Sperchon (Hispidosperchon) oezkani Esen, Pešić & Erman, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Esen, Yunus
name: Pešić, Vladimir
name: Erman, Orhan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Sperchonidae
Sperchon
Sperchon oezkani

description: Sperchon (Hispidosperchon) oezkani sp. nov.
(Figs. 2A–D, 3A–D)
Material examined: Holotype; male, dissected and slide-mounted in Hoyer's fluid, Turkey: Malatya Province: Pütürge, Erdemler stream, 38°10'50"N 38°58'18"E, 1950 m asl., 0 7.07.2007. Paratypes: (2/6/2), same place as holotype; (1/2/0), same data as holotype, 12.09.2003; (1/0/0). Bingöl Province: Lake Soğukçeşme, 39°03'05"N 40°46'24"E, 1300 m asl., 25.05.2008.
Compared material. NHMB, Sperchon afzalipouri Holotype 3, ♀, Kia Sar, 6.7.1977, Sepas 77/3, 1494, 1495.
Diagnosis: Integument ventrocaudally areolate, dorsally papillate. Dorsum with seven or eight muscle attachment plates in males and females, respectively. Cx-I+II medially not fused. Excretory pore smooth. Capitulum with short rostrum; P-4 shorter than P-3, with the two well developed ventral tubercles close to each other, each bearing peg-like and at the tip truncated setae, the proximal one larger located in the proximal part, the distal one minor, located slightly anterior to the centre of the segment. Leg ambulacrum with claw blade well protruding and dorsal and ventral clawlets.
Description. Integument ventrocaudally with fine denticles arranged in a hexagonal pattern; these denticles laterally and caudally inflating to form small rounded papillae; these papillae regularly-arranged, nowhere fused to form lines or irregular structures, completely covering the dorsal surface. Dorsum with seven or eight muscle attachment plates in males and females, respectively, following the terminology of Bader & Sepasgozarian (1980a) from anterior to posterior: medially, (1) large, round praefrontalia, (2) large plates consisting of fused postfrontalia, postocularia and dc-1, (3) dc-2 fused to an unpaired medial platelet in male, and close to each other but not fused in female, (4) dc-3 large and close to each other but not fused, (5) dc-4, smaller, but more distanced from each other than dc-3, and, laterally, (6–8) relatively large, round platelets dl-1-3 located at the levels of interspace dc-1/2, dc-3, and interspace dc-3/4, respectively (Fig. 2B). Ventral view: Cx-I+II medially close to each other, but not fused (Fig. 2A). Cx-III without a medial glandular opening (Cxgl-4). Ac-1-2 longish, Ac-3 roundish. Posterior part of the venter with well-developed unpaired postgenital platelet and further three pairs of ventralia. Excretory pore smooth. Capitulum (Fig. 2D) with short rostrum; palps (Figs. 3 A-C); P-1 without dorsal seta; P-2 distoventrally with a long projection at its tip bearing three fine setae, one long and two short; P-3 bearing about 10 fine setae and several short hairs, all restricted to the dorsal part; P-4 shorter than P-3, with the two well developed ventral tubercles close to each other, each bearing peg-like, at the tip truncated setae, the proximal larger one located in the proximal part, the distal minor one located slightly anterior to the centre of the segment; P-5 short, with strong distal claws; Leg segments slender, III-/IV-L with a few short, simple dorsal setae; ambulacrum with claw blade well protruding, bearing a long dorsal and a shorter ventral clawlet.
Male (holotype, in parentheses measurements of the paratype): Idiosoma L (843), W (702); distance between anterior end of Cx-I and posterior end of Cx-IV 384 (428). Genital field (including pregenital sclerite) L/W 164 (188)/131 (133), genital valves L 150 (167–172); L Ac- 1–3 52 (64), 41 (53), 47-53 (56); ejaculatory complex L 182 (185). Capitulum L 223 (233); chelicera (Fig. 2C) L 234 (263), basal segment L 180 (196) claw L 65 (67), L ratio chelicerae basal segment/claw 2.75 (2.92); palp (Figs. 2A–B) total L 520 (533), dL: P-1, 22 (23); P-2, 144 (145); P-3, 157 (163); P-4, 148 (153); P-5, 49 (49); %L: P-1, 4.2 (4.3); P-2, 27.7 (27.2); P-3, 30.2 (30.5); P-4, 28.5 (28.7); P-5, 9.4 (9.1); P-2/P-4 ratio 0.97 (0.95). Leg segments L: I-Leg- 3-6: 77 (98), 131 (148), 125 (141), 130 (134); IV-Leg-1-6: 119 (127), 119 (124), 134 (148), 247 (258), 222 (239), 191 (207).
Female (n=2): Idiosoma L 1106, W 954; distance between anterior end of Cx-I and posterior end of Cx-IV 491–497. Genital field (including pregenital sclerite) L/W 228–234/124–134, genital valves L 177–181; pregenital sclerite forming an acute triangle; L Ac 1–3 63 –66, 56–59, 50–53. Capitulum L 266–273; chelicera L 278–309, basal segment L 206–228, claw L 72–81, L ratio chelicerae basal segment/claw 2.86–2.81; palp (Fig. 2C) total L 667–673, dL and %L (in parentheses): P-1, 28-28 (4.1–4.2); P-2, 190–191 (28.2–28.6); P-3, 209–210 (31.2–31.3); P-4, 181–187 (27.1–27.8); P-5, 58 (8.6–8.7); P-2/P-4 ratio 1.01–1.06. Leg segments L: I-Leg-4-6: 163–165, 149–150, 148–149; IV-Leg-1-6: 134–146, 147–157, 166–168, 290–294, 259–267, 214– 218.
Etymology: The species is named in honor of Prof. Dr. Muhlis Özkan in appreciation of his studies of Turkish water mites.
Discussion: Due to the absence of glandularia on Cx-III and the shape of the palp combining a P-2 bearing a finger-like ventrodistal extension and a P-4 with the two well developed ventral tubercles close to each other, bearing peg-like and truncated setae, Sperchon oezkani sp. nov. is most similar to Sperchon afzalipouri Bader & Sepasgozarian, 1980, described from Iran (Bader & Sepasgozarian 1980a; Pešić et al. 2004). This species differs in having the ventral tubercles on P-4 closer to each other and a more elongated, finger-shaped distoventral projection of P-2 (compare Figs. 3A–C with Figs. 3E–G).
Distribution: Known only from Malatya and Bingöl Provinces, Turkey.
description: Published as part of Esen, Yunus, Pešić, Vladimir & Erman, Orhan, 2010, Water mites of the genus Sperchon Kramer (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Sperchontidae) from Turkey, with description of two new species, pp. 35-46 in Zootaxa 2514 on pages 37-38, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.196102