878 Faunal research doi: 10.1016/S2222-1808(16)61150-7 ©2016 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease. All rights reserved. Species composition and geographical distribution of Saharan scorpion fauna, Morocco Oulaid Touloun 1,2 * , Moulay Abdelmonaim El Hidan 2 , Ali Boumezzough 2 1 Polyvalent Laboratory of Research and Development, Department of Biology and Geology, Polydisciplinary Faculty, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, 23030, Morocco 2 Laboratory of Ecology and Environment, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco Asian Pac J Trop Dis 2016; 6(11): 878-881 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtd *Corresponding author: Oulaid Touloun, Polyvalent Laboratory of Research and Development, Department of Biology and Geology, Polydisciplinary Faculty, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, 23030, Morocco. Tel: +212 661231711 Fax: +212 523424597 E-mail: o_touloun@yahoo.fr Foundation Project: Supported by Laboratory of Ecology and Environment, (CNRST, URAC 32) and the National Center for Studies and Research on the Sahara, CNERS Project (Contract No. 06/ERACNERS-2012). The journal implements double-blind peer review practiced by specially invited international editorial board members. 1. Introduction The Vachon monography[1] is the only synthetic work remained so far on the systematics and distribution of scorpions in North Africa. Through this work, the majority of Moroccan scorpion fauna is known and processed. However, despite its importance, this work has rarely addressed the Saharan and pre-Saharan regions of Morocco where scorpion fauna remained unknown. Since the beginning of the last decade, many scientific works have contributed significantly to the knowledge of the ecology and biogeography of Saharan and pre-Saharan scorpions[2-9]. Some of these works led to the discovery of six new species for science, such as Butheoloides occidentalis near Tan Tan[3], Buthus bonito (B. bonito) along the Atlantic coast between Tan Tan and Tarfaya[5], Microbuthus maroccanus (M. maroccanus) at 20 km from North Tan Tan[2], Sahabobuthus elegans (S. elegans) in the extreme south of Morocco near Tichla[8], Orthochirus maroccanus at 45 km from Assa towards Aouinet Torkoz[9] and Butheoloides littoralis in north of Sidi Ifni in the southern coast and Sidi Moussa, west of Tiznit[6]. As part of an overall program of ecological and biogeographical study of Moroccan scorpion fauna with the aim to contribute in the development of the knowledge about scorpion distribution in under- explored Saharan regions, an exploration and a collection mission in Saharan region have been conducted in July 2014. The current work presents the results of this study. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Study areas The study was conducted in two southern administrative regions of Morocco, Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab, which occupy an area of around 282 883 km 2 [10,11]. Seven sites were surveyed (Figure 1) (Table 1). The study area was a vast territory with homogeneous landscape. This was a large desert area with vast plateau and rocky slabs, usually limestones or sandstones. This area had no large variation relief, except dry wadis (riverbeds). Sand dunes were located in certain places and cliffs near the Atlantic coast. The study area was affected both by the low amount of rainfall received and the intensity of the dry Saharan. This was a more temperate and humid coastal desert near the coast, but the climate was very dry eastward inside land. As a vast stretch of the desert, the study area was dotted with a ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the species composition of scorpions and to study its geographical distribution in Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab regions in July 2014. Methods: To locate scorpions, the ground was examined through searching the places under the stones, rocks and in burrows. The nocturnal missions were also conducted using portable ultraviolet lamps. The scorpions were subsequently identified in the laboratory. Results: The results of the investigations in these regions showed the presence of five scorpion species, two of which Androctonus gonneti and Buthus bonito were endemic in Morocco. Conclusions: This work is allowed to complete the inventory of the studied scorpion fauna and provides some considerations on the distribution patterns in the study area. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Article history: Received 17 Jul 2016 Received in revised form 8 Aug, 2nd revised form 18 Aug 2016 Accepted 12 Sep 2016 Available online 30 Sep 2016 Keywords: Scorpions Inventory Distribution Saharan regions Morocco