Atractides cf. denticulatus ( Walter, 1947 )

Pesic, Vladimir, Saboori, Alireza, Asadi, Mahdieh & Vafaei, Reza, 2005, Water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from interstitial waters of Iran, with the description of one new species, Zootaxa 1030 (1), pp. 49-60 : 52

Atractides cf. denticulatus ( Walter, 1947)

( Figs. 1–6 )

Material examined: IR24 Kerman Province, stream in Simk village (30°30'N 57°12'E), 2370 m asl., 27.07.2003, leg. Pesic (0/1/0).

Description: Female: Idiosoma L/W 806/594; Dgl­3 not fused with postoc and D­1; coxal field L 285; Cx­3 W 362; Cx­1+2 mL 78; I­L­5 dL 169, H 35, dL/H ratio 4.83; S­1 L 62, L/W ratio 10.6, S­2 L 71, L/W ratio 13.7, distance between sword setae 3, L ratio S­1/ 2 0.87; I­L­6 L 146, H 28, dL/H ratio 5.2; L ratio I­L­5/6 1.16; genital field L/W 177/144, Ac­1­3 27, 24, 24; chelicera total L 291; palp total L 459, dL and relative L (in parentheses given as % of total length): P­1 34 (7), P­2 116 (25), P­3 109 (24), P­4 150 (33), P­5 50 (11); L ratio P­2/4 0.77.

Discussion: The Iranian specimen shows a general conformity with Atractides denticulatus in the combination of a striated integument, presence of muscle attachment sclerites, sclerotized excretory pore, fused Vgl­1/2, similar morphology of I­L­5 and 6 ( Fig. 3 ), IV­L­5 with a long, fine, distal hair ( Fig. 6 ), and the shape of palp with denticulation on ventral surface of P­2 and P­3. However, clear morphological differences can be observed between specimens from Iran and Central Europe ( Gerecke 2003). In the specimen from Simk a Dgl­3 is not fused with postoc and D­1 ( Fig. 1 ), the gonopore is more elongated ( Fig. 2 ), and the ventral surface of P­2 and P­3 has a weaker denticulation ( Figs. 4, 5 ). Specimens described from Bulgaria ( Petrova 1968), based on the shape and arrangement of dorsal sclerites (Dgl­3 not fused with postoc and D­1), more closely resemble the specimens from Iran than the orginal description. According to Gerecke (2003) future investigations on the geographical variation in A. denticulatus could prove that this taxon represents a species complex. This is the first record from Iran.

Distribution: Central and south­east Europe, England, Iran.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Atractides cf. denticulatus (Walter, 1947), female: 1 = idiosoma, dorsal view; 2 = genital field; 3 = I­L­5/6; 4 = palp, medial view; 5 = palp, lateral view; 6 = I­L­5. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.