Atractides mirkopesici Pesic

Pesic, Vladimir, Saboori, Alireza, Asadi, Mahdieh & Vafaei, Reza, 2004, Studies on water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from Iran, I. The water mite genus Atractides Koch, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 495, pp. 1-40 : 12-14

Atractides mirkopesici Pesic sp. nov.

( Figs. 19–21 )

Type material: Holotype: female, dissected and mountedin Hoyer's fluid; Iran: IR24 Kerman Province, higher part (ca. 50 m from spring) of the stream in Simk village (30°30'0 N 57°12' 0E), 2370 m asl., 27.07.2003, leg. Pesic. Paratypes: two females, same data as holotype, one of these dissected and mounted in Hoyer's fluid.

Other Material: IR23 Kerman Province, ca. 60 km SW Kerman, SW Bardsir, higher part of Bid Khan stream near Bid Khan village (29°36'25 N 56°30' 24E), 2726 m asl., 26.07.2003, leg. Pesic (0/2/0); IR42 Yazd Province, Pandar spring in Pandar village (96 km SW from Yazd, ca. 31°28' N 54°12' E), 2838 m asl., 0 5.08.2003, leg. Pesic (0/1/0); IR39 Yazd Province, higher part of the stream, Deh Bala, 60 km SW from Yazd, 0 5.08.2003, leg. Pesic (0/1/0).

Diagnosis: dorsal integument: striated; muscle attachments: smooth. Coxal field: posterior margin Cx­1+2 medially equally rounded, with little protruding apodemes. I­L: little modified, I­L­5 with S­1/2 close together, short, and blunt, S­2 more stout compared to S­ 1; I­L­6 weakly curved, distally slightly thickened. Excretory pore: smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2. Palp: ventral margin P­2/3 straight, without any particular formations at distal edge, P­4 slender, a fine denticle near each ventral hair insertion, sword seta located halfway between ventral hairs.

Description

Female (measurements of paratype are given in parentheses): Length of idiosoma 665 (735), width 500 (536). Dorsally the integument is striated. Muscle attachments: unsclerotized. Coxal field ( Fig. 19 ): posterior margin Cx­1+2 medially equally rounded, with little protruding apodemes; length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 346 (383); Cx­3 width 423 (442), Cx­1+2 width 316 (350); Cx­1+2 medial suture line 131 (131) in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 255 (262). Measurements of mouthparts: chelicera 248 (259) in length, claw 64 (69) in length; palp total length 392 (431.5), dorsal length of single segments: P­1 31 (35), P­2 88 (96), P­3 111.5 (123), P­4 127(141), P­5 34.5 (36.5); relative length (% total length) of single segments: P­1 7.9 (8.1), P­2 22.4 (22.2), P­3 28.4 (28.5), P­4 32.4 (32.7), P­5 8.8 (8.5); ratio length P­2/P­4 is 0.69 (0.68); palp ( Fig. 21 ): ventral margins P­2/3 straight, without any particular formations at distal edge, P­4 slender, a fine denticle near each ventral hair insertion, sword seta halfway between ventral hairs: Genital field ( Fig. 19 ): Ac in a curved line; 147 in length, 161.5 (181) in width, Ac­1­3 length 27 (33.6)­27 (27)­30 (34.6); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.

I­L ( Fig. 20 ): little modified, I­L­5 with S­1/2 close to each other, short and blunt, setae S­2 more stout; I­L­6 weakly curved, distally slightly thickened; I­L­5 dorsal length 182 (205), I­L­5 ventral length 146 (167), ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 1.25 (1.23), I­L­5 central height 32 (40), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/central height 4.6 (5.1), S­1 length 52 (52.5), ratio length S­1/width 10.2 (10.3), S­2 length 47 (47.5), ratio length S­2/ width 6.1 (6.2), distance between sword setae of I­L­5 3.8 (3.8); ratio length S­1/2 1.1 (1.1); I­L­6 length 135 (151), I­L­6 central height 23 (31), ratio length I­L­6 /central height 5.9 (5.0); ratio length I­L­5/6 1.35 (1.36).

Male: Unknown.

Discussion: Species similar to A. mirkopesici sp. nov. in the little modified I­L­5/6 with relatively short, homoiomorphic setae S­1/2 are A. graecus K.Viets, 1950 , A. clavipes Lundblad, 1954 , A. tenerifensis Lundblad, 1962 , A. dentipalpis Walter, 1935 , A. sabulonis Cook, 1967 , A. pumilus ( Szalay, 1946) , and A. pygmaeus ( Motas & Tanasachi, 1948) . A. mirkopesici sp. nov. differs from the latter two species in a less elongated coxal and genital field, Vgl­1 not fused with Vgl­2, and the sword seta of P­4 more distanced from the distoventral hair. Furthermore, A. pygmaeus and A. sabulonis differs in much smaller dimensions and the presence of sclerotized muscle attachments, and A. pumilus in the sclerotized excretory pore and the presence of distoventral denticles on P­2. The latter character is also characteristic for A. dentipalpis , a species differing from A. mirkopesici sp. nov. in the broader, less protruding mediocaudal margin of Cx­1+2. From A. dentipalpis , A. mirkopesici sp. nov. differs in the more slender I­L­6 and the P­2 with smooth, not denticulated ventrodistal edge.

A. tenerifensis (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003), differs from A. mirkopesici sp. nov. in a more slender coxal field with a longer medial suture line Cx­1+2 (mL 153 µm), the setae S­1/2 placed side by side, the sword seta insertednear proximoventral hair, I­L­5/6 nearly equal in length (I­L­5/6<1.1), more shorter S­1 and S­2 (L<35 µm), and a more stout palp and I­L­5/6 (L/HB I­L­5<5.0, I­L­6<4.5).

A. mirkopesici sp. nov. differs from A. clavipes (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003) by the following characters: the posterior margin of Cx­1+2 medially equally rounded (acute­angled in A. clavipes ), relatively longer I­L­5 (I­L­5 shorter than I­L­6, L I­L­5/6<1.0), more slender I­L­6 (L/HB<4.0) and the sword seta inserted halfway between the ventral hairs of P­4 (sword seta on the level of the distoventral hair).

Atractides mirkopesici shares the combination of a posterior margin of Cx­1+2 medially equally rounded, and I­L­5 relatively longer (L I­L­5/6>1.3), with A. graecus , a crenobiontic species, so far only known from Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria (Pesic, in press). As compared to A. graecus (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003 and Pesic 2002a), A. mirkopesici sp. nov. is characterized by the following characters: a longer medial suture Cx­1+2, mL>130 (mL 100­107), the sword seta with denticulated ventral edge (without denticulation), the more slender I­L­6, L/HB> 4.9 (L/HB I­L­6 <4.5, 3.47 in holotype), a more stout setae S­2, L/W <6.3 (L/ W 8.2 ­9.0) and a less homoiomorphic setae S­1 and S­2, L S­1/2 1.1 (L S­1/2 1.0).

Etymology: The species is named after Mirko Pesic, father of the first author (V.P.) in appreciation of his care and support.

Biology: Atractides mirkopesici sp. nov. is a rhitrobiontic species, which inhabits streams at higher elevations; crenophilous.

Distribution: Iran; Kerman and Yazd Province.

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 21. Atractides mirkopesici sp. nov., female: 19 = coxal and genital field; 20 = I­L­ 5 / 6; 21 = palp. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.