Acherontacarus burduricus, Gülle & Boyaci & Gülle, 2018

Gülle, Pinar, Boyaci, Yunus Ömer & Gülle, İskender, 2018, A new water mite species from a karstic cavern in southwestern Anatolia: Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp. (Acari, Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 4394 (4), pp. 590-593 : 590-593

Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp.

Studied material. Holotype: Adult male, a small karstic cavern in Aksu River valley in Burdur province near Antalya, Turkey, 0 8.07.2014, 37° 23.173 ′ N, 30° 50.152 ′ E, 380 m a.s.l., leg. İ. Gülle. Paratypes: one male, three females, same data as holotype. The type material is deposited in Eğirdir Fisheries Faculty, Süleyman Demirel University , Isparta, Turkey .

Diagnosis. Palp stout, P-2 longer than P- 4 ( Fig. 2e ). IV-L-5 and IV-L-6 are approximately equal in size. Male IV-L- 5 slightly enlarged to form a groove in basal half and bearing a stout seta in distal part ( Fig. 2b ). IV-L-4 enlarged, with three pairs of long hairs on the ventral prominence ( Fig. 2b ).

Description. Both sexes. Ten pairs of small platelets, surrounding the central plate, four pairs with setae. Dorsal shield with tubercles at lateral and posterior. Anterior plate with straight posterior margin. Cx-I and Cx-II are fused and morphologically similar.

Male. Idiosoma L/W 900/578. Dorsum with a large posterior plate, L/W 635/440, surrounded by 10 pairs of small platelets, four pairs with setae, anterior plate L/W 175/350; with straight posterior margin; three pairs of setae located on the anterior plate and four pairs of setae on the posterior plate ( Fig. 1c ). Venter: Gonopore between one pair of genital plates flanked by posterolateral platelets and located posterior to the anteromedial and anterolateral platelets and III-Leg coxal plates, genital field L/W 85/105; excretory pore plate L/W 185/340; posterolateral platelets anteriorly concave embracing genital plates, reaching posterior margin of excretory pore plate ( Fig. 1d ).

Palp: Palp stout, P-2 is longer than the other parts of palp, capitulum L 237. Palp ( Fig. 2d, e ), L and setation (in parentheses): P-1, 31; P-2, 170 (four setae); P-3, 95 (two setae); P-4, 110 (three normal setae and one stout ventral seta), P-5, 33.

Leg: Dorsal length and setation (in parentheses) of leg segments: I-L-2, 162; I-L-3, 92; I-L-4, 135; I-L-5, 133,;I-L-6, 132; II-L-2, 190; II-L-3, 98; II-L-4, 154; II-L-5, 148; II-L-6, 144; III-L-2, 320; III-L-3, 125; III-L-4, 165; III-L-5, 150; III-L-6, 245; IV-L-1, 70; IV-L-2, 340; IV-L-3, 140; IV-L-4, 240 (three long setae in ventral side); IV-L-5, 180 (1 stout, 8 setae); IV- L-6, 245 (13 dorsal setae, 8 stout lateral setae, plus 11 distal setae ( Fig. 2a,b ).

Female. Idiosoma L/W 945/600. Dorsum: anterior plate L/W 160/340; posterior plate L/W 680/425 ( Fig. 1a ). Venter: gonopore between paired genital plates flanked by posterolateral platelets and located posterior to the anteromedial and anterolateral platelets and III-Leg coxal plates, genital field L/W 185/85; posterior part of excretory pore plate narrower than in male, L/W 200/300; posterolateral platelets curved anteriorly around genital plates, not reaching posterior margin of excretory pore plate ( Fig. 1b ). Capitulum L 300.

Palp, L and setation (in parentheses): P-1, 36; P-2, 192 (three setae); P-3, 98; P-4, 109; P-5, 36.

Legs without swimming setae; dL: I-L-2, 170; I-L-3, 88; I-L-4, 166; I-L-5, 130; I-L-6, 131; IV-L-2, 345; IV-L-3, 145; IV- L-4, 250; IV-L-5, 177; IV-L-6, 224.

Etymology. The species is named after the area of the collecting site, Burdur province, Turkey.

Remarks. Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp. is the third Acherontacarus species recorded from Turkey, following A. anatolicus and A. rutilans ( Boyacı et al. 2010; Aykut et al. 2016). Together with the species A. dividuus , A. vietsi , A. bicornis , A. tuberculatus , A. nicoleiana , and A. anatolicus , A. burduricus belongs to a species group characterized by the presence of stout setae on the male IV-L-6.

Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp. differs from all known Acherontacarus species in the shape of IV-L-5, in its basal half slightly enlarged to form a groove, in the distal half with a stout seta.

Acherontacarus anatolicus differs from A. burduricus also in the presence of a ventral extension on P-3 ( Boyacı et al. 2010). Acherontacarus cedro and A. rutilans have a relatively shorter P-2, but a longer P-5 ( Gerecke & Benfatti 2004).

Acherontacarus vietsi can be easily distinguished by the presence of only two thick setae on IV-L-6 and A. bicornis is characterized by a thick seta on the expanded distal half of IV-L-6 ( Valdecasas et al. 2005). IV-L-6 is not expanded in A. anatolicus , A. nicoleiana , and A. burduricus . Acherontacarus anatolicus and A. burduricus (8-9 stout setae in IV-L-6) differ from A. nicoleiana with 6-7 stout setae in the same region. In A. dividuus and A. burduricus , IV-L-5 and IV-L-6 are approximately equal in size while in A. nicoleiana , IV-L-5 is longer than IV-L-6 ( Gerecke & Benfatti 2004; Valdecasas et al. 2005; Boyacı et al. 2010).

Figures

FIGURE 1.Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp.a–b,female a) dorsum b) venter,c–d, male c) dorsum d) venter

FIGURE 2. Acherontacarus burduricus n. sp.male a) III-L b)IV-L c) chelicera d) gnathosoma and palpse) palp