Eremaeozetes Berlese, 1913

Colloff, Matthew J., 2012, New eremaeozetid mites (Acari: Oribatida: Eremaeozetoidea) from the south-western Pacific region and the taxonomic status of the Eremaeozetidae and Idiozetidae, Zootaxa 3435, pp. 1-39 : 3-4

Eremaeozetes Berlese, 1913

Eremaeozetes Berlese, 1913 , p. 92.

Type species: Eremaeozetes tuberculatus Berlese, 1913 .

Seteremaeozetes P. Balogh, 1988 , p. 178. syn. nov.

Type species: Eremaeozetes (Seteremaeozetes) obtectus P. Balogh, 1988 .

Diagnosis. Eremaeozetidae with lamellae broad, covering prodorsum, not reflexed; typically with narrow apical slit, occasionally broader. Tutorium present, not projecting strongly. Bothridial seta with long stalk and elongate bacilliform or club-shaped head. Bothridia prominent, cup-shaped; rim incised. Pteromorphae broad, triangular in lateral view; Dorsosejugal suture either more-or-less transverse, slightly convex, or acute with pointed apex. Dorsosejugal lobes directed anteriorly; either prominent, broad and triangular or reduced. With or without sacculi. Mentum elongated, anterior margin reflexed. Setae ad 2-3 positioned on posterior margin of anal plate. Notogaster in dorsal view longer than broad; in lateral view flat or convex, shallowest posteriorly. Notogaster typically with 10, 11 or 12 setae; with lm in centrodorsal or lateral position. Epimeral setal formulae most commonly 3-1-2-2. Pregenital sclerite present or absent. Six pairs of genital setae, all in alignment or g 1 displaced laterally of others. Legs monodactylous or heterotridactylous. Solenidion σ on genu I elongated but not flagelliform.

Remarks. The monospecific subgenus Seteremaeozetes P. Balogh, 1988 was established to contain Eremaeozetes (Seteremaeozetes) obtectus P. Balogh, 1988 . It was defined based on the following character states: lamellae fused medially and covering the whole rostral region; lamellar setae sub-apical, opposed, pointing medially; with seven or eight genital setae. Seteremaeozetes was elevated to generic status by Subías (2004), though without any supporting rationale. The medial fusion of lamellae and their covering of the rostrum are common character states in Eremaeozetes . The opposed lamellar setae positioned sub-apically is a character state shared in Eremaeozetidae with Mahunkaia Schatz, 2002 , Idiozetes Aoki, 1976 , Retrozetes gen. nov. (cf. below) and some Eremaeozetes spp., for example E. verai Pérez-Iñigo & Sarasola, 1995 ; E. hanswursti Mahunka, 1999 (though see remarks section for Retrozetes gen nov. below about the generic placement of this species) and E. samueli sp. nov. Most Eremaeozetes spp. have six pairs of genital setae ( E. tsavoensis Mahunka, 1987 apparently has five), though sometimes they are thin, minute and difficult to distinguish. In summary, I consider the character states used by P. Balogh (1988) to diagnose and define the subgenus Eremaeozetes (Seteremaeozetes) are insufficient to differentiate it from Eremaeozetes (Eremaeozetes) and it is considered to be a junior subjective synonym of Eremaeozetes (Eremaeozetes) .

The supplementary description of E. undulatus Mahunka 1985 from St. Lucia by Aoki (2006), based on two specimens from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, does not refer to E. undulatus . Aoki’s species differs from E. undulatus in having the opisthonotal gland anterior of lyrifissure im rather than posterior; a crenellated notogastral margin rather than a smooth U-shaped one, the posteriolateral margin of the lamellae diagonal rather than transverse, the bothridia granular and striate rather than barbed, seta c 1 some distance posterior of the dorsosejugal lobe rather than on it; the absence of alveoli of interlamellar setae (present in E. undulatus just medial of bothridia), different lamellar and notogastral ornamentation and different ranges of length and breadth. Instead E. undulatus sensu Aoki is an undescribed member of the Reticulatus species group and is hereby designated Eremaeozetes aokii sp. nov. It is morphologically most similar to E. undulatus but also E. acutus Covarrubias, 1967 and E. roguini Mahunka, 1998 . The two specimens from soil and roots of grasses on Tonaki Island (coll. J. Aoki, 20.iv.2006) in the collection of the Department of Zoology, National Science Museum, Tokyo, are designated holotype and paratype.