Copidognathus jejuensis Chatterjee and Chang, 2004

Chatterjee, Tapas & Chang, Cheon Young, 2006, Descriptions of two new species of the genus Copidognathus and females of Copidognathus jejuensis (Acari: Halacaridae) from Korea, Journal of Natural History 40 (29 - 31), pp. 1761-1774 : 1771-1773

Copidognathus jejuensis Chatterjee and Chang, 2004

( Figure 5 )

Copidognathus jejuensis Chatterjee and Chang 2004a, p. 192 , Figures 1A–F , 2A–J .

Material examined

Ten females, five males, Masan-ri (36 ° 019060N, 129 ° 299270E), Youngil Bay, South Korea, 4 November 2004 (C. Y. Chang and T. Chatterjee), among coralline algae .

Female

Idiosoma 334–360 mm long. AD 107 mm long, 85 mm wide. OC 90 mm long, 43 mm wide (length to width ratio about 2.1) in one side, while 87 mm long, 44 mm wide (length to width ratio about 2.0) in other side. PD 129 mm long, 103 mm wide. PD truncate anteriorly.

Posterior margin of AE arched. GA 156 mm long, 113 mm wide. GO 59 mm long, 27 mm wide. Ovipositor small going 13 mm anteriorly from the anterior margin of GO. Distance between anterior margin of GO to that of GA 70 mm, about 1.2 times length of GO. Three pairs of PGS present, first pair anterior to GO, second pair below the level of anterior margin of GO, third pair beside posterior part of GO ( Figure 5D ). One pair of SGS present.

Rostrum tip almost reaching distodorsal end of P 2 ( Figure 5C ). Rostral sulcus long, extending beyond tritorostral setae posteriorly.

Telofemora I and II with ventromedial and ventrolateral lamellae. Lateral edge of ventrolateral lamella on telofemur I uneven. Telofemora III and IV with large ventrodistal and smaller distal lamellae. All patella and tibiae with distoventral and distal lamellae. Tibiae I and II each with two denticulate processes proximoventrally ( Figure 5E, F ). Tarsus III with four dorsal setae and two smooth PAS, while tarsus IV with three dorsal setae and two plumose PAS. Two anterior dorsal setae on tarsi III and IV plumose in nature that are clearly found under SEM study. Lateral claws with accessory process dorsally and pectinate ventrally. Lateral claws of leg I consist of less tines than in claws of legs II–IV. Lateral claws of legs II–IV with about 17–20 tines ( Figure 5G, H ).

Variability

Edge of ventrolateral lamella of telofemur I varies from slight to very uneven and in some specimens almost serrated. In some specimens ventrolateral lamellar edge of telofemur II is also uneven. Length to width ratio of OC varies from 1.8 to 2.1. Posterior tip of OC varies slightly among individuals: in some specimens it is slightly blunt while in others more pointed, in some specimens this variation is even found in right and left side of OC also. Length of rostral sulcus varied from 0.65 to 0.74. The position of tritorostral setae ranged from 0.45 to 0.53 of rostrum length from the tip of rostrum.

Remarks

The male of Copidognathus jejuensis Chatterjee and Chang was earlier recorded from Jejudo Island, Korea ( Chatterjee and Chang 2004a). The female of this species is recorded here for the first time. SEM structure of male tarsus IV shows two plumose PAS. Female tarsus IV also shows similar plumose PAS. There is no sexual dimorphism found on PAS in this species.

Figures

Figure 1. Copidognathus quadriporosus n. sp. (A–D) Male; (E) female. (A) Idiosoma, dorsal; (B) idiosoma ventral; (C) foveae between two costae on PD; (D) gnathosoma; (E) GA of female. Scale bars: 50 mm (A, B, E); 20 mm (C, D).

Figure 2. Copidognathus quadriporosus n. sp., male. (A–D) Legs I–IV. Scale bar: 20 mm.

Figure 5. Copidognathus jejuensis Chatterjee and Chang, female (SEM photographs). (A) Idiosoma, dorsal; (B) idiosoma, ventral; (C) gnathosoma; (D) GA; (E) tibia and tarsus I; (F) tibia and tarsus II; (G) tarsus tip and claws of leg III; (H) tarsus tip and claws claw of leg IV. Scale bars: 100 mm (A, B); 50 mm (C–F); 10 mm (G, H).