Onychogomphus cazuma sp. nov. from Spain: Molecular and morphological evidence supports the discovery of a new European dragonfly species (Odonata: Gomphidae)

Onychogomphus cazuma Barona, Cardo & Diaz sp. nov. is described from the mountainous inland area of Valencia in central-eastern Spain. The new species presents a combination of morphological characters that distinguishes it from all other species of the genus and can be readily identified by the morphology of the male appendages and the female vulvar scale, and by the shape of the median lobe of the prementum and the labial palps of the exuvia. Molecular analysis of two genetic markers, one nuclear and one mitochondrial (PRMT and COII), supports the full species rank for this new taxon, which is sister to the north-western African endemic O. boudoti. Despite its small known distribution and the vulnerability of its habitat, available data are still insufficient to place this new species into an IUCN Red List of Threatened Species category.