Taintaturus indentatus, Smit, Harry, 2017

Smit, Harry, 2017, Notoaturine water mites from New Zealand (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Notoaturinae) with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 4247 (1), pp. 16-30 : 26

Taintaturus indentatus n. sp.

( Fig. 5A–C )

Material examined. Holotype female, Camping Gully Stream, near Rakaia Gorge , hyporheic, 43° 31.608 S 171° 40.345 E, alt. 282 m asl, 19-xii-2014 ( MONZ). Paratype: one female, same data as holotype ( RMNH) .

Diagnosis. Hood indented.

Description. Female: Characters of genus as given by Cook (1983). Idiosoma ventrally 462 (458) long and 300 (300) wide. Integument rugose, pigment absent, eyes present. Dorsal shield 322 long (302); medial dorsal plates without reticulations. Hood 36 (30) wide, anterior margin indented. Excretory pore located dorsally. Suture lines of coxae obliterated. Gonopore 52 long, posteriorly indented. Acetabula not visible due to rugosity of integument. Length of P1-5: 20, 38, 24, 46, 22. P2 and P3 with an anteroventral extension, P2 extension with two minute teeth (which are too small to illustrate). Gnathosoma 88 long. Length of I-leg-4-6: 36, 42, 50. Length of IVleg-2-6: 84, -, -, 30, 42. Swimming setae absent.

Male: Unknown.

Etymology. Named for the indented hood.

Remarks. The indented hood is only found in T. accidens and T. longipileatus n. sp. Unfortunately, the female of T. accidens is unknown. However, the indentation of the hood of the male is more shallow and the anterior lateral corners of the hood are rounded (pointed in the new species). Moreover, the postocularia are situated more anteriorly on the anteromedial dorsal plate in T. accidens . From T. longipiliatus n.sp. the new species differs in a much shorter hood.

Figures

FIGURE 5 A – C. Taintaturus indentatus n. sp., holotype female. A = dorsum; B = venter; C = gnathosoma + palp. Scale bars = 50 µm.