Molecular study of Hemiscorpius Peters (Scorpiones: Hemiscorpiidae) in Hormozgan province, South of Iran

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

1 Department of Medical Entomology & Vector Control, School of Public Health, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran

2 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Agriculture Institute, Research Institute of Zabol

10.32592/ARI.2024.79.1.211

Abstract

Background: Three species of Hemiscorpius reported from Hormozgan province for which the available antivenoms do not have the proper effect for treating patients, so it was necessary to do an exact identification of the existing species, as the first step to manage the treatment procedures.
Objective: Considering the morphological similarity of the species, the aim of this research is the molecular study of the samples to accurately identify the species.
Methods: Hemiscorpius specimens were collected from various locations of Hormozgan province in 2021 to 2023. Cytochrome oxidase I gene was amplified and sequenced. Four sequences obtained from Hemiscorpius specimens collected from Hormozgan province and three sequences from NCBI were analyzed. Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees constructed and discussed.
Result: Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees showed similar results. Hemiscorpius acanthocercus placed at the base of the tree as an older species. Hemiscorpius enischnochela is placed next to H. lepturus as the newest species at the tip of the tree. The results confirmed the validity of three species, H. acanthocercus, H. enischnochela and H. lepturus. Hemiscorpius lepturus is placed as a sister group of H. enischnochela, while H. lepturus morphologically is similar to H. acanthocercus.
Conclusions: Molecular data from COI gene confirmed the validity of three independent species consisting: H. acanthocercus, H. enischnochela and H. lepturus. Hemiscorpius acanthocercus and H. lepturus are known having dangerous venom for humans and there are reports of death due to their stings. Considering the importance of the members of this genus from the medical point of view, it is necessary to examine all the species of this genus.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
1. Rein JO. The scorpion files. Retrieved from:
https://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files. 2023. [Accessed July
2023].
2. Barahoei H, Navidpour Sh, Aliabadian M, Siahsarvie R,
Mirshamsi O. Scorpions of Iran (Arachnida: Scorpiones):
Annotated checklist, DELTA database and identification key.
Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics; 2020. 6(4): 375-
474.
3. Shahi M, Barahoei, H. Morphological study of Hemiscorpius
Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Hemiscorpiidae) in Hormozgan
province, Southern Iran. Archives of Razi Institute; 2023. In
press.
4. Mirshamsi O, Azghadi S, Navidpour Sh, Aliabadian M,
Kovařík F. Odontobuthus tirgari sp. nov. (Scorpiones,
Buthidae) from the eastern region of the Iranian Plateau.
Zootaxa; 2013. 3731(1): 153–170.
5. Azghadi S, Mirshamsi O, Navidpour Sh, Aliabadian M.
Scorpions of the genus Odontobuthus Vachon, 1950
(Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Iran: Phylogenetic relationships
inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Zoology in
the Middle East; 2014. 60(2): 169-179.
6. Jolodar A. Molecular characterization and phylogeny analysis
based on sequences of cytochrome oxidase gene from
Hemiscorpius lepturus of Iran. Iranian Journal of Veterinary
Research; 2019. 13(1): 59-67.
7. Jafari H, Salabi F, Navidpour Sh, Forouzan A. Phylogenetic
and Morphological Analyses of Androctonus crassicauda from
Khuzestan Province, Iran (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Archives of
Razi Institute; 2020a. 75(3): 405-412.
8. Jafari H, Salabi F, Forouzan A. A study of genetic diversity
among different population of Orthochirus sp. based on
cytochrome C oxidase subunit I and 16srRNA sequencing.
Turkish Journal of Zoology; 2020b. 44: 64-68.
9. Soltan‑Alinejad P, Rafinejad J, Dabiri F, Onorati P, Terenius O,
Chavshin AR. Molecular analysis of the mitochondrial markers
COI, 12S rDNA and 16S rDNA for six species of Iranian
scorpions. BMC Research Notes; 2021. 14(40): 1-6.
10. Barahoei H, Prendini L, Navidpour Sh, Tahir HM, Aliabadian
M, Siahsarvie R, Mirshamsi O. Integrative systematics of the
tooth-tailed scorpions, Odontobuthus (Buthidae), with
descriptions of three new species from the Iranian Plateau.
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society; 2022. 195(2): 355-
398.
11. Mohseni A, Vazirianzadeh B, Hossienzadeh M, Salehcheh M,
Moradi A, Moravvej SA. The roles of some scorpions,
Hemiscorpius lepturus and Androctonus crassicauda, in a
scorpionism focus in Ramhormorz, southwestern Iran. Journal
of insect science; 2013. 13(89): 1-12.
12. Rahmani AH, Forouzandeh H, Kalantar M, Asad-Masjedi N,
Alavian Z, Kavarizadeh K. Epidemiological and clinical
characteristics of scorpion stings in Ahwaz, Southwest Iran
(2006-2010). International Journal of Medical Toxicology and
Forensic Medicine; 2015. 5(4 ): 201-216.
13. Shahi M, Rafinejad J, Az-Khosravi L, Moosavy SH. First
report of death due to Hemiscorpius acanthocercus
envenomation in Iran: Case report. Electron Physician; 2015.
7(5): 1234-1238.
14. Akbar N, Sajjad A, Rizwan S, Munir S, Mehmood K, Ali SA,
Rakhshanda AM, Zahid H. Scorpion’s Biodiversity and
Proteinaceous Components of Venom. International Journal of
Biosciences; 2021. 18(2): 146-162.
15. Alqahtani AR, Badry A. Genetic diversity among different
species of the genus Leiurus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Saudi
Arabia and the Middle East. Saudi Journal of Biological
Sciences; 2020. 27(12): 3348-3353.
16. Cain S, Gefen E, Prendini L. Systematic revision of the sand
scorpions, genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae CL Koch,
1837) of the Levant, with redescription of Buthacus arenicola
(Simon, 1885) from Algeria and Tunisia. Bulletin of the
American Museum of Natural History; 2021. 450(1): 1-134.
17. Kovařík F, Fet V, Gantenbein B, Graham MR, Yağmur EA,
Šťáhlavský F, Poverennyi NM, Novruzov NE. A revision of the
genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950, with a description of 14 new
species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Euscorpius; 2022. 348: 1-189.
222 Shahi et al / Archives of Razi Institute, Vol. 79, No. 1 (2024) 216-222
18. Folmer O, Black M, Hoeh W, Lutz R, Vrijenhoek R. DNA
primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c
oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates.
Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology; 1994. 3(5): 294-
299.
19. Hall TA. BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence
alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT.
Nucleic Acids Symposium Series; 1999. 4: 95-98.
20. Kumar S, Stecher G, Tamura K. MEGA7: Molecular
Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets.
Molecular Biology and Evolution; 2016. 33: 1870-1874.
21. Guindon S, Dufayard JF, Lefort V, Anisimova M, Hordijk W,
Gascuel O. New Algorithms and Methods to Estimate
Maximum-Likelihood Phylogenies: Assessing the Performance
of PhyML 3.0. Systematic Biology; 2010. 59(3): 307-21.
22. Jalali A, Pipelzadedh MH, Sayedian R, Rowan EG. A review
of epidemiological, clinical and in vitro physiological studies of
envenomation by the scorpion Hemiscorpius lepturus
(Hemiscorpiidae) in Iran. Toxicon; 2010. 55(2-3): 173-179.
Archives of Razi Institute
Volume 79, Issue 1
January and February 2024
Pages 211-217

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics