Rhombognathus procerus Bartsch, 1975

Durucan, Furkan, Paz, Juan Carlos De La & Hernández-Teixidor, David, 2023, Halacaridae (Acari) from Tenerife (Canary Islands), Persian Journal of Acarology 12 (1), pp. 1-19 : 15-16

Rhombognathus procerus Bartsch, 1975

Material examined

One female (FDHAL-21/14), two males and one tritonymph, El Pris ( Gelidium pusillum , intertidal zone).

Diagnosis

The length of female was 313 µm, 224 µm in males and 200 µm in tritonymph. Length of AD is wider than longer. Ds-1 on AD. OC with two corneas and ds-2 and ds-3 on it. PD long. Ds-4 as same as level with OC. Female GA with 8 pairs of perigenital setae. Male GA surrounded by 11 plumose pairs of perigenital setae with trapezoidal arrangement and with two pairs of subgenital setae ( Figs. 4B , 11A–D ).

Remarks

This species was originally described by Bartsch (1975) from near Roscoff, France. Afterwards, the species was found associated with seagrass Posidonia oceanica from Santa Pola (Alicante), south-eastern Spain (Mediterranean Sea) ( Martínez et al. 2021). The specimens from

Roscoff are larger than our species; otherwise the morphological characteristics agree well with those known for R. procerus by Bartsch (1975).

Figures

Figure 4. Light-microscope images of halacarid species from Tenerife – A. Halacaropsis hirsuta (male), B. Rhombognathus procerus (female); C. H. hirsuta (DN); D. H. hirsuta (PN); E. H. hirsuta (L); F. Rhombognathus sp. with diatom colonies; G. Magnified view of Cocconeis placentula; H. Ciliate on Copidognathus magnipalpus indicated with black bar; I. Magnified view of Praethecacineta halacari (Scale bars: 100 µm).

Figure 11. Rhombognathus procerus Bartsch, 1975 – A. Dorsal view of idiosoma (female); B. Ventral view of idiosoma (female); C. Ventral view of gnathosoma (female); D. Detailed genital opening (male) (Scale bars: A–C: 100 µm, D: 50 µm).