Eniochthonius, Grandjean, 1933

van der Hammen, L., 1959, Berlese's Primitive Oribatid Mites, Zoologische Verhandelingen 40, pp. 1-93 : 16-17

Eniochthonius Grandjean, 1933

Hypochthoniella Berlese, 1910, p. 218.

Eniochthonius Grandjean, 1933, p. 32.

Some misunderstanding has arisen about the validity of the generic name Hypochthoniella . In a discussion of the classification of the family Hypochthoniidae , Berlese (1910, p. 218) wrote the following in a foot-note "L' H. pallidulus K. avendo l'addome diviso in tre parti potrebbe formare sottogenere ( Hypocthoniella ) 1) nel gen. Hypocthonius di cui e tipo l' H. rufulus K. ". This subgenus is sufficiently characterized, not only because of the cited description, but also by the fact that it is distinctly founded on the species that since Michael is known by the name pallidulus C. L. Koch .

1) This manner of writing certainly is a lapsus; Berlese 1910, p. 218) spells the Greek word chthonios in three ways: ctonius, cthonius, and chthonius. I prefer the correct orthography chthonius that is in common use.

The subgenus was raised to generic rank and later authors generally cited the species as Hypochthoniella pallidula , tili Grandjean (1933, p. 32) drew attention to the fact that Hypochthonius pallidulus C. L. Koch undoubtedly must be regarded as the nymph of H. rufulus C. L. Koch , and therefore distinctly differs from H. pallidulus sensu Michael. At the same time Grandjean placed the generic name Hypochthoniella in the synonymy of Hypochthonius , and created a new genus Eniochthonius with H. pallidulus sensu Michael as the type 1).

Considering that Berlese's conception of the genus Hypochthoniella is unmistakable, and because the material in his collection precludes any doubt, it appears to be correct to use the name Hypochthoniella . Because the family name Eniochthoniidae is already in use, I prefer, however, to conserve also the name Eniochthonius . Below I demonstrate that Eniochthonius minutissimus is the correct name of the type.

1) Arthrochthonius Ewing (1917) has also H. pallidulus as type, so that it is a synonym of Hypochthoniella ; Ewing apparently contributed also some Brachychthoniidae and other Enarthronota to it. After its publication, the name Arthrochthonius has not been in use.