Haloaxonopsis, Pešić & Smit & Saboori, 2012

Pešić, Vladimir, Smit, Harry & Saboori, Alireza, 2012, 3330, Zootaxa 3330, pp. 1-67 : 54

Haloaxonopsis gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Characters of the Aturidae and the subfamily Axonopsinae . Dorsal and ventral shields anteriorly fused; dorsal shield with seven pairs of glandularia and a pair of postocularia. Venter without a ridge on each side extending posteriorly from the region of insertion of the IV-L. Two pairs of glandularia lying between the genital field and insertions of the IV-L, relatively close together in male; posterior pair halfway between the fist pair of glandularia and genital field in female. Genital field with three pairs of so-called wheel-like acetabula; II-, III- and IV-L with swimming setae.

Type species. Haloaxonopsis salina sp. nov.

Etymology. Named for the salty environment where the type species was collected. The gender of the genus is feminine.

Remarks. The presence of wheel-like acetabula is unique in Aturidae and will separate the new genus from all other members of this family. Until now, so-called wheel-like acetabula were found only in Pontarachnidae , a family of marine water mites. The term ‘wheel-like acetabula’ coined by Cook (1996) refers to the cuticular structure which is characterized by small radiating folds surrounding a cuticular depression, and as shown by Smit & Alberti (2009) these structures take part in osmoregulation. However, it was uncertain whether these structures are homologues of the acetabula of other freshwater mites (or Actinotrichida). Our findings support the supposed homology of acetabula and 'wheel-like acetabula'.