Limnesia (Limnesia) victoria, Smit, 2022

Smit, Harry, 2022, New records of water mites of the family Limnesiidae Thor from Australia (Acari: Hydrachnidia), with the description of seven new species, Acarologia 62 (1), pp. 193-222 : 213

Limnesia (Limnesia) victoria sp. nov.

Zoobank: 054F8954-80D9-4CE9-A5D4-30B4B82AB88E

( Figure 8 A-E)

Material examined — Holotype male, small rock pools near Rollasons Falls, Mt Buffalo

NP, Victoria, Australia, 11 Oct. 1997 ( NMV). Paratypes: One male, two females ( NMV), one male, two females ( RMNH), same data as holotype.

Diagnosis — Cx-I separated, male genital field forming a complete ring, legs with swimming setae.

Description — Male: Idiosoma dorsally 956 (923-948) long and 790 (770-786) wide, ventrally 940 (842-940) long. Integument coarsely lineated. Postocularia on small, triangular platelets ( Figure 8A ), dorsal posteromedial platelet 92 long and 66 wide. Cx-I separated ( Figure 8B ), Cxgl-4 lying on Cx-III, well separated from associated seta. Cx-III medially with some small secondary sclerotization. Cxgl-3 distanced from Vgl-1. Genital field forming a complete ring, 211 long and 227 wide, with three pairs of acetabula; gonopore relatively large, about

¾ length of genital field. Length of P1-5: 24, 120, 80, 170, 50. P2 ventrally with a pointed peg-like seta, not inserted on a tubercle; P4 slender, with small setal tubercles ( Figure 8C ). Length of I-leg-4-6: 170, 214, 168. Length of IV-leg-4-6: 227, 251, 235. IV-leg-6 with two subterminal setae ( Figure 8D ), the most anterior one 146 long. Swimming setae: IV-leg-5 one, IV-leg-4 four (these setae longer than IV-leg-5), III-leg-4 with five, III-leg-5 with one and II-leg-4 with one; swimming-like setae of III-leg-5 distributed over entire length of segment.

Female: Apart from genital field, in most aspects similar to male. Idiosoma dorsally 1158 (1025-1186) long and 964 (844-925) wide, ventrally 1118 (1025-1206) long. Integument as in male. Posteromedial platelet 116 long and 104 wide. Cx-I medially separated ( Figure 8E ). Genital field with three pairs of acetabula, 235 long and 227 wide. Length of P1-5: 25, 132, 102, 182, 52; palp as in male. Length of I-leg-4-6: 172, 202, 160. Length of IV-leg-4-6: 279, 275, 251; anterior of the two subterminal seta of IV-leg-6 166 long. Legs as in male.

Etymology — Named for its occurrence in the state of Victoria, the name is a noun in apposition.

Remarks — Two species known from Australia with swimming setae have Cx-I separated, i.e. L. patens and L. otruma . In these species the male genital field doesn′t form a complete ring.

Figures

Figure 8 Limnesia (Limnesia) victoria sp. nov., A-D holotype male, E paratype female. A – dorsum; B – venter; C – palp; D – IV-leg-5-6; E – venter. Scale bars: A-B, E = 200 µm, C-D = 50 µm.