Atractides fluviatilis ( Szalay, 1929 )

Pesic, Vladimir, Saboori, Alireza, Asadi, Mahdieh & Vafaei, Reza, 2004, Studies on water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from Iran, I. The water mite genus Atractides Koch, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 495, pp. 1-40 : 28-31

Atractides fluviatilis ( Szalay, 1929)

(Figs. 50–58)

New records: Iran: IR30 Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province, Omid Abad stream near Eisa Abad (After Farsan to Kuhrang, ca. 32°18'N, 50°29'E), 2077 m asl., 0 1.08.2003, leg. Pesic (1/0/0).

Compared material: Serbia and Montenegro: Montenegro: CG31 Podgorica reg., river Cijevna near village Dinosa, 0 1.07.2000, leg. Pesic (1/1/0); Serbia: SR22 river Pschinja near Monastir Sv. Prohor Pschinjski (Serbian­Macedonian border), 0 5.05.2002, leg. Pesic (4[1ɗ in coll. Gerecke]/2/0); Macedonia: MA115 the river (probably the Pschinja River) near Kumanovo, 0 2.08.1960, ex coll. Petkovski (0/6/0).

Diagnosis: dorsal integument: lineated; muscle attachments: unsclerotized. I­L: I­L­5 S­1and ­2 distanced; I­L­6 curved, with maximum height proximally. Genital field: Ac small, in a curved line, anterior margin with indentation; excretory pore: smooth; Vgl­1: not fused to Vgl­2. Palp: weak sexual dimorphism, sword seta inserted halfway between ventral hairs.

Description

Male from Omid Abad stream, in brackets measurements of specimen from from Cijevna river): Length of idiosoma 494 (480), width 386 (335). Dorsally the integument is lineated. Coxal field (Fig. 50): mediocaudal margin of Cx­1+2 indented between the laterally directed apodemes of Cx­2; length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 338 (336); Cx­3 width 411 (387), Cx­1+2 width 335 (308); Cx­1+2 medial suture 111.5 (108) in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 227 (204). Measurements of mouthparts: chelicera 188.5 long, claw 58 long; palp total length 305.5 (280), dorsal length of single segments: P­1 31 (32), P­2 71 (64), P­3 69 (64), P­4 98 (92), P­5 36.5 (29); relative length (% total length) of single segments: 10.1 (11.5), P­2 23.2 (22.6), P­3 22.6 (22.6), P­4 32.1 (32.9), P­5 11.9 (10.4); ratio length P­2/P­4 0.72 (0.69); palp (Fig. 51): P­4 ventral margin convex, sword seta strong and curved, inserted halfway between ventral hairs. Genital field (Fig. 53): apple­shaped, anterior and posterior margins with shallow indentations; 110 (117) in length, 110 (119) in width, Ac­1­3 length 32.7 (38)­33 (38)­25 (43); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.

I­L (Fig. 52): S­1/2 distanced and rather slender, I­L­6 basally and distally slightly thickened, curved; I­L­5 dorsal length 188 (187), I­L­5 ventral length 119 (115), ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 1.58 (1.62), I­L­5 central height 59 (52), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/central height 3.2 (3.59), S­1 length 90 (87), ratio length S­1/width 10.1 (11.2), S­2 length 77 (72), ratio length S­2/ width 6.63 (6.27), distance between sword setae of I­L­5 20.5 (19); ratio length S­1/2 1.17 (1.2); I­L­6 length 137 (135), I­L­6 central height 22 (19), ratio length I­L­6 /central height 6.2 (7.0); ratio length I­L­5/6 1.37 (1.38).

Female (from Cijevna River, in brackets measurements of specimen from Macedonia): Length of idiosoma 850. Dorsally the integument is lineated. Coxal field ( Fig. 55 ): length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 425; Cx­3 width 577, Cx­1+2 width 354; Cx­1+2 medial suture 96 (99) in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­2+3 237 (233). Measurements of mouthparts: palp total length 366 (364), dorsal length (in m) of single segments: P­1 39 (35), P­2 83 (77), P­3 94 (98), P­4 111 (115), P­5 40 (39); relative length (% total length) of single segments: P­1 10.5 (9.6), P­2 22.6 (21.1), P­3 25.7 (26.9), P­4 30 (31.6), P­5 11 (10.7); length ratio P­2/P­4 is 0.75 (0.67); palp ( Fig. 58 ): P­2 ventral margin slightly convex distally, P­3 ventral margin straight. Genital field ( Fig. 56 ): 206 (185) in width, Ac­ 1­ 3 52 (35)­43 (37)­56 (41); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1 separate from Vgl­2.

I­L­5 ( Fig. 57 ) dorsal length 237 (245), I­L­5 ventral length 142 (153), ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 1.66 (1.6), I­L­5 central height 67 (62), ratio dorsal length I­L­ 5/central height 3.5 (3.98), S­1 length 115 (114), ratio length S­1/ width 12.0 (11.8), S­2 length 90 (87), ratio length S­2/width 5.2 (5.3), distance of sword setae of I­L­5 39 (38); length ratio S­1/2 1.28 (1.31); I­L­6 length 167 (171), I­L­6 central height 17 (17), ratio length 1.28 (1.31); I­L­6 length 167 (171), I­L­6 central height 17 (17), ratio length I­L­6 / central height 9.67 (9.89); length ratio I­L­5/6 1.41 (1.43).

Remarks: Gerecke (2003) give the redescription of Atractides fluviatilis ( Szalay, 1929) based on the specimens (SMF 4974 1ɗ, 2Ψ) from Croatia and from Israel (SMF KOViets 7071 Ψ, 7072 ɗ Israel IES 1375). According to Gerecke (2003), as compared with the original description ( Szalay 1929), the male from Croatia on which this redescription is based differs in the relatively larger genital field, higher total L of palp, with completely different proportions of single segments and Ac in an obtuse triangle. Further, note that the integument structure is deduced only from SMF 4974 (striated integument), Szalay gave no information. The specimens from the Cijevna river here used for the redescription of A. fluviatilis agree closely with the original description and Lundblad's measurements and drawings of the specimens from France and Spain (see: Lundblad 1956), e.g. in Szalay's figure, the Ac are arranged in curved line (as in our and Lundblad's specimens) rather than in an obtuse triangle (SMF 4974 [see Gerecke 2003]). This evidence and other differences is sufficient for considering that the first records (SMF 4974) of A. fluviatilis (see: Viets 1936) after the original description were based on wrong determinations. Thus, the specimens from Croatia and Israel attributed by Gerecke (2003) to A. fluviatilis represent an undescribed species.

A male from Iran agrees very well with the specimens from Balkan but differs in having a apple shaped genital field with Ac­3 strongly reduced in size (L 25 vs. 31–43 in specimens from Balkan).

Distribution: The Balkans, Central Europe, Iberian peninsula, Iran; former records of A. fluviatilis require re­confirmation for a better understanding of its geographical distribution.

Figures

FIGURES 55 – 58. Atractides fluviatilis (Szalay, 1929), female (from Cijevna river): 55 = coxal field; 56 = genital field; 57 = I­L­ 5 / 6; 58 = palp. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.