (formerly reported as E. carpathicus) and E. solegladi sp. n. from southwestern Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece (formerly reported as E. hadzii).

Reference:
Fet V, Graham MR, Webber MM, Blagoev G. Two new species of Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) from Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece. Zootaxa. 2014 (3894):83-105. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to professor Victor Fet for sending me their article!

Family Euscorpiidae