Two new alkali-sink specialist species of Paruroctonus Werner 1934 (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae) from central California

Abstract

Herein we describe two new species of Paruroctonus (Werner 1934) from California: Paruroctonus soda sp. nov. from the Soda Lake playa at the center of the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo county and Paruroctonus conclusus sp. nov. from the Koehn Lake playa in the Mojave Desert of Kern County. They can be differentiated from other Paruroctonus by a combination of morphological features including deeply scalloped pedipalp fingers in males, specific patterns of fuscous pigmentation, unique setal counts, and unique morphometric ratios. They can also be separated from one another by the latter three characters. Photographs of a large selection of live scorpions are provided, including detailed images and figures of many morphological features. Their distributions, habitats, and ecologies are discussed; and important steps towards their conservation are described.