Unionicola (Hexatax) nearctica Crowell & Davids, 1979

Report associated with sponges: This species was reported as sponge-associated mite in the Laurentian Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins, North America (Crowell & Davids 1979). This species was mentioned by Crowell (1990) as developmentally associated with freshwater sponges in the Northern Hemisphere. This species was also mentioned under possible ‘sponge-mite’ species in North America (Vidrine 1996; Edwards & Vidrine 2013).

Remarks: This species belongs to ‘ U. crassipes —complex’. It needs further study (emphasizing on developmental study) of this mite to get better idea about association with freshwater sponges. Crowell & Davids (1979) stated “The distinctiveness of the North American U. crassipes- like mites makes it necessary to re-evaluate the records of those mites. The mites reported by Conroy (1974) were undoubtedly U. nearctica ”. [The paper presented by Conroy (1974) in IV International congress of Acarologie,Saalfelden, Austria, 1974 was published as Proceedings in 1979 and referred as Conroy, J.C. (1979)]. Crowell & Davids (1979) also commented: “The records of Wolcott (1899) and materials in the Ruth Marshall Collection appear to be a mixture of U. laurentiana and U. nearctica ”.