Torrenticola khuzestanica Pešić & Asadi & Etemadi & Smit 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pešić, Vladimir
name: Asadi, Mahdieh
name: Etemadi, Isa
name: Smit, Harry
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Prostigmata
Torrenticolidae
Torrenticola
Torrenticola khuzestanica

description: Torrenticola khuzestanica sp. nov.
(Figs. 1, 4C)
Type series. Holotype male (RMNH), dissected and slide mounted, Iran, Khuzestan Province, Behbahan river, 30°39'28''N, 50°8'12''E, 15 April 2016, coll. Isa Etemadi.
Diagnosis. Dorsal shield without distinct colour pattern; Cxgl–4 shifted proximally, located halfway between tip of Cx-I and insertion of I-L; posterior suture lines of Cx-IV medially starting from genital field at a 45° angle to main body axis, distinctly extending beyond the level of posterior genital field margin; P-2 and P-3 ventrodistal protrusions bluntly pointed; P-4 slender (L/H ratio 3.6), with a well-developed ventral tubercle.
Description. Male. Idiosoma elongated-oval (dorsal shield L/W ratio 1.4); dorsal shield with colour pattern as illustrated in Fig. 4C; gnathosomal bay U-shaped, proximally pointed; Cxgl–4 posterior to margin of Cx-I/II, halfway between tip of Cx-I and insertion of I-L (Fig. 1B, arrow); medial suture line of Cx-II+III relatively short; suture lines of Cx-IV distinctly extending posteriorly beyond posterior margin of genital field, laterally curved; genital field with obtuse, but distinct anterior angles, posteriorly parabola-shaped; ejaculatory complex conventional in shape (with well developed anterior keel and proximal arms); excretory pore and Vgl–2 slightly away from the line of primary sclerotization, excretory pore on the level of Vgl–2; gnathosoma with a curved ventral margin (Fig. 1D); P-2 as long as P-4, P-2 ventral margin straight or slightly concave, P-2 and P-3 ventrodistal protrusions bluntly pointed, P-4 with a well developed ventral tubercle (Fig. 1C).
Measurement. Idiosoma (ventral view: Fig. 1B) L 641, W 458; dorsal shield (Figs. 1A) L 521, W 373, L/W ratio 1.4; dorsal plate L 492; shoulder plate L 153, W 50–51, L/W ratio 3.0–3.1; frontal plate L 109–116, W 50–51, L/W ratio 2.19–2.28; shoulder/frontal plate L 1.32–1.4. Gnathosomal bay L 147, Cx-I total L 275, Cx-I mL 128, Cx-II+III mL 72; ratio Cx-I L/Cx-II+III mL 3.8; Cx-I mL/Cx-II+III mL 1.8. Genital field L/W 119/106, ratio 1.12; ejaculatory complex L 176; distance genital field-excretory pore 131, genital field-caudal idiosoma margin 172. Gnathosoma vL 295, chelicera total L 344; palp total 315, dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 34/28, 1.22; P-2, 106/58, 1.84; P- 3, 55/50, 1.09; P-4, 103/29, 3.57; P-5, 17/11, 1.56; P-2/P-4 ratio 1.03.
Female. Unknown.
Etymology. Named after its occurrence in Khuzestan province of Iran.
Remarks. The new species is most similar to Torrenticola birmana (Lundblad, 1941) from Myanmar (Lundblad 1967) and T. uttarakhandensis Peši? & Smit, 2019 from Uttarakhand State of India (Pešić et al. 2019). These two species share Cxgl–4 shifted proximally between tip of Cx-I and insertion of I-L, with the new species. Torrenticola uttarakhandensis differs by the colour pattern of the dorsal shield and P-4 stocky with widely separated ventral tubercles (Pešić et al. 2019). Torrenticola birmana can be separated by the suture line of Cx-IV starting medially from the posterior margin of the genital field in a right angle to the main idiosoma axis, the ventral projections of P-2 and P-3 pointed and P-4 more stout (see Wiles 1997, fig. 6h).
Distribution. Iran (Khuzestan Province); known only from the locus typicus.
description: Published as part of Pešić, Vladimir, Asadi, Mahdieh, Etemadi, Isa & Smit, Harry, 2019, New records of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from the Khuzestan Province (South Iran) with description of three new species, pp. 550-558 in Zootaxa 4559 (3) on page 551, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4559.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/2627233