Procorticacarus karanovici Pesic & Smit, 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pesic, Vladimir
name: Smit, Harry
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Hygrobatidae
Procorticacarus
Procorticacarus karanovici

description: Procorticacarus karanovici sp. nov.
(Figs. 8–11)
Type series. Holotype: female (TMAG G5894) (mouth part dissected and slide mounted in Hoyer's fluid; idiosoma fixed in ethanol). Tasmania, N of Bicheno, Apsley River just before the entrance into Douglas- Apsley National Park, stony bottom, temperature 11.8 °C,41°51.614΄S 148°14.389΄E, 49 m asl., 12 September 2007, leg. Karanović.
Diagnosis. Idiosoma and mouth parts dimensions large (Idiosoma L/W 688/575, palp total L 498), coxal and genital field sclerotization less extended, P-3 ventral margin convex, P-4 elongated.
Description. Female: Idiosoma L/W 688/575; integument reticulated; dorsum with paired postocularia plates (Fig. 8). Coxae in three groups; Cxgl-2 placed well posterior to the suture lines between third and fourth coxal plates; extensive secondary sclerotization posterior to the posterior coxal groups; three pairs of genital acetabula, these combined into an arc-like sclerite illustrated in the Fig. 9; W of this sclerite 300; W between outer edges of the most lateral pair of acetabula 250; gonopore L 125; gland portion of Vgl-3 absent but the associated setae remained. Capitulum ventral L 226, chelicera total L 247, basal segment L 197, claw L 53, L basal segment/claw ratio 3.7; palp (Fig. 10) total L 498, dorsal L and %L (in parentheses): P-1 30 (6.0), P-2 89 (17.9), P-3 145 (29.1), P-4 171 (35.7), P-5 63 (12.7); L P-2/P-4 ratio 0.52; P-2 with ventral projection covered by fine denticulation; P-3 with convex ventral surface covered by fine denticulation; peg-like seta of P-4 on a well-developed tubercle near middle of the segment, a hair–like seta placed proximal to the peg-like seta. Lengths of I-Leg-4–6 (Fig. 11): 118, 122, 112; IV-Leg: 100, 91, 116, 172, 193, 170; swimming setae absent.
Male: unknown.
Remarks. Due to the similar shape of the dorsum (paired postocularia plates), the first coxal plates fused medially, a genital plates incorporated into a single arc-like sclerite and a similar shape of the palp (peg like seta of P-4 on a prominent tubercle, the nearly hair-like seta proximal to the peg-like seta) the new species resembles Procorticacarus togalus (Cook, 1986), known from Queensland (Cook 1986). The new species can be distinguished from P. togalus (in parentheses data taken from Cook 1986) in the larger idiosoma and mouth parts dimensions (e.g., idiosoma L 486, palp total L 311, chelicera L 166), a less extensive coxal and genital field sclerotization (coxal plates and genital field are so close together that they more or less form a ventral shield in P. togalus), P-3 ventral margin convexly protruding (straight in P. togalus) and a more elongated P-4.
Etymology. The species is named after Dr Tom Karanović (Hobart).
Distribution. Tasmania; known only from the type locality.
description: Published as part of Pesic, Vladimir & Smit, Harry, 2009, New records of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from Tasmania, with descriptions of three new species, pp. 53-62 in Zootaxa 2070 on pages 55-57, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.187078