Phylogenetic analysis of scorpions of the genus Mesobuthus (Vachon, 1950), inhabiting the territory of Kazakhstan, based on the analysis of fragments of mitochondrial and nuclear genes.

Abstract

The taxonomy of scorpions belonging to the genus Mesobuthus has undergone significant revisions in recent times. Initially, based on the morphological characteristics, scientists identified and described a considerable number of subspecies within different species of this genus. However, in the last decade, modern researchers have “revised” the species diversity of the genus based on the results of genetic and morphological analyses, forming new separate species complexes. As a result, a species complex called “Mesobuthus caucasicus” was identified, which was later reassigned to the genus Olivierus by František Kovařík in 2019. Currently, the genus Olivierus comprises 18 species, with 7 of them inhabiting the territory of Central Asia. The distribution ranges of most Central Asian species of the genus Olivierus overlap with those of the genus Mesobuthus. Specifically, in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the species Olivierus gorelovi occurs, whose distribution range coincides with that of Mesobuthus thersites. Due to this overlap, the taxonomic status of some scorpion populations inhabiting the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan remains uncertain and poorly studied. The authors of this study attempted to determine the phylogenetic relationships among individuals from different populations using data obtained from molecular genetic barcoding. The analysis was conducted on three nuclear and one mitochondrial gene fragments of scorpions inhabiting the regions of Zhambyl, Karaganda, Atyrau, Turkestan, Abay, and Almaty. The obtained results indicate that scorpions of the genus Olivierus inhabit the territories of Atyrau, Almaty, Karaganda, and Turkestan regions, while scorpions of the genus Mesobuthus inhabit the territories of Zhambyl, Karaganda, and Abay regions. This study makes a direct contribution to the study of scorpion fauna biodiversity in Central Asia.