Geckobiella bakeri (Cunliffe)

Paredes-León, Ricardo, Klompen, Hans & Pérez, Tila M., 2012, Systematic revision of the genera Geckobiella Hirst, 1917 and Hirstiella Berlese, 1920 (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) with description of a new genus for American species parasites on geckos formerly placed in Hirstiella, Zootaxa 3510, pp. 1-40 : 10

Geckobiella bakeri (Cunliffe) new combination

Hirstiella bakeri Cunliffe, 1952: 168 .

Diagnosis. Female. Prodorsal shield oval possessing only 2 pairs of setae (vi and sci) ( Fig. 2 D); dorsal body setae and most leg setae short and club-like.

Male. Gnathosoma not as slender in proportion to body as in female; dorsal shield absent; dorsal body and leg setae short, club-like (as in female); tibia IV with seta v” small, short, triangular spine-like and genu IV with seta v’ large, strong, serrate spine-like.

Type. Female HOLOTYPE ( USNMC 1860), 2 female, 1 male PARATYPES ( USNMC).

Type locality. San Diego, California, USA.

Type host. “ Iguana ”.

Material examined. 1 female, 1 male ex Sceloporus sp., MEXICO, Puebla, Izúcar de Matamoros, January 1950, coll. R. Martínez ( CNAC 007007–08). 2 females, 1 male, 4 larvae ex Ctenosaura pectinata , MEXICO, Guerrero, Iguala, April 2003, coll. G. González ( CNAC 007009–15).

Remarks. The type series of G. bakeri was not examined; a loan was requested from USNMC but the specimens could not be located (Ochoa pers. comm.). According to Cunliffe (1952) this type series was collected on an undetermined iguana , and it is not possible to know if the host is any of the two native iguanas of San Diego Co. ( Dipsosaurus dorsalis or Sauromalus ater ) or if the host is a captive iguana (not necessarily a native iguana ). Based on our observations of material from Mexico this species seems very close to G. diolii , G. javieri and Geckobiella donnae sp. nov. in the shape of the dorsal setae.

Hoffmann (1969) recorded specimens of this species from Mexico (which were included in our analysis) supposedly collected on the lizard Sceloporus sp. ( Phrynosomatidae ). After the analysis of several specimens of phrynosomatid lizards (e. g., Sceloporus spp., Phrynosoma spp., etc.) we consider that Geckobiella bakeri is most likely a parasite of Iguanidae instead of Phrynosomatidae ( Table 2 ). A potential host, the iguanid Ctenosaura pectinata does occur in the relevant locality (Izúcar de Matamoros) (Reynoso pers. comm.); further, we found specimens of G. bakeri on Ctenosaura pectinata from another locality. Possibly, the record by Hoffmann (1969) may be based on a misidentification of the host. However, we stress that this comment about the identity of the host is only an assumption.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Prodorsal shields of the species of Geckobiella. A, G. trombidiiformis; B, G. p e l a e z i; C, G. boneti; D, G. bakeri; E, G. pyriformis; F, G. javieri; G, G. diolii; H, G. donnae sp. nov. Scale bar 100 µm.