Crotonia gadubanudi Colloff & Perdomo, 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Colloff, Matthew J.
name: Perdomo, Giselle
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Sarcoptiformes
Crotoniidae
Crotonia
Crotonia gadubanudi

description: Crotonia gadubanudi sp. nov.
(Figs. 13–15, 17–19)
Dimensions. Holotype female length 1501, breadth 774; paratype male length 1232, breadth 569; mean length of paratype females (n = 4) 1445 (range 1422–1477), mean breadth 719 (range 680–743). Mean ratio of length of prodorsum to total length: 0.33 (both sexes).
Female. Prodorsum: rostrum well-developed, with very prominent naso; rostral setae (ro) 46, spiniform, smooth (Fig. 13 a). Lamellar setae (le) 350, recurved, smooth, flagelliform. Lamellar apophyses 110, slightly less than half as long as their mutual distance; extending anteriorly almost as far as apex of rostrum. Interlamellar apophyses twice times as long as broad; interlamellar setae (in) slender, 420, flagelliform, smooth; extending anteriorly as far as arc of lamellar setae. Prodorsal ridges extending half the distance between interlamellar and lamellar apophyses. Bothridia with elongated cuticular ridges extending anteriolaterally, consisting of anterior spine and posterior flange. With very strongly-sclerotised posterior inter-bothridial ridge in the form of paired hemispheres, with tubercles medially and on posterior edge; Cuticle posterior of ridge smooth; with muscle sigilla laterally. Median field of muscle sigilla present. Prodorsum porose.
Subcapitulum: mentum with densely porose regions laterally, smooth medially (Fig. 15 a); gena with transverse lines of dense pores. Spiniform setae m 26 with phylliform cerotegument. With three setae on gena: a 36; m 1 13; m 2 9. Oral setae or 1 bifurcate, flat, densely barbed unilaterally; or 2 and or 3 spiniform, barbed, subequal, 37 (Fig. 15 b). Palp setal (and solenidial) formula: 1-1-2-9(1).
Notogaster: ratio of length to breadth 1.32; broadest between bases of setae cp and e 2 and f 1 (Fig. 13 a). Dorsosejugal suture discrete, simple, with line of sparely-distributed tubercles. With 13 pairs of notogastral setae; those of h series sparingly barbed, others smooth. Pre-notogastral shield poorly developed, indicated by weak transverse hyaline strip posterior of setae c 1 and broad, discrete hyaline strip anterior of setae c 1. Setae c 1 77, positioned on anterior margin of pre-notogastral plate, their tubercles surrounded by diffuse plaques of heavily sclerotised cuticle. Apophyses of setae c 3 prominent, 35, about least twice as long as broad; setae c 3 short, spiniform, 55. Humeral region waisted; lyrifissurae ia borne on prominent humeral extensions projecting laterally. Notogastral shield discrete, porose; bordered laterally by two narrow strips of small tubercles extending posteriorly almost as far as setae f 1. Caudal region heavily tuberculate, extending onto lateral notogastral plates (pleuraspises). Lateral hyaline strip (suprapleural scissure) well developed, up to 40 broad, bearing tubercles of setae cp and e 2 and extending just posterior of f 2. Tubercles of setae f 2 short, 20, but projecting beyond lateral margin. Setae f 2 90, flagelliform; cp 56, and e 2 77, setiform; d 2 20, the shortest of the notogastral series, setiform. Opisthosomal gland opening positioned a third of the distance between f 2 and e 2. Flagelliform setae f 1 120, their apophyses, 25, projecting laterally, separated from those of h 1, 25, by a distance of at least twice their length. Setae h 2 105, curved, smooth, setiform, their apophyses relatively short, 60, parallel for most of their length, diverging apically, separated by a distance almost twice their length; caudal margin between them transverse, tuberculate; flagelliform setae h 3,105, positioned ventrally between h 1 and h 2 when viewed dorsally; their apophyses as long as broad (18; Figs. 13, 14).
Ve nt e r: epimeres porose; perigenital region tuberculate (Fig. 14); epimeral setae smooth, spiniform, formula 3-1-3-3; setae 3c on well-developed tubercles. Genital plates sub-circular. Each plate 262 long, 138 broad, porose, with eight spiniform setae and a strongly-developed medial carina; plates transversely divided, indicated by region of lightly-sclerotised cuticle. Ventral margin of notogaster surrounding anal plates Ushaped, notched. Anal plate 70 broad, 338 long, with 3 pairs of anal setae located medially, shorter than adanal setae. Anal and adanal plates with tuberculate regions. Setae of p 2 and p 3 smooth, curved; setae p 1 flagelliform, ca. 138, on short tubercles, separated by distance twice the width of their tubercles (Fig. 14).
Lateral view: Caudal margin more or less perpendicular to notogastral shield (Fig. 17 c); distance between dorsal and ventral surface ca. 590. Apophyses of setae f 1 30, and h 1 35, parallel, directed posteriodorsally; those of h 2 short, 55, projecting posteriorly; those h 3 mound-like, positioned ventral of those of h 2. Apophyses of setae p 1 positioned ca. 330 below those of h 3. Those of p 2, and p 3 more ventral.
Male. As for female, except much smaller (Fig. 13); rostrum less prominent; setae c 1, cp and e 2 proportionately shorter (Fig. 13 b).
Material Examined and Locality Data. Holotype female, four paratype females and one paratype male, litter and moss, Otway Ranges, 250–350 m, Victoria, coll. 24.xii.1991 (ANIC Berlesate no. 3844). Label data for this sample is incomplete, though it was probably collected just off the Great Ocean Road in the area between Tall Trees and Maits Rest, Otway National Park (ca. 38°45’E 143°33’S). This area, within the upper catchments of the Calder, Parker and Elliot Rivers, contains intact, continuous stands of cool temperate Nothofagus rainforest.
Holotype and one paratype female deposited in Department of Entomology, Museum Victoria, Melbourne. Remaining paratypes in Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra.
Etymology. This species is named after the Gadubanud Aboriginal People, whose traditional country was the rainforest plateau and coastline of Cape Otway, Western Victoria.
Remarks. The association of the male and the female is based on the characteristic tuberculate interbothridial ridge, caudal apophyses and short, spiniform setae c 3.
Crotonia gadubanudi sp. nov. is a member of the Cophinaria species group (Wallwork, 1977; Luxton, 1982; Colloff, 2009b). It differs from all other species in the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) setae c 3 short, spiniform; 2) inter-bothridial ridge with line of tubercles on posterior and medial margins; 3) transverse division of the genital plates; 4) lateral line of tubercles along the edge of the notogastral shield adjacent to the hyaline strip and the dorsosejugal margin; 5) humeral extensions bearing lyrifissurae ia; 6) long, spiniform lateral bothridial auriculae, lobed along their posterior margins.
Crotonia gadubanudi sp. nov. is morphologically most similar to C. jethurmerae Lee, 1985 with which it shares the following character states: 1) long, spiniform lateral bothridial auriculae, though those of C. jethurmerae lack the posterior lobes; 2) apophyses of setae f 1 and h 1 separated by a distance of about twice their length; 3) with tuberculate anal and adanal plates; 4) with long, pointed bothridial auriculae; 5) short, stout, subequal setae cp and e 2. Crotonia gadubanudi sp. nov. differs from C. jethurmerae in the short, spiniform setae c 3 and the morphology of the interbothridial ridge.
description: Published as part of Colloff, Matthew J. & Perdomo, Giselle, 2009, New species of Crotonia (Acari: Oribatida: Camisiidae) from Nothofagus and Eucalyptus forests in Victoria, Australia, with a redescription of the fossil species Crotonia ramus (Womersley, 1957), pp. 1-36 in Zootaxa 2217 on pages 23-27, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.189961