Arrenurus (Arrenurus) petri Cook, 1979

Smit, H., 2012, New records of the water mite family Arrenuridae from the Afrotropical region, with the description of 11 new species and two new subspecies (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 3187, pp. 1-31 : 10

Arrenurus (Arrenurus) petri Cook, 1979

( Figs. 23–24)

Material examined. GHANA. 1/0/0, Lake Kokrobite, Weija , 5° 33’ 7,90” N 0° 22’ 34,69´W, leg. P. Wondergem; 1/0/0, Drinking water reservoir, W of Accra, 5° 33.133 N 0° 22.147 W, alt. 14 m asl, 21-ii-2011 ; 0/1/0, Inlet Volta River at Kpong , 6° 09.183 N 0° 03.709 W, alt. 25 m a.s.l., 10-iii-2011 .

Description. Female: Idiosoma greenish, 1447 long and 1508 wide. Idiosoma anteriorly and posteriorly truncated, anterior margin concave. Dorsal shield complete, relatively small, 761 long and 729 wide. D1 and L4 on large humps. Anterior coxal plates not extending to anterior idiosoma margin. Medial margin of fourth coxal plates much larger than medial margin of third coxal plates. Medial distance of fourth coxal plates smaller than width of one genital valve. Gonopore 150 long and 192 wide, possibly with sclerotized patches, but as the female is young, these probably not fully developed. Genital field 867 long, genital plates long and relatively narrow, with undulating anterior and posterior margins. V2 on large humps. Lengths of PI-PV: 48, 118, 110, 130, 92. PII medially with three setae, one of which in the anteroventral corner. PIV dorsally with a hump, dorsal margin concave, antagonistic bristle heavy. Lengths of I-leg-4-6: 243, 214, 180. Lengths of IV-leg-4-6: 284, 251, 194.

Remarks. See under A. capensis . The female provisionally assigned here to A. petri was collected from the same location as the one from where Cook (1979) described the species, i.e. Volta River. The palp of this female is much more similar to the male A. petri than the palp of the female described by Cook. The only difference with the male of A. petri , is that the female has one seta in the anteroventral corner of PII, and the male two. PIV of A. capensis lacks the hump, and the dorsal margin is only slightly concave. Arrenurus petri is only known from Ghana.