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Abstract The ‘tooth-tailed’ scorpions of the buthid genus Odontobuthus comprises six species with an allopatric or parapatric pattern of distribution in the Middle East, but the diversity of Odontobuthus in Iran appears to be underestimated, with the limits of several species remaining unclear. In the present contribution, an integrative approach to the systematics of Odontobuthus was applied, to determine the taxonomic validity and phylogenetic relationships among its species. Statistical analyses of five meristic characters, 38 morphometric characters and 21 morphometric ratios, combined with molecular phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, were conducted. All previously described species of Odontobuthus were found to be well supported, and new morphological diagnoses are here presented. Additionally, three new species: Odontobuthus baluchicus sp. nov. from the Makkoran Mountains, Odontobuthus chabaharensis sp. nov. from the coast of the Gulf of Oman (Sistan and Baluchistan Provinces) and Odontobuthus kermanus sp. nov. from Kerman Province, are described, raising the total number of Odontobuthus species to nine, six of which are endemic or subendemic to the Iranian Plateau. A distribution map and identification key to the species of Odontobuthus are also provided.
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This content will become publicly available on January 8, 2026
Integrative taxonomy of introduced Haplosclerida and four new species from Hawaiʻi
Haplosclerid sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae: Heteroscleromorpha), and particularly the family Chalinidae, are notoriously difficult to identify through taxonomic methods alone. Here we use an integrative approach to confirm the identification and report both polymorphic characters and different morphotypes exhibited from a recruitment stage that complicate identification of introduced haplosclerid species Haliclona (Soestella) caerulea and Gelliodes conulosa sp. nov. in Hawaiʻi. Using these same methods, we also describe three new species Haliclona (Gellius) pahua sp. nov., Haliclona (Reniera) kahoe sp. nov., Haliclona (Rhizoniera) loe sp. nov. from our collections in Kāne‘ohe Bay. Using a combination of mitochondrial and ribosomal RNA sequences, we compile a phylogeny that is consistent with previous molecular work but is at odds with the morphological characters used to classify species belonging to Chalinidae and Niphatidae families within Haplosclerida. Although shared morphological traits were distributed across taxa throughout the tree, both mitochondrial and ribosomal RNA sequences were diagnostic, with an average of at least 3 % sequence divergence among species and their closest relative. This study highlights both the use of standardized Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) to access the hidden diversity of haplosclerid sponges, and the potential for competition between these introduced and newly described and potentially endemic species.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2048457
- PAR ID:
- 10568326
- Publisher / Repository:
- Zootaxa
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Zootaxa
- Volume:
- 5566
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1175-5326
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 243 to 272
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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