Axonopsis (Hexaxonopsis) romijni Viets, 1923

Esen, Yunus, Pešić, Vladimir & Erman, Orhan, 2011, Water mites of the family Aturidae Thor, 1900 from Turkey (Acari: Hydrachnidia), with description of two new species, Zootaxa 2746, pp. 25-42 : 29-30

Axonopsis (Hexaxonopsis) romijni Viets, 1923

( Figs. 3 A–F)

New records. Bingöl Province, Genç, Kale stream, 38°31'41"N 40°32'40"E, 920 m asl., 19.vii.2010, (1/3/0); ibid., 04.viii.2010, (2/0/0).

Further material (as ” Axonopsis serrata ” Pešiċ et al. 2006 ): Turkey, Malatya Province, Arapgir, Kozluk stream, 39º04'N 38º30'E, 950 m asl., 05.vii.2004, Esen (8/20/0).

Morphology. Male: Dorsal shield L 436, W 352; ventral shield ( Fig. 3 F) L 436, W 353; capitular bay L 107; W between most lateral pair of Ac; W 147; gonopore W 29; palp: total L 197, dL and %L (in parentheses): P-1 34 (17.3); P-2 43 (21.8); P-3 27 (13.7); P-4 72 (36.5); P-5 21 (10.7); L P-2/P-4 ratio 0.60; chelicera total L 96; capitulum ventral L 75. Legs: dL of I-L-3-6: 33-58-72-77; dL of IV-L: 54-71-65-88-100-94; swimming setae numbers: II-L-5 3; III-L-4 2; III-L-5 3-4; IV-L-4 2; IV-L-5 2-3;

Female: Similar to male except for the shape of the genital field ( Fig. 3 B); dorsal shield ( Fig. 3 A) L 449, W 358; ventral shield ( Fig. 3 B) L 449, W 360; capitular bay L 110; W between most lateral pair of Ac 163; gonopore W 81; palp ( Figs. 3 C–D): total L 195, dL and %L: P-1 31 (15.9); P-2 43 (22.1); P-3 30 (15.4); P-4 70 (35.9); P-5 21 (10.8); L P-2/P-4 ratio 0.61; chelicera total L 94; capitulum ventral L 83. Legs: dL of I-L-4-6 ( Fig. 3 E): 58-68-69; dL of IV-L: 54-77-71-78-88-87; palp chaetotaxy and swimming setae numbers as in male.

Remarks. Due to the combination of the following features: the absence of spine–like projections on the dorsal shield, the lack of lateral projections on the sides of the ventral shield, only lateral ends of Cx- I and -II produced into hook-like projections (see K. Viets 1923) and the ventral side of P-4 bearing a relatively long and very heavy seta, the specimens from Turkey show a general conformity with Axonopsis romijni , a rhitrobiontic species recorded from scattered areas in Europe. An analysis of the specimens published by Pešiċ et al. (2006) as Axonopsis serrata shows that these specimens represent A. romijni .

Axonopsis armata Chaudonneret & Angelier, 1949 , a species described from a single female specimen from France, closely resemble A. romijni . In the original description, Chaudonneret & Angelier (1949), considered the presence of a suture line between Cx-II and –III, and a slight differences in the location of acetabula as diagnostic for Axonopsis armata compared with A. romijni . However, the aforementioned characters are known to vary (often as a result of mounting) and are considered nowadays to be of minor taxonomic importance in the genus Axonopsis . Other information available from the original description (e.g. only lateral ends of Cx-I and – II with hooks) is in close agreement with A. romijni . Thus, A. armata should be considered a junior synonym of A. romijni .

Distribution. Europe. New for Turkey.

Figures

FIGURE 3 A-F. Axonopsis (Hexaxonopsis) romijni Viets, 1923, (A-E = female, F = male): A = idiosoma, dorsal view; B = idiosoma, ventral view; C = palp, medial view; D = palp, lateral view; E = I-L- 1 - 6; F = idiosoma, ventral view. Scale bars = 100 μm.