Nilotonia (Telotaolana) ankaratra, Goldschmidt, 2008

Goldschmidt, Tom, 2008, Taxonomical, ecological and zoogeographical studies on anisitsiellid water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Anisitsiellidae Koenike, 1910) from Madagascar, Zootaxa 1954 (1), pp. 1-120 : 29-34

Nilotonia (Telotaolana) ankaratra sp. nov.

(Figs 43–55, Table 4)

Type series: Holotype male, MD 109 , Ankaratra (Antananarivo), Reserve Manjakatompo , riparian spring, exposition south-east at spring brook north deviation to Analamitana ( MD 108 ), 1850 m asl, 14.3 °C, 3 µS/ cm, 08.10.2001, mounted; paratypes, same locality and date, 1/1/0, mounted, 1/2/0 unmounted.

Habitat: Spring at 1850 m asl.

Distribution: Madagascar (Central Highlands, Ankaratra mountains).

Derivatio nominis: Ankaratra , referring to the Ankaratra mountains in Central Madagascar, where the type locality of the species is.

Diagnosis: Dorsal plates approximating in male, less so in female; integument coarsely lined; sexualdimorphism in sclerotization of venter: male with unified ventral shield, female with extended secondary sclerotization of post-genital sclerite and Cx-IV not fused; Cx-III nearly touching each other medially in male, more distanced in female; genital field trapezoid-oval, acetabula mid-sized, oval, touching each other; legs strong, especially leg-IV bearing many heavy setae; claws on leg-I to -III with single small ventral clawlet, without dorsal clawlet; leg-IV with pinnate sub-terminal seta; capitulum very short, relatively high, rostrum short, pointed; palp compact, P4 centrally extended.

Description, male (n = 2): Idiosoma rounded, broad pear-shaped (Fig. 43); dorsum mainly covered by three large, slightly purple-greyish plates, nearly touching each other; posterior plate rounded (L/W 471 (520)/ 446 (495)), including (far laterally) Dgl-5, -6 and Lgl-4, anterior plates oblique elongated, bearing post-ocular setae (L/W 260 (284)/132 (142)); Dgl-2 to -4 anterior, antero-lateral and postero-lateral of anterior plates, approximate; one pair of small platelets lateral Dgl-2, second pair anterior Dgl-3; lateral eyes small, oval, separated on both sides, lying free under integument, partly under small anterior platelets (Fig. 44); Dgl-1, preocular setae and three platelets frontally between dorsum and venter (central, elongated platelet shown in Fig. 44); soft integument between dorsal plates and ventral shield coarsely lined; Lgl-1 to -3 and lyrifissures in soft integument between dorsum and venter; Cx-I medially long, approximate, posteriorly overlapping, not fused; medial margins of Cx-III with fine secondary sclerotization, nearly touching each other; Cxgl-2 between Cx- II and Cx-III, Cxgl-4 at the anterior margin of Cx-III (Fig. 43); medial margin of Cx-IV slightly concave, forming a narrow genital bay, caudal margin medially curved, laterally directed oblique to rostral, beyond insertion of leg-IV margin unclear; Vgl-3 lying close to latero-caudal margin of Cx-IV; secondary sclerotization forming almost complete ventral shield, including pre- and post-genital sclerites, caudally extending to platelets of Vgl-2 and -4, laterally far towards dorsum, anterior towards frontal platelets, dorsally of Cx-II (Fig. 43); genital field elongated-trapezoid to oval, anteriorly tapering, lateral margins nearly straight, anteriorly and posteriorly smoothly rounded; acetabula mid-sized, oval, thick-walled, touching each other, Ac1 distant from anterior margin of genital flaps, Ac3 slightly distant from posterior margin; setae of Vgl-1 posterior caudal margin of Cx-IV (Fig. 43); Vgl-2 on irregular elongated platelets; Vgl-4 and Lgl-3 on smaller, rounded platelets; Vgl-2, -4 and Lgl-3 free in soft integument, but very close to (partly under) ventral shield; excretory pore without sclerotization (Fig. 43); genital skeleton cone-shaped, brachia distalia weakly developed, brachia proximalia strong (Fig. 45); legs strong, relatively compact, bearing several large and heavy setae; claws on leg-I to -III slender with single, small ventral clawlet, leg-II-6 ventrally and distally with many tiny hair-like setae (Fig. 46), leg-IV-3 to -5 with rows of heavy setae, leg-IV-6 distally slightly tapering, with two small, peg-like terminal setae and one relatively large, pinnate sub-terminal seta (Fig. 47); capitulum short, high, ventral margin S-curved, with short, pointed rostrum (Fig. 48), palps relatively compact, P1 with one dorsal seta, P2 short, ventral seta directed laterally, six dorsal setae, P3 with two lateral and two medio-dorsal setae, P4 compact, proximally relatively thin, centrally extended, ventral setae on small protrusions, P5 stout coneshaped (Figs 48, 49).

Female (n = 1): Secondary sclerotization of the idiosoma generally by far weaker than in male ( Figs 50, 51 ); dorsal plates distant from each other, posterior dorsal plate oval, apically pointed, no glandularia included (L/W 540/437); Dgl-5, Lgl-4 and Dgl-6 on elongated platelets, lateral and caudal of posterior plate ( Fig. 51 ); general shape of coxal field and genital field as in male; extended secondary sclerotization on venter not fused to ventral shield ( Fig. 50 ); Cx-III medially further distant from each other, medial margin of Cx-IV more concave, Cx-IV caudally and laterally extended by secondary sclerotization (lateral extension reaching far to anterior and dorsal); pre-genital sclerite small, bow-shaped, post-genital sclerite due to secondary sclerotization extending far caudally; setae of Vgl-1 on small platelets, free between secondary sclerotization of Cx-IV and post-genital sclerite; Vgl-2 on larger, Vgl-4 and Lgl-3 on mid-sized platelets, one pair of midsized postero-ventral platelets between Vgl-4 and Cx-IV, second pair of smaller platelets lateral Cx-IV, anterior to Lgl-3 ( Fig. 50 ); legs as in males ( Figs 52, 53 ); gnathosoma as in males ( Figs 54, 55 ).

Figures

FIGURES 50–55. Nilotonia (Telotaolana) ankaratra subgen. et sp. nov., female paratype (MD 109): 50, idiosoma, ventral view; 51, idiosoma, dorsal view; 52, leg-II; 53, leg-IV (ventral setae at segment 2 completed (only socket visible)); 54, capitulum with left palp and chelicera, lateral view; 55, right palp, medial view. Scale bars = 100 µm.