Piona seyrigi continentalis Lundblad, 1952

Smit, Harry, 2021, Water mites from West Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Acarologia 61 (3), pp. 700-746 : 725

Piona seyrigi continentalis Lundblad, 1952

New records. Ghana. 5/0/1, fish pond along road Elubo-Axim, E of entrance Ankasa NP,

5°09.637′ N 2°38.682′ W, 36 m a.s.l., 27 Feb. 2011 ; 1/3/1, shallow roadside pond along road Axim-Elubo, 5°09.080′ N 2°37.354′ W, 46 m a.s.l., 27 Feb. 2011 ; 1/0/0, pool Damango,

9°03.983′ N 1°48.419′ W, 185 m a.s.l., 4 Mar. 2011 ; 2/2/1, Second pond, Ankasa NP, Ghana,

5°17.424′ N 2°38.286′ W, 58 m a.s.l., 14 Feb. 2013.

Remarks. One of the males from the fish pond along road Elubo-Axim has around 35 pairs of acetabula, all other males have less than 30 pairs of acetabula. According to Cook (1966)

the only reliable character to separate the nominate form and continentalis is the number of acetabula, 30-38 in the seyrigi seyrigi and 16-26 in seyrigi continentalis. This study shows there can be an overlap in the number of acetabula, and that this character is not always reliable.

Distribution. Uganda ( Lundblad 1952), Liberia (Cook 1966), Ghana (this study).