Molecular and Morphological Insights from Ha’il Area, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Pure Reserve

This research paperwork the primary confirmed file of the Buthid scorpion Leiurus nigellus from Jabal Arnan within the Ha’il area, positioned throughout the King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Pure Reserve (KSRNR) within the northwestern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This species was initially described by Abu Afifeh, Aloufi & Al-Saraireh (2023). This locality extends the identified distribution vary of L. nigellus by over 200 km southeast of the sort locality in Al-Ula, Al Madinah province. A complete of six specimens of L. nigellus have been collected throughout fieldwork performed between June 2024 and April 2025, together with two grownup males, one grownup feminine, and three juveniles. The target of this research was to verify the taxonomic identification of Leiurus nigellus from a newly found locality utilizing morphological examination and mitochondrial DNA evaluation and documentation of its identified geographic distribution. Grownup specimens (one male and one feminine) have been examined utilizing comparative morphometric evaluation following commonplace scorpion taxonomic protocols, confirming diagnostic traits in keeping with the unique species description. In the meantime, habitat assessments indicated adaptation to semi-arid rocky and gravel substrates. Molecular evaluation was performed on one grownup male utilizing focused mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Sanger methodology). Phylogenetic relationships have been inferred utilizing neighbor-joining and maximum-parsimony analyses, putting L. nigellus throughout the Arabian Leiurus clade with bootstrap-supported affinity to Arabian congeners and restricted intraspecific divergence. The generated 16S rRNA sequence represents the primary molecular file for L. nigellus and has been deposited in GenBank. Sexual dimorphism was evident in morphometric traits, however these variations replicate regular organic variation slightly than taxonomic differentiation. The invention of L. nigellus in northern Saudi Arabia emphasizes the significance of continued faunistic and genetic surveys in underexplored areas, each to refine species distributions and to tell conservation administration of specialised desert arachnofauna.