Atractides mossahebii Pesic

Pesic, Vladimir, Saboori, Alireza, Asadi, Mahdieh & Vafaei, Reza, 2004, Studies on water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from Iran, I. The water mite genus Atractides Koch, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 495, pp. 1-40 : 7-12

Atractides mossahebii Pesic sp. nov.

( Figs. 10–18 )

Atractides cf. arcuatus ( Thor, 1914) — Asadi et al. (2003)

Type material: Holotype: male, dissected and slide mounted in Hoyer's fluid; Iran: IR41 Yazd Province, Lah stream in Sang Deraz village, 96 km SW from Yazd (31°28'0 N 54°12' 0E), 2838 m asl., 0 5.08.2003, leg. Pesic. Paratypes: four males, four females, same data as holotype, 1 male and 1 female of these dissected and mounted on Hoyer's fluid.

Other material: IR39 Yazd Province, Deh Bala, 60 km SW from Yazd, 0 5.08.2003, leg. Pesic (6/30/0); IR42 Yazd Province, Pandar spring in Pandar village, 96 km SW from Yazd, 0 5.08.2003, leg. Pesic (1/0/0); IR44 Fars Province, Tang Boragh river, 8 km from Tang Boragh village (30°38'18 N 52°3' 10E, 25 km from Eghlid city), 2188 m asl., 0 6.08.2003, leg. Pesic (0/4/1); IR45 Fars Province, rheocrenic spring 20 km from Eghlid city (between Eghlid and Asepas), 0 6.08.2003, leg. Pesic (0/5/0).

Compared material: « Atractides cf. arcuatus », Kerman Province, Deh Bala, river near Kerman, 0 3.01.2002, leg. Asadi (0/3/0).

Diagnosis: dorsal integument: lineated; muscle attachments: unsclerotized. I­L: I­L­5 S­1/2 distanced, S­2 enlarged basally, I­L­6 slender, curved, with nearly parallel dorsal and ventral margins, slightly thickened basally. Genital field: Ac in a curved line; excretory pore: smooth; Vgl­1: not fused with Vgl­2. Palp: strong sexual dimorphism in P­2, P­4 sword seta curved, close to the distoventral hair.

Description

Male (measurements of paratype in parentheses): Length of idiosoma 686 (625), width 536 (493). Dorsally the integument is lineated. Coxal field ( Fig. 10 ): length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 398 (369); Cx­3 width 469 (423), Cx­1+2 width 387 (331); Cx­1+2 medial suture 138 (123) in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 265 (238). Measurements of mouthparts: chelicera 266 in length, claw 74 in length; palp total length 370.5 (327.5), dorsal length of single segments: P­1 38.5 (35), P­2 88 (77), P­3 90 (79), P­4 112 (100), P­5 42 (36.5); relative length (% total length) of single segments: P­1 10.4 (10.7), P­2 23.8 (23.5), P­3 24.3 (24.1), P­4 30.2(30.5), P­5 11.3 (11.1); length ratio P­2/P­4 is 0.79 (0.77); palp ( Fig. 12­13 ): P­2 with ventral projection, P­3 slightly concave, P­4 maximum height near insertion of the proximoventral hair, sword seta curved, close to the distoventral hair. Genital field ( Fig. 18 ): 130.8 (108) in length, 132.7 (119) in width, Ac­1­3 length 38.5 (27)­40.4 (30)­46 (36.5); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.

I­L ( Fig. 11 ): I­L­5 elongated, dorsal and ventral margins subparallel, 5 S­1 and­ 2 distanced, S­2enlarged; I­L­6 long and slender, slightly thickened basally, with parallel dorsal and ventral margins I­L­5 dorsal length 246 (222), I­L­5 ventral length 157.7 (140), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/ventral length 1.56 (1.58), I­L­5 central height 64 (61.5), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/central height 3.8 (3.6), S­1 length 109.6 (108), ratio length S­1/width 9.96 (9.9), S­2 length 83 (82), ratio length S­2/width 5.9 (5.9), distance between sword setae of I­L­5 25 (27); ratio length S­1/2 1.32 (1.32); I­L­6 length167 (159), I­L­6 central height 21.5 (20), ratio length I­L­6 /central height 7.76 (7.9); ratio length I­L­5/6 1.47 (1.4).

Female (paratype; measurements of the females from Deh Bala are given in parentheses [from Asadi et al. 2003]): Length of idiosoma 914 (771), width 735 (650). Dorsally the integument is lineated. Coxal field ( Fig. 14 ): length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 462 (383–454); Cx­3 width 585 (504–507); Cx­1+2 medial suture line 146 (123–146) in length;distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 338 (252–319). Measurements of mouthparts: palp total length 473 (370–449), dorsal length of single segments: P­1 48 (34–48), P­2 110 (85–107), P­3 133 (103–119), P­4 136.5 (112–131), P­5 46 (36–44); relative length (% total length) of single segments: P­1 10.1 (9.2–10.7), P­2 23.2 (23.0–23.8), P­3 28.1 (26.5–27.8), P­4 28.9 (29.2–30.2), P­5 9.7 (9.7–9.8); length ratio P­2/P­4 is 0.80 (0.82); palp ( Fig. 16 ): P­4 sword seta near distoventral hair. Genital field ( Fig. 17 ): Ac in a curved line; 190 (161) in length, 202 (165) in width, Ac­1­3 length 48 (39–46)­52 (42–51)­48 (41–58); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.

I­L ( Fig. 15 ): I­L­5 S­1/2 distanced; I­L­5 dorsal length 320 (279–289), I­L­5 ventral length 205 (169–179), ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 1.56 (1.61), I­L­5 central height 99 (90–96), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/central height 3.23 (2.92–3.19), S­1 length 146.0 (119–148), ratio length S­1/width 9.5 (8.8–9.6), S­2 length 113.5 (90–102), ratio length S­2/ width 5.4 (4.76–5.2), distance between sword setae of I­L­5 38.5 (39–48); ratio length S­1/2 1.29 (1.3–1.45); I­L­6 length 228 (196–217), I­L­6 central height 23 (21–22), ratio length I­L­6 /central height 9.9 (9.0–10.3); ratio length I­L­5/6 1.40 (1.29–1.47).

Discussion: Atractides mossahebi shares the combination of a lineated integument, the relatively long I­L­6 (L ratio I­L­5/6 <1.60), unsclerotized excretory pore, unfused Vgl­1/ 2, and P­2 with a ventrodistal projection in male, with A. fissus ( Walter, 1927) , A. remotus Szalay, 1953 , A. valencianus ( K.Viets, 1930) and A. inflatipalpis K.Viets, 1950 . From the latter two species (in parentheses data and characters from these species, taken from Gerecke 2003), A. mossahebii sp. nov. differs in larger dimensions of genital acetabula (acetabula diameter <30 m), a longer medial suture Cx­1+2 (ml<120 m), a larger distance between the sword setae of I­L­ 5 in male,> 23 m (distance <20 m in male), and the relatively longer I­L­5, I­L­5/6>1.4 (I­L­5/6<1.4). A remotus , can be easilly distinguished from A. mossahebii sp. nov. on the basis of a shape of the male coxal field: in A. remotus the suture line of Cx­2/3 is indistinct and all coxae are almost fused to complete coxal field. Further differences are found in the female genital field of A. remotus , with Ac arranged in triangular position.

As compared to A. mossahebii sp. nov., Atractides fissus (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003 and Pesic 2002]), is characterized by the following features: a weakly developed ventrodistal projection of male P­2, larger acetabula (maximum diameter always>50), and the genital field with Ac arranged in triangular shape (posterior edge of Ac­1 and anterior edge of Ac­3 close to each other).

In the combination of a lineated integument, rounded Ac arranged in a weakly curved line, the large distance between the sword setae of I­L­5 and longer medial suture Cx­1+2 (L> 120 m) the female of A. mossahebii nov. sp. is similar to A. arcuatus Thor, 1914 . From the available information, the male of A. arcuatus has weakly developed projection of P­2 with a smooth surface and anterior and posterior margins of the genital field with very shallow indentations. As mentioned by Asadi et al. (2003), the females from Deh Bala on which the redescription of A. arcuatus is based, differ from the original description and a single specimen of a synonymized species, A. dubius from Kaukasus ( Gerecke 2003), in the the larger dimensions of Ac and a more stout S­2. Furthermore, there are numerous biometric differences (see: Asadi et al. 2003). The females from Deh Bala agree very well with the specimens of A. mossahebii sp. nov., e.g. the the larger dimensions of Ac and a more stout setae S­2. This evidence is sufficient for considering the two populations to be conspecific.

Etymology: The species is named in honor of Prof. Dr. Mossahebii , head of the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture in Karaj.

Biology: Atractides mossahebii sp. nov. is a rhitrobiontic species which inhabits streams at higher elevations.

Distribution: Iran, known from the Yazd, Fars and Kerman provinces.

Figures

FIGURES 10 – 13. Atractides mossahebii sp. nov., male; 10 = coxal field; 11 = I­L­ 5 / 6; 12 – 13 = palp. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 14 – 18. Atractides mossahebii sp. nov., (14 – 17 = female; 18 = male): 14 = coxal field; 15 = I­L­ 5 / 6; 16 = palp; 17 = genital field; 18 = genital field. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.