Nyangalla (Ecpolopella) acuticaudata K. Viets, 1916 –,

Smit, Harry, 2021, Water mites from West Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Acarologia 61 (3), pp. 700-746 : 732

Nyangalla (Ecpolopella) acuticaudata K. Viets, 1916 – nov. stat.

( Figure 21 )

New records. The Gambia. 1//0/0, pool Prufu Swamp, Basse, Upper River Division, 10 Feb. 1998 ; 0/1/0, pond ± 5 km W of Basse, along road Basse-Bansang, Upper River Division, 12 Feb. 1998. Ghana. 1/0/0, pool 2 Ankasa NP, 5°17.250′ N 2°38.092′ W, 66 m a.s.l., 26

Feb. 2011; 0/1/0, shallow part Amansuri Wetland, 4°59.635′ N 2°35.417′ W, 26 Feb. 2011 ; 1/0/0, Fish pond along road Elubo-Axim, E of entrance Ankasa NP, 5°09.637′ N 2°38.682′

W, 36 m a.s.l., 27 Feb. 2011 ; 0/1/0, pool Damango, 9°03.983′ N 1°48.419′ W, 185 m a.s.l., 4

Mar. 2011; 2/0/0, Inlet Volta River at Kpong, 6°09.183′ N 0°03.709′ E, 25 m a.s.l., 27 Feb. 2013.

Description. Female: Idiosoma brownish, dorsally 705 long and 632 wide, ventrally 689 long. Dorsal shield consisting of four pairs of platelets and an unpaired central platelet, flanked by four pairs of smaller lateral platelets and one pair of very small platelets. Glandularia are present on the four pairs of lateral platelets, the central platelet and the pair posterior to the central platelet. The unpaired central platelet is 243 long. Venter, palp and legs as in N. tesselata ( Daday, 1910) . Male: Posterior margin of cauda with spiny setae.

Remarks. Previously this taxon was considered a subspecies of N. tesselata . As already mentioned by Viets (1916), the two taxa can be found on the same locality, and therefore, they cannot belong to the same species. Also, in Ghana the two taxa co-occur. Moreover, there are distinct differences between the two taxa. The female of N. acuticaudata has not been described previously. The female of the N. tesselata has a larger central platelet with two pairs of glandularia and the two pairs of platelets posterolateral and posterior to the central platelet are absent. The male of N. tesselata has posterior to the central platelet a separate platelet with a truncated posterior extension, in N. acuticaudata there is a no such separate platelet, but there is a pointed extension posterior to the central platelet. Given the large differences between the two taxa, in males as well as in females, and the co-occurrence of the two taxa, I propose to consider N. acuticaudata a full species.

Distribution. Cameroon (K. Viets 1916), Liberia (Cook 1966), the Gambia, Ghana (this study).

Figures

Figure 21 Nyangalla(Ecpolopella) acuticaudataK. Viets, dorsum female. Scale bar = 200 µm.