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. 2023 Sep 7:1178:293-312.
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1178.109083. eCollection 2023.

A new species and a key to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Saudi Arabia

Abdulmani H Al-Qahtni  1 , Abdullah M Al-Salem  1 , Fahad Mesfer  1 , Manal S Al Balawi  1 , Wasayf S Allahyani  1 , Abdulaziz R Alqahtani  1   2 , Ahmed Badry  1   3
Affiliations

A new species and a key to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Saudi Arabia

Abdulmani H Al-Qahtni et al. Zookeys. .

Abstract

A new species, Leiurushadb Al-Qahtni, Al-Salem, Alqahtani & Badry, sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the Majami al-Hadb Protected Area in the Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia. The new species is compared with species of Leiurus distributed in Saudi Arabia, especially L.arabicus Lowe, Yağmur & Kovařík, 2014. The integrated results indicate that the population found in Majami al-Hadb represents a distinct species, which is described herein. Moreover, the molecular analysis is conducted on the mitochondrial gene 16S rRNA to compare L.hadb sp. nov. with samples of L.arabicus and L.haenggii from Saudi Arabia. The analysis revealed a genetic divergence ranging from 6.0 to 12%. The combination of molecular evidence and morphological characteristics provides adequate support for recognizing the Majami al-Hadb population as a distinct species. Additionally, an identification key for the genus Leiurus found in Saudi Arabia is also provided.

Keywords: Description; Majami al-Hadb Protected Area; identification key; molecular phylogeny scorpion; taxonomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figures 1.
Figures 1.
Habitus of Leiurushadb sp. nov., male holotype and female paratype A male in dorsal view B male in ventral view C female in dorsal view D female in ventral view. Scale bar: 10 mm.
Figures 2.
Figures 2.
Leiurushadb sp. nov., male holotype under UV light A carapace and mesosoma B sternopectinal area and ventral of mesosoma C metasoma and telson, lateral view D metasoma and telson, ventral view. Scale bar: 10 mm.
Figures 3.
Figures 3.
Leiurushadb sp. nov., female paratype under UV light A carapace and mesosoma B sternopectinal area and ventral of mesosoma C metasoma and telson, lateral view D metasoma and telson, ventral view. Scale bar: 10 mm.
Figures 4.
Figures 4.
Leiurushadb sp. nov., female paratype, pedipalp segments A femur, dorsal view B patella, dorsal view C patella, external view D chela, ventral E chela, dorso-lateral view F chela, movable fingers dentition, trichobothrial pattern indicated by red circles.
Figures 5.
Figures 5.
Leiurushadb sp. nov., female paratype, right legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect.
Figures 6.
Figures 6.
Comparison of metasoma I–V and telson between A female L.arabicus, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and B female paratype Leiurushadb sp. nov.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Leiurushadb sp. nov., from Wadi Rawdat al-hadb, Riyadh region Saudi Arabia.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Habitat at the type locality of Leiurushadb sp. nov., from Wadi Rawdat al-hadb, Riyadh region Saudi Arabia.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree of Leiurus species based on 16S rRNA sequences. Numbers above and below branches indicate maximum-parsimony bootstrap values/ NJ distance values /Bayesian posterior probabilities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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