Hygrobates (Hygrobatomegapus) coriaceus (Lundblad. 1952) – 2021

Smit, Harry, 2021, Water mites from West Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Acarologia 61 (3), pp. 700-746 : 710-711

Hygrobates (Hygrobatomegapus) coriaceus (Lundblad. 1952) – nov. stat.

New records. Ghana. 1/0/0, Ankasa River, Ankasa NP, 5°13.011′ N 2°39.126′ W, 60 m a.s.l.,

13 Feb. 2013 ; 0/1/0, Tagbo River, downstream, 7°00.974′ N 0°33.471′ E, 255 m a.s.l., 23

Feb. 2013.

Remarks. Initially, this taxon was described as a subspecies of H. spathuliferus (Lundblad, 1927) . However, Lundblad (1952) reported H. coriaceus from the same locality as the nominate taxon, and therefore, they cannot belong to the same species. Also, in the Supon stream I collected both taxa. They are easily separated by the shape of the projection of P2: relatively short in coriaceus , and long in spathuliferus . Males of coriaceus have a ventral shield, but this can be absent in young specimens. More characters to separate the two species can be found in K.O. Viets (1963).

Distribution. Uganda ( Lundblad 1952), South Africa (K.O. Viets 1963), Ghana (this study).