Atractides gorgani 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 : 56-59

Atractides gorgani Pesic, Jabaleh & Saboori sp. nov.

( Figs. 2–5 )

Type material. Holotype (female) dissected and slide mounted in Hoyer's fluid ( MNHP). Iran, Golestan Province, Jeline Bala city, Hashan River near Qarn Abad village, 36º 48΄ 17.6ʺ N, 54º 37΄ 37.02ʺ E, 500 m asl., 09.viii.2008. Paratype: one female, same collecting site and data as holotype.

Diagnosis. Dorsal integument striated; muscle attachment plates only present dorsally are unsclerotized; I-Leg-5 strongly thickened, S-1 and S-2 different in size and shape, both with blunt tips, wide setal interspace, S-2 strongly enlarged; I-Leg-6 curved and slender, distally narrowed; Ac in a weakly curved line; excretory pore smooth; Vgl-1 fused to Vgl-2; palp: ventral margin P-2 and P-3 straight, one of the two dorsodistal setae of P-2 enlarged and plumose, P-4 sword seta near distoventral hair.

Description. Female (holotype, in parentheses some measurements of paratype): Idiosoma L/W 628 (584)/453 (427). Integument dorsally striated. Dorsal muscle attachment plates unsclerotized. Coxal field ( Fig. 2 ): mediocaudal margin of Cx-1+2 indented between the laterally directed apodemes of Cx-2; coxal field L 320; Cx-3 W 362; Cx-1+2 mL 97; Cx-1+2 lL 206. Palp: total L 309, dL: P-1 32, P-2 68 (64), P-3 79 (80), P- 4 94 (95), P-5 36 (33); %L: P-1 10.4, P-2 22.0, P-3 25.6, P-4 30.4, P-5 11.7; L P-2/P-4 0.72 (0.67); palp ( Figs. 4-5 ): ventral margin P-2 and P-3 straight, one of the two dorsodistal setae of P-2 enlarged and plumose, P-4 divided by ventral hairs in sectors 1: 1: 2, sword seta located near distoventral hair; genital field ( Fig. 2 ): pregen large, lunate, Ac in a weakly curved line, Ac-1 longish; L/W genital field 145/147, genital plate L 103, L Ac-1, -2, - 3 34, 30, 31; egg in body: maximum diameter 117-121 (n=2); excretory pore smooth; Vgl-1 fused to Vgl-2.

I-Leg ( Fig. 3 ): I-Leg-5 strongly thickened, S-1 and S-2 different in size and shape, both with blunt tips, wide setal interspace, S-2 strongly enlarged; I-Leg-6 curved and slender, distally narrowed; I-Leg-5 dL 218 (211), vL 121 (122), dL/vL 1.8 (1.73), HB 74 (71), dL/HB 3.0 (3.0), S-1 L 118 (118), L/ W 7.2 (7.4), S-2 L 77 (76), L/ W 4.1 (3.8), distance of sword setae at I-Leg-5 48 (46), L S-1/2 1.5 (1.55); I-Leg-6 L 164 (159), HB 18 (17), L/HB 9.1 (9.5); L I-Leg-5/6 1.33 (1.33).

Male: unknown.

Discussion. Due to the presence of the striated integument, Ac in a weakly curved line, Vgl-1 fused to Vgl-2 and a particular morphology of I-Leg-5-6 (I-Leg-5 strongly thickened, S-1 and -2 different in size and shape, both with blunt tips, wide setal interspace, S-2 strongly enlarged; I-Leg-6 curved and slender, distally narrowed) the new species is most similar to Atractides latipes ( Szalay, 1935) . Atractides gorgani sp. nov. can easily be distinguished from A. latipes in having an unsclerotized excretory pore and more slender palp segments.

Etymology. The species is named after Gorgan, the capital of Golestan Province.

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

Figures

FIGURE 2. Atractides gorgani sp. nov., female: idiosoma, ventral view. Scale bar = 100 μm.

FIGURES 3 – 5. Atractides gorgani sp. nov., female: 3 = I-Leg- 5 and - 6; 4 = palp, lateral view; 5 = palp (P- 1 missing), medial view. Scale bar = 100 μm.