Copidognathus libiniensis Pepato, Santos & Tiago, 2005

Chatterjee, Tapas, 2021, A checklist of halacarid mites (Acari: Halacaridae) associated with decapod crustaceans (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Decapoda), Persian Journal of Acarology 10 (2), pp. 155-166 : 157

Copidognathus libiniensis Pepato, Santos & Tiago, 2005

Records associated with decapod crustaceans – This species was reported associated with Libinia spinosa from 25 m depth at Poço Beach , São Sebastião Island, Ilhabela, São Paulo, Brazil ( Pepato et al. 2005) .

Other records – This species was also reported among phytal samples from Martins de Sá Beach, Caraguatatuba, São Paulo, Brazil ( Pepato et al. 2005).

Remarks – Pepato et al. (2005) reported that only male specimens of host crab Libinia spinosa were infested and they also commented that the absence of infested females of L. spinosa might be due to the differences observed in morphology of abdomen in males and females of this crab species; the ventral side of the abdomen of males is more delicate than that of females, this softness might enable the halacarids to pierce the exoskeleton in this area to obtain nutrients from the crab host. But Pepato et al. (2005) also commented that there is no direct evidence of feeding on crabs. Moreover, this species was also reported among phytal samples from Martins de Sá Beach, Caraguatatuba, São Paulo, Brazil.