Axonopsis (Vicinaxonopsis) iranica Pesic, Jabaleh & Saboori

Pesic, Vladimir, Jabaleh, Isa, Saboori, Alireza, Askarianzadeh, Alireza & Asadi, Mahdieh, 2009, Three new water mite species (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from Golestan Province (NE Iran), Zootaxa 2173, pp. 55-65 : 62

Axonopsis (Vicinaxonopsis) iranica Pesic, Jabaleh & Saboori sp. nov.

( Figs. 12–18 )

Material examined. Holotype (male) dissected and slide-mounted in Hoyer's fluid ( MNHP). Iran, Golestan Province, Fazel Abad city, Sarmo River near Mohamad Abad village, 36º 49΄ 47.6ʺ N, 54º 47΄ 35.35ʺ E, 500 m asl., 06.viii.2008.

Diagnosis. Dorsum with V-shaped dark colour pattern; ventral side of P-4 convex, with two long and thickened hair-like setae, P-4 distinctly shorter than P-5; dimorphism of claws on male fourth leg.

Description. Male: Dorsal and ventral shields anteriorly fused; dorsal shield ( Fig. 12 ) L/W 488/347; dorsal shield with seven pairs of glandularia (the seventh pair of glandularia inconspicuous, flanking the excretory pore); postocularia well distanced from anterior margin; excretory pore located at posterior end of dorsal shield; colour pattern consisting of V-shaped dark reddish-purple patch; ventral shield ( Fig. 15 ) L/W 488/400; capitular bay L 101; two pairs of small glandularia lying between the genital field and insertions of the fourth legs; genital field with three pairs of genital acetabula, these arranged in an arc; width between most lateral pair of acetabula 167; gonopore W 30; L of ejaculatory complex ( Fig. 14 ) 97; gnathosoma bearing a very long basal apodeme ( Fig. 13 ), L (without basal apodeme) 82, with basal apodeme 162; chelicera total L 94; palp ( Figs. 16–17 ): total L 197, dL and %L (in parentheses): P-1 26 (13.2), P-2 49 (24.9), P-3 23 (11.7), P- 4 49 (24.9), P-5 50 (25.4); L P-2/P-4 ratio 1.0; ventral side of P-4 convex, with two long and thickened hairlike setae. Legs: L of I-Leg-4-6: 44, 61, 56; L of the IV-Leg ( Fig. 18 ): 68, 71, 71, 76, 89, 86; claws on fourth leg differ each from other ( Fig. 18 ): one claw with ventral clawlet, ventral clawlets less than 50% L of claw; the second claw with dorsal and ventral clawlets, ventral clawlet slightly shorter than claw.

Female: unknown.

Discussion. So far, three species of the subgenus Vicinaxonopsis Cook are known from the Palaearctic: Axonopsis bureschi Petrova, 1976 from Bulgaria ( Petrova 1976), A. schwoerbeli Pešić & Gerecke, 2003 from Sardinia, Italy ( Pešić & Gerecke 2003) and A. caspica Pesic & Saboori 2006 from Mazandaran Province, Iran ( Pesic et al. 2006). All the aforementioned species have been reported from interstitial waters.

The combination of two long and thickened setae on the ventral side of P-4, P-4 shorter than P-5, gnathosoma with very long basal apodemes, dorsum with characteristic V-shaped colour pattern and dimorphism of claws on the male fourth leg enable to separate the new species from all previously described members of the subgenus.

Etymology. The species is named for its occurrence in Iran.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Golestan Province (NE Iran).

Figures

FIGURE 18. Axonopsis iranica sp. nov., male: IV-Leg. Scale bar = 100 μm.

FIGURES 12 – 17. Axonopsis iranica sp. nov., male: 12 = dorsal shield; 13 = capitulum; 14 = ejaculatory complex; 15 = idiosoma, ventral view; 16 – 17 = palp. Scale bars = 100 μm.