Oxus (Oxus) tasmanicus (K.O. Viets, 1978)

Orginal, Harry Smit, 2021, The water mites of Western Australia (Acari: Hydrachnidia), with the description of 13 new species, Acarologia 61 (4), pp. 928-966 : 939-940

Oxus (Oxus) tasmanicus (K.O. Viets, 1978)

( Figure 7)

New records — 1/0/0, Deep River at Fernhook Falls, Mt Frankland NP, 34°49.036′

S 115°35.684′ E, 52 m asl, 19 Apr. 2008 ; 2/0, Stockton Lake, E of Collie, 33°23′6.33″ S 116°13′38.72″ E, 23 Apr. 2008 ; 0/1/0, Harvey River at crossing with Kevron Road, Lane Pool Reserve, 33°00.997′ S 116°05.585′ E, 246 m asl, 13 Feb. 2019.

Remarks — The specimens from Western Australia differ from the specimen illustrated by Cook (1986), one of the glandularia of the coxae is much more distanced from the periphery ( Figure 7), and the dorsal strip has one anteriorly situated median sclerite or none. In all other characters (shape of palp and gnathosoma, number of glandularia in dorsal strip and coxae, shape of the excretory pore platelet) the specimens from this study match the description given by Cook (1986). For the time being I assign my specimens to O. tasmanicus . More research is needed to elucidate the variation in the configuration of the coxal glandularia and the sclerites of the dorsal strip.

Distribution — Previously reported from Tasmania and New South Wales, and reported here for the first time from Western Australia.