Kongsbergia (Kongsbergia) tuzovskiji Pešić & Smit, 2024

Pešić, Vladimir, Smit, Harry, Sharma, Neha, Rana, Kumbhlesh Kamal, Bahuguna, Pankaj & Rayal, Rajesh, 2024, Two new Kongsbergia species from the Western Himalaya with a key to the species of the genus from India (Acari: Hydrachnidia, Aturidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 74, pp. 1-8 : 2-5

Kongsbergia (Kongsbergia) tuzovskiji Pešić & Smit n. sp.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3A2529E8-A1DE-498F-9FB3-4DB2ADA9C4A9

( Fig. 1 )

Type material — Holotype male, dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH), India, Uttarakhand State, SPR- MD-02-FE spring-fed Maldevta stream ( Fig. 2 ), 30°19'50.7684" N, 78°08'23.4024" E, 2 February 2021 leg. N. Sharma. Paratypes: 1/0/0, same data as the holotype; 2/0/0, SPR-MD-01-JN, spring-fed Maldevta stream, 30º19'50.4444" N, 78º08'23.6256" E, 7 April 2020 leg. N. Sharma, dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH) .

Other material — 1/0/0 (one IV-L dissected and slide mounted), SPR-MD-02-JA spring-fed Maldevta stream, 30º19'55.2432" N, 78º08'20.6412" E, 30 January 2021 leg. N. Sharma ; 1/0/0, SPR- MD-01-OC spring fed Maldevta stream, 30º19'51.4848" N, 78º08'22.7112" E, 4 October 2020 leg. N. Sharma ; 1/0/0, SNO-DEV-RTH-01 Devprayag , 30º08'39.30" N, 78º35'51.30" E, 2 March 2020, leg. K. Kamal Rana ; 1/0/0, SNO-DEV-RTH-03, Devprayag , 30º08'25.77" N, 78º35'47.10" E, 13 June 2020, leg. K. Kamal Rana ; 2/0/0, SNO-DEV-RTH-06 Devprayag , 30º08'13.60" N, 78º35'48.10" E, 23 January 2021, leg. K. Kamal Rana ; 1/0/0 (one IV-L dissected and slide mounted), SNO-BAS-RTH-04, Byasi , 30º03'52.32" N, 78º28'03.74" E, 20 December 2020 leg. K. Kamal Rana.

Diagnosis. Male (Female unknown) — Dorsal shield with simple setae, without colour pattern, IV-L-4 distoventrally not projecting; IV-L-5 ventral margin in centre convexly protruding bearing a strong and curved medioventral seta and a distoventral stout and strongly pectinate seta.

Description. Male — Colour yellowish brown, idiosoma elongated, egg-shaped, lateral margins weakly convex, posterior margins of dorsal shield rounded, lateral eyes with black pigment dot, frontal margin between Dgl-1 medially indented. Dorsal and ventral shields present; dorsal shield with simple setae and with numerous wrinkles in lateral area, without any obvious colour pattern. Gnathosomal bay deep, suture Cx-I/II distinct, not reaching the medial line. Genital field with 40-50 pairs of acetabula, in one to three rows near posterior and lateral margins of the venter, gonopore small in terminal position on ventral surface ( Fig. 1E ), excretory pore on dorsal side of ventral shield anterior to the gonopore. Palp stout, P-2 dorsal margin convex, ventral margin proximally with a projection, distally with a blunt medial hump, P-4 stout, maximum H at the base, proximoventral seta longer and stouter than distoventral seta ( Figs. 1 C-D). IV-L: IV-L-2 distoventrally projecting, IV-L-4 not projecting distally, with some pectinate setae at distal margin; IV-L-5 ventral margin with a basal kink, in centre weakly convexly protruding bearing a small peg-like proximoventral seta, a stout, curved, bluntly pointed medioventral seta and a stout and strongly pectinate distoventral seta ( Fig. 1F ).

Measurements (holotype, in parentheses paratypes from SPR-MD-01-JN, n=2) — Dorsal shield L 309 (258-281), W 266 (188-203); ventral shield L 322 (267-298), W 247 (188-203); gnathosomal bay L 105 (78), Cx-III W 231. Palp: palp total 257 (216-231); dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 22/28, 0.77 (16-17/22, 0.73-0.74); P-2, 96/77, 1.24 (77-67/56-61, 1.19-1.26); P-3, 41/53, 0.76 (33-34/38-39, 0.86-0.87); P-4, 77/37, 2.06 (66-68/25-28, 2.42-2.66); P-5, 41/20, 2.03 (34-36/14-15, 2.48-2.49); L ratio P-2/P-4, 1.25 (1.02-1.13). Gnathosoma vL 131. Legs: dL of I-L: 41 (36), 48 (47), 47 (45), 55 (48), 66 (60), 86 (78); I-L-6 H 30 (25), L/H I-L-6 ratio 2.9 (3.1); dL of IV-L: 68 (51-56), 75 (61-71), 66 (54-58), 72 (56-58), 73 (60-61), 105 (86-92); IV-L-6 H 39 (33-36), L/H IV-L-6 ratio 2.68 (2.57-2.62).

Female — Unknown.

Etymology — The species is named after the late Dr Petr Tuzovskij (Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Borok, Russia), on the occasion of his passing away in December 2023, for his outstanding contribution in the research of water mites as well as his friendly relationship with the first (V.P.) and second author (H.S.) of this paper over more than twenty years.

Discussion — In the shape of the IV-L and palp, the new species is most similar to Kongsbergia variabilis Cook, 1967 , and K. indica Pešić & Smit, 2019 . The latter species, recently described from Uttarakhand ( Pešić et al. 2019), can be separated by the dorsal shield with four pairs of strong setae associated with accompanying glandularia. Moreover, the stout seta of IV-L-5 of K. indica is much larger and not curved. Kongsbergia variabilis , known from Maharashtra State of India ( Cook 1967) differs from the new species in the colour pattern consisting of a small anterior patch, and in the shape of IV-L with IV-L-4 distoventrally projecting but exhibiting various degrees of extension (for variation in IV-L-4 see Cook 1967, fig. 738), and IV-L-5 comparatively more slender with the distoventral seta comparatively more slender and curved, smooth, not strongly pectinate as in new species (see Cook 1967, fig. 736).

Variability — The male of new species shows variation in the size, and especially in the proportions of the palp (compare Figs. 1C and 1D ). The same pattern was observed by Cook (1967) for Kongsbergia rucira Cook, 1967 and K. variabilis , and by Pešić et al. (2019) for Kongsbergia indica .

Distribution — India; known only from Uttarakhand State.

Figures

Figure 1. Kongsbergia tuzovskiji Pešić & Smit n. sp., male (A, D, E – holotype; B-C, F-G – paratypes), Uttarakhand, Maldevta stream: A-B – dorsal shield; C-D – palp; E – ventral shield; F – IV-L; F – IV-L-2-6. Scale bars = 100 μm.

Figure 2. Photograph of Maldevta stream (locus typicus of K. tuzovskiji Pešić & Smit n. sp.). Photo by P. Bahuguna.