A new high-elevation scorpion species of the genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae: Scorpiopinae) from the Himalayas, India

Amod Zambre; Rajesh V Sanap; Zeeshan A Mirza

doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2014.04.004

A new high-elevation scorpion species of the genus Scorpiops Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae: Scorpiopinae) from the Himalayas, India

C R Biol. 2014 Jun;337(6):399-404. doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2014.04.004. Epub 2014 Jun 9.

Authors

Amod Zambre¹, Rajesh V Sanap², Zeeshan A Mirza³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, Karnataka, India; Researchers for Wildlife Conservation, F-21, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru 560065, India.
² National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru 560065, Karnataka, India.
³ National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru 560065, Karnataka, India. Electronic address: snakeszeeshan@gmail.com.

PMID: 24961560
DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2014.04.004

Abstract

A new high-elevation scorpion species of the genus Scorpiops is described from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Scorpiops spitiensis sp. nov. is the second highest-elevation scorpion species in Asia and the first one from India occurring at elevations above 4200 m. The new species closely resembles Scorpiops petersii, but it can be distinguished from it based on a suit of characters, one of which is the presence of 16 trichobothria on the external aspect of the patella, which is unique to the new species.

Keywords: Euscorpidae; Himalaya; India; New species; Scorpion; Scorpiops.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Altitude
Animals
Classification
Environment
Extremities / anatomy & histology
India
Scorpions / anatomy & histology
Scorpions / classification
Scorpions / physiology*