Santiagocarus, Valdecasas, 2001

Valdecasas, Antonio G., 2001, island of Coiba (Panama) with descriptions of new taxa, Journal of Natural History 35 (10), pp. 1565-1574 : 1566-1569

Genus Santiagocarus new genus

Diagnosis

With the characters of the subfamily. Dorsal and ventral shields present, both heavily sclerotized. Coxae in four groups, but with limits somewhat fused with the integument. Sculpture of the body and coxae as illustrated. Dorsal shield with a central plate and four pairs of lateral plates.

T ype species. Santiagocarus robustus , new species.

Etymology. This genus is named after D r Santiago Castroviejo, his foresight and stubborness made Coiba research possible despite all kinds of shortcomings.

(gures 1–3)

M ale. Dorsal and ventral shield present. Both heavily sclerotized. Coxae fused with the ventral sclerotization and with limits not clearly de ned. F igures 1–3 show the main characteristics of the dorsal and ventral shield and the palp. Length from the tip of the dorsum to the end of the body: 540 Mm. Body width near insertion IV legs: 375 Mm. Genital eld, length: 110 Mm; width: 115 Mm. Dorsal length of palp segments, P-I: 5 Mm; P-II: 50 Mm; P-III: 30 Mm; P-IV: 30 Mm; P-V: 15 Mm. Length capitulum: 225 Mm. Length chelicera: 215 Mm.

Female. Similar in morphology to male. Body length 540 Mm. Body width near insertion IV legs: 435 Mm (note: the holotype is mounted with dorsal and ventral shields separated, those of the allotype are not separated in the preparation and this may aVect the measurement of width). Genital eld, length: 105 Mm; width: 120 Mm. Dorsal length of palp segments, P-I: 4 Mm; P-II: 52 Mm; P-III: 30 Mm; P-IV: 30 Mm; P-V: 15 Mm. Length capitulum: 275 Mm. Length chelicera: 228 Mm.

H ol ot ype. M ale, R io N egro, 19 August 1994. U TM 17 N M U 154203. Stony stream. Kick sample .

F ig. 1. S antiagocarus robustus , male dorsal shield. Fig. 2. Santiagocarus robustus , male ventral shield. Fig. 3. S antiagocarus robustus , male palp.

Al l ot ype. Female, R io Escondido, 8 August 1994. UTM 17NM U 140395. Stony stream. Kick sample .

M useum catalogue number. M N CN 20.02 / 9948.

Etymology. The speci c name is a Latin adjective and refers to the special ‘strong’ morphology of these animals.

Diagnosis

With the characters of the subfamily. D orsal and ventral shield lightly sclerotized and with a pore-like sculpture. Coxae clearly in four groups. Sculpture of the coxae reticulated, as in the subfamily Clathrosperchontinae . Gledhillia and Santiagocarus have fairly similar dorsal shields, although in the former it is only lightly sclerotized. Type and location of dorsalia, lateroglandularia and postocularia are the same and here considered a characteristic of the subfamily. The other main character in which both genera diVer besides sclerotization, is the ventral shield. Coxal groups are clearly delimited in Gledhillia except for the medial margins of coxae IV which are absent and the sculpture of the coxae is reticulated.

T ype species. Gledhillia coibensis new species.

Etymology. This genus is named to honour Terence Gledhill who introduced the author to water mite taxonomy and has continued to be a helpful mind since then.