Copidognathus corallorum ( Trouessart, 1899 )

Chatterjee, Tapas, Troch, Marleen De & Chan, Benny K. K., 2008, Descriptions of two Copidognathus halacarid mites (Acari, Halacaridae) from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Zootaxa 1809, pp. 49-60 : 55-58

Copidognathus corallorum ( Trouessart, 1899)

( Figs. 3 , 4 )

Halacarus (Copidognathus) bavayi corallorum Trouessart, 1899: 251 . Halacarus (Copidognathus) bavayi corallorum ; - Trouessart, 1901: 148. Copidognathus bavayi var. corallorum ; - André, 1938a: 62 –63, Fig 3

Copidognathus bavayi var. corallorum ; - André, 1959: 103 –105, Fig 5

Material examined. 2 ♂, among coral rubble of Fungia, Matemwe (5°52’ S, 39°21’ E), east coast of Unguja, Zanzibar, 17 Aug. 2004 (colls. M. Raes & H. Gheerardyn), 1 ♂ will be deposited in the museum of Biological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India. 1 ♂ is stored in first author’s personal collection.

Male: Idiosoma ( Fig. 3 A) 340–346 Μm long. All dorsal plates separate. Areolae and costae on dorsal plates with rosette pores, remainder of plates foveate. AD 107 Μm long and 92 Μm wide, with 2 areolae, anterior areola with about 10 rosette pores, middle areola (27 Μm long, 48 Μm wide) with about 20 rosette pores. Paired ds1 on anterior margin of middle areola on AD; pair of gland pores near anterolateral margin of AD anterior to ds1. Dorsal side of AE joins with anterior part of AD. OC 90 Μm long, 51 Μm wide (length to width ratio about 1.8); each with 2 corneae; areola with about 14 rosette pores between corneae ventromedially; gland pore lateral to posterior cornea; pore canaliculus present nearly on lateral margin of OC; ds2 located at anteromedial corner of OC. An elevated bar laterally from middle to posterior side of OC. PD 218 Μm long, 150 Μm wide (length to width ratio about 1.5), paired costae 2-3 rosette pores wide in middle, 1–2 rosette pores wide in anterior and posterior part of costae; anterior end of costa not reaching to the anterior end of PD; ds3-ds5 on PD; gland pore lateral to costae between ds4 and ds5.

All ventral plates separate ( Fig. 3 B). AE 129 Μm long, 198 Μm wide; with 3 pairs of setae and a pair of epimeral pores. Epimeral processes I–II well developed, coxal origin. Paired marginal areolae containing rosette pores posterior to insertion of leg I; remainder of plates with delicate canaliculi arranged within polygons. Each PE with 3 ventral setae and 1 dorsal seta. Ventromedial areola anterior to insertion of leg III on PE, marginal areola posterior to insertion of leg III; small areola posterior to insertion of leg IV on PE. GA 156 Μm long, 131 Μm wide with almost truncate anterior margin. GO 59 Μm long, 26 Μm wide. Distance between anterior end of GO and that of GA 71 Μm, about 1.2 times of GO length; distance between posterior margin of GO and that of GA 39 Μm, about 0.6 times of GO length. Spermatopositor large, extending just beyond anterior margin of GA. Paragenital areolae restricted laterally to GO area; 18 PGS present, anterior PGS 24 Μm apart from anterior margin of GO; 4 pairs of SGS present.

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 3 C) 160 Μm long, 75 Μm wide, about 2.1 times longer than wide. Palp consisting of 4 segments. Rostrum about 1.6 times longer than gnathosomal base; rostrum tip extending to basal part of P4. P1 and P3 devoid of any seta, P2 with 1 dorsal seta distally, P4 with 3 long proximal setae, 1 minute distal seta. Proto- and deutorostral setae situated at tip of rostrum, tritorostral setae (long maxillary setae of rostrum) located at about middle of rostrum (0.53 of rostral length), gnathosomal base with a pair of setae. Gnathosomal base dorsally foveate, ventrolaterally with rosette pores. Rostral sulcus long, reaching upto 0.4 of rostral length. Tectum triangular.

Chaetotaxy of legs ( Fig. 4 A–D): trochanters I–IV, 1-1-1-0; basifemora I–IV, 2-2-2-2; telofemora I–IV, 5- 5-2-3; patella I–IV, 4-4-3-3; tibiae I-IV, 7-7-5-5; tarsi I–IV (PAS excluded), 7-4-4-4. Trochanters III and IV each with spiniform dorsomedial process. Telofemora foveate sculptured. Telofemora, patella and tibiae with distoventral and distal pararthrodial lamellae. Telofemur III with two dorsal setae, devoid of any ventral seta. Telofemur IV with two dorsal, one ventral seta. Length to width ratios of telofemora I–IV about 2.3, 1.8, 1.9, 2.2, respectively; those of tibiae I–IV about 2.3, 2.0, 3.1, 3.0, respectively. Tibiae I and II each with 1 denticulate process (lamella) proximoventrally ( Fig. 4 A, B). Tibiae I–IV with 2-2-1-0 bipectinate setae. Proximal bipectinate ventromedial seta of tibia II inserted almost at the same level of the ventral smooth long seta. Solenidion of tarsi I and II about 17 Μm long. Tarsus I with 2 doublets eupathid PAS and tarsus II with 2 single eupathid PAS. Distance between 2 basidorsal setae of tarsi III and IV subequal with height of that tarsus. Tarsi III and IV each with 1 spur-like medial and 1 seta like lateral PAS. All legs with 2 lateral claws and a bidentate median claw. Lateral claws with accessory process dorsally and fine pecten ventrally.

Remarks. Trouessart (1899) recorded one female of Copidognathus bavayi corallorum from Djibouti. André (1938a, 1959) gave a brief redescription of that female but was unable to describe the morphology of the legs, as these were lost during preparation. Some characteristics are in common between the Djibouti’s specimen and the specimen collected from Zanzibar indicating that the Zanzibar’s specimen should be assigned to C. corallorum . First, specimens from Djibouti and Zanzibar share similar idiosomal size. The idiosoma of the female from Djibouti is 385–400 Μm long ( André, 1938a, 1959) and the male from Zanzibar is 340–346 Μm long. Other characters in common are: AD bears 1 anterior and 1 middle areola; posterior margin of AD is arched; long rostrum with tip extending to basal part of P4; PD narrowed anteriorly, bearing 2 costae that are, centrally about 3 rosette pores wide, in the anterior and posterior part 1–2 rosette pores wide; costae not extending anteriorly up to anterior end of PD.

Among related species (mentioned in the remarks section of C. matemwensis ) C. amaurus , C. corallorum , C. guttatus , C. pontellus , C. rostratellus , C. simonis , C. transversus , C. tenuirostris , and C. waltairensis ( Lohmann 1907a, b; Newell 1984; Bartsch 1977, 1981, 1986, 1999; Chatterjee & Annapurna 2002, 2003) have a single middle areola or a coalesced middle areola on AD. Costae on PD are relatively wider in C. guttatus and C. waltairensis (8–9 rosette pores wide in C. guttatus , 3–4 rosette pores wide in C. waltairensis , while 2–3 rosette pores wide in C. corallorum ) and relatively narrower in C. transversus (1–2 rosette pores wide). The anterior ends of costae on PD extend to near the anterior margin of PD in C. guttatus , C. pontellus , C. rostratellus , C. tenuirostris and C. waltairensis , while these are away from the anterior end in C. corallorum . Copidognathus guttatus , C. pontellus , C. rostratellus , C. simonis , C. tenuirostris and C. transversus do not bear a proximoventral process (lamella) on tibiae I and II. Brownish pigment is present on the anterior end of PD in C. amaurus . The OC of C. rostratellus is tail-like posteriorly. The distance from anterior margin of GO to that of GA about 1.7–1.8 times of GO length in the male of C. pontellus and C. waltairensis , while that distance is about 1.2 in the male of C. corallorum .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Copidognathus corallorum (Trouessart, 1899), male. A—idiosoma, dorsal; B—idiosoma, ventral; C—gna-

FIGURE 4. Copidognathus corallorum (Trouessart, 1899), male. A – D—legs I – IV. Scale bar: 20 Μm.