Sperchon (Hispidosperchon) algeriensis Lundblad, 1942

Pešić, Vladimir, Zawal, Andrzej, Ferreira, Sónia, Benitez-Bosco, Laura, Cruz-Oliveira, Ana, Girão, Dinis, Padilha, Adriana, Turaccio, Paolo, Rossini, Samantha, Ballini, Lorenzo, Staffoni, Giorgia, Fratini, Sara, Ciofi, Claudio, Iannucci, Alessio, Ekrem, Torbjørn & Stur, Elisabeth, 2024, DNA barcode library of Portuguese water mites, with the descriptions of two new species (Acari, Hydrachnidia), ZooKeys 1217, pp. 119-171 : 119-171

Sperchon (Hispidosperchon) algeriensis Lundblad, 1942

Material examined.

Portugal, Faro • Portimão , 37.237°N, 8.546°W, 23 May 2023, leg. Ferreira & Turaccio 1 ♀ (sequenced) .

Remarks.

The single female from Portugal clusters within BOLD: AES 2436, which includes one specimen of S. algeriensis recently collected from eastern Spain ( López-Peña et al. 2022). The species was described from northern Africa ( Lundblad 1942) and subsequently recorded from many sites in the central and western Mediterranean area ( Di Sabatino et al. 2010). The species is considered as a characteristic species of warm Mediterranean streams that regularly dry up in the summer ( Gerecke 1991). The hydrography of the sampling site where S. algeriensis was found in our study is characterized by summer drought.

The high genetic distance of 15.4 % between Iberian populations of S. algeriensis and a specimen from Iran, attributed to S. algeriensis , suggests that the latter belongs to a further distinct species ( Pešić et al. 2022 a). It is likely that the latter species represents S. beneckei Bader & Sepasgosarian, 1982 , a species proposed to be a synonym of S. algeriensis by Asadi et al. (2010). Therefore, the known populations of S. algeriensis from Eastern Mediterranean should be checked using molecular methods to see if they can be assigned to S. beneckei .

Distribution.

North Africa, west Mediterranean. New record for Portugal.