Scaptognathus antalyaensis Durucan, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Durucan, Furkan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Halacaridae
Scaptognathus
Scaptognathus antalyaensis

description: Scaptognathus antalyaensis sp. nov.
Zoobank number: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8C6E5DF0-EA34-406E-9E53-3F2108BB4973
Figures 6, 7 & Table 2
Material examined. All individuals obtained at St.3 (Kundu, Antalya), well sorted soft sand, 3 m depth, 36.849361, 30.839000, 3 July 2018, dissected and mounted into one slide: Holotype: Female (FDHAL-24/106); Paratype: Male (FDHAL - 24/107).
Etymology. The species is named for its presence in Antalya.
Description. Measurements presented in Table 2.
Female (holotype). Dorsal plates irregularly shaped pits arranged conspicuously within polygons. AD and PD large. Dorsum with seven pairs of dorsal setae. All dorsal and ventral setae are short and almost the same length. Glp-1 on AD. Pairs of ds-1 and glp-1 at the same level medial to gland pores. Ds-2 on AD. Pairs of ds-3 to ds- 5 in membranous integument. Ds-6 and ds-7 on PD. Anterior margin of AD truncate, posteriorly convex. OC small, wider than long with large central pore and few minute pits. Cornea not seen. Anterior margin of PD truncate, lateral margins parallel. No setae in posterior margin of PD or on anal plate. Pair of glp- 3 in posterior margin of PD.
AE with a pair of epimeral pores and three pairs of setae. Posterior margin of AE convex. Ornamentation of ventral plates same as that of the dorsal plate. AE with 8 pairs of circular markings which are muscle strings. PE with one lateral seta and three ventral setae. PE extending beyond insertion of leg IV. Female GA bipartite, both parts almost equal in length. Pars sclerosum with ornamentation while pars membranosum without ornamentation. Posterior part of GA is reticulated with four pairs of pgs; genital sclerites with two pairs of sgs.
Gnathosoma 0.7 of length of idiosoma. Dorsal gnathosomal base with same ornamentation of idiosomal plates. Rostrum shorter than gnathosomal base. Pharyngeal field small. Rostrum spatula-shaped, apically truncated. Both pairs of maxillary setae situated in anterior postion of the rostrum, truncate apex with two pairs of rostral setae. Palps attached dorsally and two segmented. P3 and P4 fused.
Legs (Figs. 7A–D) shorter than idiosoma. Telofemur I longer than tibia I. Telofemora slender, their length: height ratio 3.9, 3.7, 2.4 and 2.3 from leg I to IV, respectively.All telofemora with coarse reticulation. Leg chaetotaxy (Figs. 7A–D) (from trochanter to tarsus) (solenidia, famuli and pas excluded), leg I, 1, 2, 5, 4, 9, 4; leg II, 1, 2, 4, 4, 7, 4; leg III, 1, 2, 3, 3, 7–8, 3; leg IV, 1, 1, 2, 3, 7, 3. Telofemur I with one ventral and one ventrolateral bipectinate seta. Genu to tarsus I with 2, 6, 1 bipectinate ventral setae, genu to tarsus II with 1, 4, 1 and genua to tarsi III and IV with 0, 4, 0 such setae each. Tarsi I to IV with 2, 1, 0, 0 ventral setae; on tarsi I and II one of ventral setae bipectinate. Solenidion of tarsus I is almost 6 long, setiform, and dorsolateral position. Solenidion on tarsus II in dorsomedial position. Tip of tarsi with pas singlets. Paired claws are weakly sclerotized, with accessory process but no pecten.
Male. Male is similar to the female except for the genital plate. GA oval, not bipartite, consisting only pars sclerosum and extending to about the level of middle angles of PE. GA furnished panels surrounding genital foramen. Male with 55 setae surrounding of genital foramen. Subgenital setae short, three pairs on genital sclerites. Spermatopositor large, reaching anteriorly to the level of insertions of leg IV. One pair of outlying setae at 0.44 on GA. Adanal setae not seen.
Remarks. Scaptognathus antalyaensis sp. nov. is characterized by the combination of: dorsum with short setae, all plates reticulate sculpturing, posterior margin of AD and AE convex, ds-2 on AD, female GA bipartite with four pairs of pgs, male GA uniform, claws with accessory process, number of bipectinate seta on tarsi I–IV 1, 1, 0, 0; tibiae 6, 4, 4, 4; genua I–IV 1, 1, 0, 0; telofemora I–IV 2, 0, 0, 0. The new species has affinities to other previously known Mediterranean species (S. hallezi Trouessart, 1894, S. sabularius André, 1961, S. tridens Trouessart, 1889 and S. tereninus Bartsch, 1986). However, the new species easily differs from them by having (1) larger spermatopositor (see Figs. 6J–L), (2) striking reticulate sculptures on the plates, (3) shorter ds-1, and (4) the number of male perigenital setae (in S. hallezi 2+31–38; in S. sabularius 2+24; in S. tridens 2+16; in S. tereninus 2+22–30 vs in S. antalyaensis sp. nov. 2+55. Moreover, tibia II has four bipectinate setae in S. antalyaensis sp. nov. vs three in S. hallezi, S. sabularius and S. tereninus and gnathosoma larger than S. hallezi, S. sabularius and S. tereninus.
description: Published as part of Durucan, Furkan, 2024, Psammobiont halacarid mites (Acari: Halacaridae) from Türkiye: description of two new species of the genus Atelopsalis Trouessart, 1896 and Scaptognathus Trouessart, 1889 and two new records, pp. 261-276 in Zootaxa 5536 (2) on pages 271-272, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5536.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14033572