Aturus processiger Lundblad, 1956

Gerecke, Reinhard, 2014, Studies on European species of the water mite family Aturidae Thor (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 3841 (1), pp. 1-46 : 16-17

Aturus processiger Lundblad, 1956 , nov. stat.

Fig. 11

Aturus elongatus processiger Lundblad, 1956

Material examined. Type series: Holotype ♂, SMNH 4659, Spain, mountain stream near Arenas de Cabrales, 17.09.1935, Lundblad.

France: MNHN Paris, coll. E. Angelier "106 Aturus elongatus ", [red inscription, only numbers, with high certainty originating from Pyrenees], 4 ♂♂; Switzerland: NHMB 4596 "? 1957/58 Weidenbach coll. Ba ".

Remarks. Lundblad (1956a) described this taxon as subspecies due to the following differences as compared with the males attributed by Motaş (1928f) to A. elongatus : (1) frontal idiosoma margin less strongly convex; (2) posterior dorsum in the area of the excretory pore unmodified, without a depression or groove; (3) III-L without modified setae; (4) IV-L-4 both dorsally and ventrally with one strong central seta, in addition ventrally with a row of finer setae in distal part of segment and a pair of strong and long ventrodistal blade-like setae; (5) IV-L-5 ventrally with two lines of medium-sized setae from proximal part to centre and three finer distal setae, distal margin with four setae, two long and denticulate setae, one shorter and stronger and one long and curved.

The specimens listed above agree widely with this description, namely the absence of a posterodorsal groove appears to be an important feature to distinguish this taxon from A. spatulifer . A closer relationship between this species and A. comatus Halík, 1933 , as stated by Lundblad (1956a), does not find confirmation: Aturus comatus is clearly distinguished in the position of the Lgl-2–3 (probably also Lgl-4, Halík's Fig.1 is here unclear) in the dorsal furrow, not fused to ventral shield, and a completely different setation of IV-L-4–5.

Most probably, specimens labelled as A. elongatus from MNHN represent a part of the material to which E. Angelier (1965) made reference without clear locality identification, but recording A. e. processiger as new for the French fauna. Keeping this taxon as a subspecies of the species incerta A. elongatus would not make sense. As it is defined by clear-cut diagnostic characters, it should be treated as separate species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Aturus intermedius (I 181), SEM photographs. A. – E. male; A. IV-L posterior; B. IV-L- 4 – 5 anteroventral; C. IV-L- 4 – 5 posteroventral; D. IV-L- 4 – 5 ventral; E. posterior dorsum with balloon-like perigenitalsetae; F. – G., female; F. posterior dorsum; G. genital field posterolaterally. Scale bars: A: 50 µm; B – G 20 µm.

FIGURE 11. Aturus processiger, male. A. IV-L- 4 / 5 posterior (above: IV-L- 4, below: IV-L- 5); B. dorsum. Scale bar = 100 µm.