Hygrobates longiporus Thor, 1898

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

Hygrobates longiporus Thor, 1898 complex

Fig. 7

Material examined.

Portugal, Guarda: • Seia, Rio Alva, Praia fluvial de Vila Cova a Coelheira , river, 40.379°N, 7.736°W, 312 m a.s.l., 23 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♀, 1 deutonymph (sequenced) ; • Seia, Rio Alva, Praia Fluvial de Sabugueiro , river, 40.401°N, 7.64°W, 1021 m a.s.l., 24 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 2 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 deutonymph (sequenced) ; • Manteigas, Poço do Inferno , 40.373°N, 7.516°W, 1078 m a.s.l., 21 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (sequenced) ; • Manteigas, Mondego, Covão da ponte , 40.443°N, 7.514°W, 999 m a.s.l., 24 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♂, 3 ♀, 2 deutonymph (sequenced) ; • Gouveia, Rio Mondego, Casais de Folgosinho , 40.454°N, 7.493°W, 976 m a.s.l., 24 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (sequenced) ; • Manteigas, Poio do Leão , 40.399°N, 7.541°W, 734 m a.s.l., 22 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♂ (sequenced) ; • Manteigas, Zêzere, Ponte dos Frades , 40.403°N, 7.526°W, 672 m a.s.l., 22 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco, Padilha, Andrade & Stur 1 ♂ (sequenced) ; • Seia, Rio Alva, Central hidroelétrica de Ponte dos Jugais , river, 40.385°N, 7.706°W, 555 m a.s.l., 23 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♀ (sequenced) ; • Rio Alva, Nossa Senhora do Desterro , river, 40.395°N, 7.694°W, 791 m a.s.l., 23 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♀ (sequenced) . Bragança: • Mirandela, Torre de Dona Chama , 41.665°N, 7.146°W, 256 m a.s.l., 13 Jul. 2023, leg. Ferreira & Padilha, 1 ♀ (sequenced) . Vila Real • Murça, Noura stream , 41.409°N, 7.417°W, 421 m a.s.l., 12 Jul. 2023 leg. Ferreira & Padilha, 1 ♂ (sequenced) .

Remarks.

In this study, specimens keying to H. longiporus in Gerecke et al. (2016) have DNA barcodes that cluster in three unique BINs ( BOLD: AFV 9997, BOLD: AFW 1423, BOLD: AFV 9998) (Fig. 7 ). The p - distance to the nearest neigbour ranged between 11.38–13.62 %, far exceeding the species thresholds (6.08 % K 2 P distance) obtained in the study on the H. longiporus complex by Pešić et al. (2022 a).

The identity of H. longiporus was recently questioned by Pešić et al. (2021 b, 2022 a) who found that DNA barcodes of the specimens assigned to the latter species in Europe and Turkey cluster within four distinct genetic lineages. The first cluster ( BOLD: AEB 8359) comprises a large number of longiporus - like specimens from different parts of Europe, including Norway, from where the species was originally described ( Thor 1898). The second cluster ( BOLD: AEM 7299) is restricted to SE Europe and E Turkey, while the third cluster ( BOLD: AEO 0825) is known only from Corsica. Most likely the latter two clusters represent a cryptic species new to science. The fourth clade, known from northern Iran and eastern Turkey, recently was described by Pešić et al. (2022 a) as H. thori Pešić & Smit, 2022 .

As emphasized by Pešić et al. (2022 a), a larger-scale study of H. longiporus complex is needed to establish a stable taxonomy for this group. The true identity of H. longiporus should be morphologically redefined with material from Norway. Morphological analysis revealed that in regard to the shape of palp and genital field, Portuguese specimens match the description of H. falcilaminatus , a species originally described from Azrou, Morocco on the basis of a single female ( Walter 1926) and later reported from a wide area in the western Mediterranean ( Spain and France). The species was synonymized with H. longiporus by Lundblad (1956) (see also Gerecke 1991 for a discussion about this species). Further research, including a redescription of H. falcilaminatus , is needed to clarify taxonomic status of the Portuguese lineages and relationship with other members of H. longiporus complex.

Figures

Figure 7. Neighbor-Joining tree of the Hygrobates longiporus complex obtained from 53 nucleotide COI sequences; 23 sequences were taken from Pešić et al. (2022 a, 2023 f), 26 sequences from Portugal are newly generated in this study, and four private sequences (HYDIR 005-23, HYDIR 006-23, HYDIR 019-23, HYDIR 020-23) from Turkey were directly taken from the BOLD. Hygrobates balcanicus from Portugal was used as outgroup. BINs are based on the barcode analysis from 16 May 2024. Country codes: FR = France, GR = Greece, IR = Iran, NO = Norway, PT = Portugal, RS = Serbia, TR = Turkey. Bootstrap values > 50 % from 1000 bootstrap replicates on branches.