Opistophthalmus gibbericauda
| Opistophthalmus gibbericauda | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Opistophthalmus gibbericauda | ||||||||||||
| Lamoral , 1979 |
Opistophthalmus gibbericauda is a scorpion from the family Scorpionidae foundin Namibia and Angola .
features
Opistophthalmus gibbericauda is a small to medium-sized scorpion about 55 to 60 millimeters in length. It has a yellow-brown color in various tones, with red predominantly reticulated markings on the chelae of the pedipalps , the area around the median ocelles of the carapace and the anterior three-quarters of the tergites . The legs, the sternites, the crest organs and the segments of the metasoma with the telson are yellow-orange. Scorpions from southern Angola are generally lighter in color.
The median pair of ocelles is only slightly behind the middle of the carapace, the length of the carapace is about 1.93 times the distance between the ocelles and the front edge. The sternum is approximately pentagonal and longer than it is wide. The fourth segment of the metasoma is unusually spherical and has a sharply curved lateral profile. The comb organs have 6 to 11 teeth in male scorpions and 7 to 8 teeth in female.
The entire surface of the carapace is heavily granulated. The dorsal surfaces of the segments of the metasoma are granulated, with the density and uniformity of the granulation decreasing towards the posterior segments. The fifth segment also has a light and irregular grain anteriorly and laterally. The anterior half of the telson is moderately granulated. The upper and outer sides of the chelae and tibiae as well as the upper sides of the femora of the pedipalps have a strong and evenly granular surface. The insides of the chelae have scattered small and large granules.
Since only a subadult female scorpion was available for comparison for the first description , only incomplete information can be given on the sexual dimorphism . Male scorpions have a slimmer body, the narrower and longer chelae of the further contribute to an overall slimmer appearance. The sexes differ in the number of teeth of their comb organs.
It is closely related to the species Opistophthalmus opinatus and Opistophthalmus coetzeei . Opistophthalmus gibbericauda can be distinguished from these and all other species of the genus Opistophthalmus by the arrangement of the furrows on the carapace. The outstanding unique selling point is the thickened, curved and almost spherical fourth segment of the metasoma when viewed from the side. This segment also lacks the ventral and lateral keels. The hemispermatophores differ in several features from those of Opistophthalmus coetzeei .
distribution and habitat
The terra typica of Opistophthalmus gibbericauda is located in Namibia on the Kunene , the border river to Angola. More precise information is not available. Bloedkoppie ( 17 ° 15 '0 " S , 11 ° 45' 0" O ). The distribution area includes the Kaokoveld in Namibia and the southwest of Angola . Only fragmentary information is available about the populated habitats; the species seems to live on rather hard soil.
Systematics
Initial description
The first description of Opistophthalmus gibbericauda was made in 1979 by the South African arachnologists Bruno H. Lamoral in an extensive monograph of scorpions Namibia, published in the Annals of the Natal Museum (now the African Invertebrates ).
Type material
The type material consists of an adult male holotype , six male paratypes, and one subadult female paratype. The holotype and an adult and a sub-adult male paratype are in the collection of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg . Three male adult paratypes are in the collection of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Pretoria. One subadult male and one female paratype are deposited in the Namibian National Museum in Windhoek.
etymology
The species name gibbericauda is a combination of the Latin words gibber (German: humped, humpbacked ) and cauda (German: tail ). It refers to the thickened fourth segment, which gives the metasoma a bumpy appearance.
literature
- Bruno H. Lamoral: The scorpions of Namibia (Arachnida: Scorpionida) . In: Annals of the Natal Museum 1979, Volume 23, No. 3, pp. 497-784, here pp. 707-711, ISSN 0304-0798 , online .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Bruno H. Lamoral: The scorpions of Namibia (Arachnida: Scorpionida) , p. 708.
- ↑ a b c d Bruno H. Lamoral: The scorpions of Namibia (Arachnida: Scorpionida) , p. 709.
- ↑ a b c d Bruno H. Lamoral: The scorpions of Namibia (Arachnida: Scorpionida) , p. 711.
- ↑ a b Bruno H. Lamoral: The scorpions of Namibia (Arachnida: Scorpionida) , p. 707.
- ↑ Gérard Dupré: Dictionary of scientific scorpion names. In: Arachnides. Bulletin de Terrariophilie et de Recherche 2016, Supplément au n ° 78, p. 25, Online PDF , 560 kB.