The taxonomy of the scorpion genus Buthus is advanced as a result of appreciable improve in newly reported species, their excessive diploma of similarity, and consequently, the good issue of their morphological differentiation. Tunisian species should not exempt from this concern, with a number of references highlighting the necessity for taxonomic revisions. This examine integrates DNA sequence information and morphological assessments to analyze the variety current in Tunisia and to supply morphological particulars that facilitate species identification. The outcomes present that the majority Tunisian specimens are distributed inside two clades. One clade contains 4 subclades comparable to B. tunetanus Herbst, 1800, B. paris C. L. Koch, 1839, B. chambiensis Kovařík 2006 and a southern group corresponding in all probability to B. lourencoi Rossi, Tropea & Yağmur, 2013. The second clade represents a brand new species described on this examine as B. saidnouirai Hajri, Bahri & Harris, sp. nov. No proof of B. dunlopi Kovařík 2006 have been recorded within the studied samples. Distances between all 5 species exceed the minimal divergence thresholds for Buthus species. The best distance was noticed between B. saidnouirai. sp. nov. and the southern group, whereas the smallest distance was between B. tunetanus and B. paris. Though the genetic variations revealed appreciable divergence of the brand new group from the 4 remaining species, the morphological evaluation didn’t determine the identical sample. These 5 species display a morphological form gradient by which B. paris and the southern group signify the 2 extremes, with B. paris being probably the most ornamented and the latter the least. The brand new species presents an intermediate morphology. The geographic distributions of the 5 reported species are mentioned on this work in accordance with the topography and orography of the area. Further lineages recognized from Algeria may additionally enter the western fringes of Tunisia.
Acknowledgment: I stay sincerely grateful to Gérard DUPRE for offering me with this manuscript.
Hajri, S., Bahri, L., & Harris, D. J. (2025). New Insights on Genetic and Morphological Divergence Amongst a Buthus Species Advanced From Tunisia With the Identification of a New Species. Ecology and Evolution, 15(12), e72556. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72556
