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Issue: Vol. 5556 No. 1: 23 Dec. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-12-23
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5556.1.19
Page range: 252-267
Abstract views: 57
PDF downloaded: 1

A new arenicolous species of the genus Thyreophagus (Acari: Acaridae) from the Caspian sea coast: Taxonomy and ecological insights

Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters; Russian Academy of Sciences; 152742 Borok; Yaroslavl Province; Russia; Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO); Tyumen State University; 625003 Tyumen; Russia
Department of Biological Sciences; Purdue University; Lilly Hall of Life Sciences; West Lafayette; IN 47907; USA
Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO); Tyumen State University; 625003 Tyumen; Russia
Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO); Tyumen State University; 625003 Tyumen; Russia; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas; Departamento de Zoologia; Laboratório de Sistemática eEvolução de Ácaros Acariformes; Av. Antonio Carlos; 6627; Pampulha; Belo Horizonte—MG ZIP: 31270-901; Brazil
Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow; Russia
Acari astigmatid mites sexual species morphology Samur Forest Dagestan Morocco sea debris

Abstract

A new sexual species, Thyreophagus subiasi sp. nov., inhabiting wet sands of the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea (Republic of Dagestan, Russia) is described. The new species is morphologically similar to Th. athiasae from Morocco (types redescribed here as well) but differs from it by the shape of the spermatheca and setae p and q on tarsi I–II represented by small triangular rudiments. As most other species of Thyreophagus inhabit subcortical habitats or stored food, Th. subiasi exhibits unusual ecology. We suggest that its elongated and flexible body may have facilitated adaptation to life in interstitial spaces among particles in coastal sandy environments. In this habitat, Th. subiasi co-occurred with long-bodied mesostigmatic mites from the genera Protogamasellus, Gamasellodes, and Neojordensia, suggesting that these mites are part of the coastal interstitial ecosystem.

 

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