Mamersa expansa Cook, 1979 –,

Smit, Harry, 2021, Water mites from West Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Acarologia 61 (3), pp. 700-746 : 703

Mamersa expansa Cook, 1979 – nov. stat.

New records. Ghana. 1/1/0, lake near Mankessim, 5°16′3.93″ N 1°0′11.74″ W, 3 Jan. 2010, leg. P. Wondergem; 3/1/2, roadside pool along road Axim-Elubo, 4°58.162 N 2°24.815 W,

9 m a.s.l., 25 Feb. 2011 ; 3/1/0, Amansuri Wetland, 5°00.398′ N 2°35.162′ W, 12 m a.s.l., 26 Feb. 2011 ; 4/2/0, shallow part Amansuri Wetland, 4°59.635′ N 2°35.417′ W, 26 Feb. 2011 ; 1/0/0, First pond, Ankasa NP, 5°17.415′ N 2°38.384′ W, 89 m a.s.l., 14 Feb. 2013 ; 0/1/0, Inlet

Volta River at Kpong, 6°09.183′ N 0°03.709′ E, 25 m a.s.l., 27 Feb. 2013.

Remarks. Cook (1979) described this taxon as a subspecies of M. testudinata Koenike, 1898 . Now the nominate taxon and its subspecies have been found on the same locality, they cannot belong to the same species. Moreover, the differences between the two taxa are quite large. Cook (1979) mentioned already the separation of Cxgl-1 and -2 by the genital plates. Mamersa expansa is much longer than M. testudinata and the genital plates are much longer (see Table 1). Consequently, the number of acetabula is much larger in M. expansa .

For differences between males and females see under M. testudinata .

Distribution. Uganda ( Cook 1979), Ghana (this study).