Halobates germanus White, 1883

Anderson, R. Charles, Adam, M. Shiham & Cheng, Lanna, 2023, Marine insects of the Maldives (Heteroptera: Gerridae, Hermatobatidae and Veliidae; Diptera: Chironomidae) with notes on taxonomy, Indo-Pacific distribution, and ecology, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 71, pp. 478-490 : 480-485

Halobates germanus White, 1883

Halobates germanus is an Indo-Pacific species. It is widespread in the Indian Ocean and the waters of Southeast Asia but is absent east of longitude 125°W in the Pacific ( Andersen & Cheng, 2004; Ikawa et al., 2012). Unlike H. micans which occurs in the open ocean far from land, H. germanus tends to be found closer to island shores. It is the only pelagic species commonly found in the Red Sea (including the Gulf of Aqaba), the northern Arabian Sea (including the Gulf of Oman), the Bay of Bengal, and the archipelagic waters of Indonesia. It was the most common of the three Halobates species collected by us ( Table 1, Fig. 2B), and has been previously recorded from adjacent

Sample 44 RCA- 95 52585– RCA- 45 52531

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Species formidabilis

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djiboutensis

Halobates Hermatobates with) Night lagoon (D) N) ( (Day / Habitat sheltered, mangrove lagoon Island

Shallow

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Island, Island Atoll Atoll Atoll / Island Maalhendhoo Noonu Dhidhdhoo Lhaviyani

ʹE ʹE. 27.5 22.9 Long 73 ° ° 73 / Lat. ʹ54.1 N 22.8 N ʹ

° °

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2013 2013 Date May May

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54 55

waters ( Cheng, 1989), on which basis Andersen & Foster (1992) included Maldives within the range of this species. However, our specimens appear to be the first records of H. germanus actually from Maldivian waters. It is easily distinguished from H. formidabilis by its much smaller size ( Fig. 5A ) and the structure of the male genitalia ( Fig. 5B, C ).

Figures

Fig. 5. Halobates germanus. Specimens collected inside Haa Alifu Atoll at night, January 2007. Scale bar = 0.5 mm. A, adult female, dorsal view (body length = 3.7 mm); B, male genitalia, dorsal view (genital segment length = 1.9 mm); C, male genitalia, ventral view (genital length = 1.5 mm).