Michaelia TROUESSART, 1884

Hernandes, F. A., Mironov, S. V., Bauchan, G. R. & Ochoa, R. A., 2016, A new asymmetrical feather mite of the genus Michaelia Trouessart, 1884 (Astigmata: Freyanidae) from the Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus (Pelecaniformes), Acarologia 56 (1), pp. 45-61 : 47

GENUS Michaelia TROUESSART, 1884

Type species: Freyana (Canestrinia) bihamata MØgnin and Trouessart, 1884 (= Dermaleichus heteropus Michael, 1881 , synonymy by Trouessart, 1884: 527), originally described from Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus, 1761) (= P. cristatus [Gmelin, 1798]).

Males of the feather mite genus Michaelia are so bizarrely distorted that, when the first species " Dermaleichus heteropus Michael, 1881 " was discovered, the author was reluctant to describe it based on a single male found, fearing it might be an abnormally distorted specimen ( Michael 1881). He was only encouraged to describe the odd mite after he collected more specimens in the next year, and realized that all were identically asymmetrical. Michaelia species are large sized freyanids (females 600 – 750 µm, males 800 – 1090 µm in length). There are two male morphs in these mites, homeomorphs and heteromorphs; both morphs have asymmetrical anterior legs, but the opisthosomal lobes are asymmetrical only in heteromorphs. Females and immatures are absolutely symmetrical and are relatively wider and shorter than both male morphs.

All five species of Michaelia including a new species described herein are associated with cormorants ( Pelecaniformes , genus Phalacrocorax ) ( Dubinin, 1953; Gaud, 1970; Gaud and Atyeo, 1982). Besides all these valid species included in the key below, Dubinin (1953) recognized three more species without formal descriptions of them ( Michaelichus americanus , M. javanicus and M. malaicus ). These species, as noted by Gaud and Atyeo (1982), are nomina nuda.

Taxonomic remarks — Gaud and Atyeo (1982) correctly indicated that Michaelia Trouessart, 1884 preceded Michaelichus Trouessart and MØgnin, 1885 and therefore the former genus name has priority. They also emended the spelling of the subfamily from Michaelichinae Gaud and Mouchet 1959 to Michaeliinae , which was an unjustified emendation. According to article 40.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN), the junior synonymy of a type genus should not affect the subfamily name. Therefore, Michaelichinae Gaud and Mouchet, 1959 should be preferred over Michaeliinae Gaud and Atyeo, 1982 .